March 1, 2021
Category: Regenerative Recipes
I received a Cosori dehydrator from my parents for Christmas. I’m planning ahead for our garden season. I wanted to try things out this winter to know what is worth dehydrating and what isn’t. If I can perfect my systems now, it will much easier and faster once summer harvest is in full swing. My daughter is really into making her own tea right now, as she wants to open a tea shop when she grows up. We’ve been doing a lot of experimenting with drying lemons, limes, oranges, mint, rosemary, peonie, apples and other herbs for home-made herbal teas.
I’ve been experimenting with different settings. I have found the BEST settings for my dried apples. Here’s what I did:
- Cut up the apples to about 1/8″ to 1/4″ slices.
- Lay them out on a single layer on the metal trays.
- Heat them for 140 degrees for 9 hours.
- Store them in a air tight container with a pack of Dry & Dry Silica Gel Desiccant (reusable & food grade)
I’m telling you, they are so good! They are totally crisp, not leathery. And they are light and airy. They kind of remind me of apples that come from a freeze dryer. Such good texture!
BONUS: This setting has also worked great with my citruses (lemons, oranges, limes). I cut them into 1/8″ to 1/4″ slices as well and put them in with my apples when I need to fill some more space. Once they are dried, I cut them into small pieces and store them in a ball jar with Silica Gel. They are so great in tea!
