drying Dehydrating fruit

[wordwiz]

Seeing how I have strawberry, blackberry and raspberry bushes/plants in the garden, a banana plant upstairs, plus a couple of cherry trees in the yard and hope to add apricot, peach and apple trees this fall/next spring, I figure I need to experiment with dehydrating fruit. Ohio has some weird regs - I can sell dehydrated pepper spices, blended together and bottled, without needing a certified kitchen. I can sell dehydrated fruit without a CK. I can concoct a package of dehydrated fruit with apples, bananas, cherries, etc. and sell it - as long as they are not mixed together. The logic, or lack of thereof, escapes me.

Most Farmer's Markets also have strict rules, such as one cannot sell anything they didn't grow. Not a bad policy - it keeps wholesale companies from intruding. But it can also hamper someone like me who would like to sell a fruit trail mix. That's one reason I'm skipping the FM route and instead plan on doing "road side stands," albeit it in very urban areas where several thousand vehicles drive slowly by.

I want to get his dehydrating down pat. That way, whatever fruits I cannot sell when completely ripe I can dehydrate and sell later. Plus, if a store has bananas on sale for 29¢/lb. I can buy several bunches, dehydrate them and sell the mix when they are out of season and go for 59¢/lb. Same thing with other fruit.

I'm finding it is easier to go around abstacles rather than trying to fight or climb them!

The dehydrator has blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, bananas and apples in it now. Trying to see how slicing thin, slicing thick and not slicing much at all works. The guide seems to be 135 degrees for 6-10 hours, though I suspect the thick apple and banana slices will take every bit of the ten hours.

Mike

 

[salsalady]

hey wordwiz,

sounds like you have a fun project going. We LOVE dried, really-ripe bananas! They are just like candy~

135F seems a little high, compared to what I dried chiles at last year. When I went over 110F the chiles got a lot darker and didn't keep their red or yellow color. I suppose drying apples at the higher heat will dry them faster and maybe keep them from oxidizing.

Keep us posted, I'm sure you'll have pics eventually, also. It'll be interesting to see how the fruits do with the color compared to chiles.
SL

 

[wordwiz]

salsalady,

Good news, bad news. I learned to replace the screens in the trays (I use window screen) as pepper do somehow tend to leave some residue behind. Ever had a dried banana flavored with 7-pods?

135 works great, but I learned not to slice or dice stuff near as thinly. Unless the raspberries and blackberries are huge, no slicing at all. Strawberries I may cut in half, if they are large. Bananas will be cut in slices but not diced. Ditto for apples, though I may cut the slices into thirds after they dry.

But overall, I like. The thicker pieces I tried, the ones that did not inherit the pepper flavoring, tasted great, same taste as if I ate them from the vine.

I don't know if I need a vacuum sealer or not, but I'm guessing it may help keep the fruit fresher and probably safer, since no air will get into them.

Mike

 

[S.S.Tupperware]

I am building a beer can furnace one It will have a lot of room, and solar powered. I plan on getting some of this for trays...
http://craftersmarket.net/pc.html
and heres the link to how it's made...

I am gonna build it with out the cans first, and will add them later if needed. I built a small one, and runs way too hot, it's almost an oven...

 

[wordwiz]

Nifty! That thing looks like it would dry a bushel or more of produce.

Mike

 

[Wildfire Chilli Australia]

I just finished my 3rd lot of dehydrated apples in a week in my Excalibur (my son loves them). I slice them quite thin. The first lot I had in at about 64 degrees celsius (because they were with chillies) and this last lot I put in was at 45 degrees. The reason for the lower temp is that it is considered a living food then and no nutrients are lost during the drying process. I think over 49 degrees you start to loose some.
Yes I would store them in a vaccuum sealed bag as you don't want any moisture re entering.
Good luck with your venture keep us posted.

 

[Wildfire Chilli Australia]

Plus, if a store has bananas on sale for 29¢/lb. I can buy several bunches, dehydrate them and sell the mix when they are out of season and go for 59¢/lb. Same thing with other fruit.

you would also need to take into consideration that when you dry food it looses a lot of its weight. A lot of stuff can be 2/3 lighter so you would need to base prices on that and then also add the cost of your labour, packaging, electricity, profit etc.

 

[wordwiz]

you would also need to take into consideration that when you dry food it looses a lot of its weight. A lot of stuff can be 2/3 lighter so you would need to base prices on that and then also add the cost of your labour, packaging, electricity, profit etc.

Yeah, I should have said 59¢/lb. based on pre-drying rate.

In a year or three, when my trees, bushes and plants start producing decent-size crops, whatever I don't sell at a Market I could dehydrate. Ohio still has stupid laws: I can dry peppers, grind them up, mix them (varieties as well as smoked/non-smoked) and sell the blend without needing a certified kitchen. I can sell dehydrated fruit but not mix them. But I can sell small bags of cherries, apples, apricots, strawberries, blackberries, etc. in one larger package and be legal. Go figure the logic!

Mike