How to dehydrate mangoes

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Dehydrate mangoes

I just dried mangoes for the first time and they were so awesome, I just had to share!

First you’ll need a batch of ripe mangoes. I bought a box at Costco. They came out to $1 each, which is not super amazing, but not bad either. Here in the Northwest if you can get them for $0.50 – $0.80 that is stock-up talk.

Surprisingly you can’t really tell much about a mangoes ripeness by it’s skin color – it’s best to give them a little squeeze. If they have a little give, I think they are perfect.

Then you peel them. Be careful, they get slippery.  Then slice it into 1/4 inch slices. If you’re not familiar with cutting mangoes, here is a great video from the Mango Board about how to cut a mango.

Cut the cheeks into 1/4 inch thick slices. I did some thinner. It doesn’t really matter what you pick – but the thicker they are, generally the longer they take to dehydrate and the chewier they might be.

Then I had adorable, baby girl hands {not required} that picked up the slices and moved them to. . .

. . .the dehydrating tray. My two-year-old loves puzzles, so this was actually an awesome project for her. She just filled the tray with the shapes.

Fill your dehydrator tray with mango slices. Eat some while you do this.

Then take cheesy photos of the sweet smile, errr, I mean mangoes. This step also not required.

Then put the mango slices into the dehydrator at 130- 135 degrees F for 10 to 12 hours. You’ll know they are done when they are dry and leathery and still flexible. We had preschool in the morning, so I actually dried mine for closer to 14-16 hours. They were fine, in fact, they were delicious – and crunchy. I don’t think you can screw them up.

Then remove them from racks and eat some, of course.

And then after your full, store the rest (if you have any left) in an airtight container. How you store them is up to you, but try to avoid moisture, air, heat or sunlight. I think jars with a tight fitting lid work great!

As you can see from the photos, we also dehydrated some strawberries. This was my very first attempt at drying and it went so well I think I’ll be doing a lot of it this summer when fruits are more affordable.

My kids LOVE eating fruit – and they devoured the dried mangoes and strawberries. I think I’ll be using this as a great way to pack healthy snacks in the car. No way am I packing sticky mangoes or mushy strawberries as an on-the-go snack, but these would be fantastic tossed into a baggie for the car.

I’m not an expert at this by any means. I referenced these two books especially, which I’m guessing you can find at your local library (or Amazon):

• The Dehydrator Bible: Includes over 400 Recipes
• The Complete Guide to Drying Foods at Home: Everything You Need to Know about Preparing, Storing, and Consuming Dried Foods (Back to Basics)

As for the type of dehydrator that you need – I think all of them are pretty great. First you can check your local thrift shops, because they are big appliances I think people get tired of storing them and donate them a lot.

Amazon has this Nesco FD-80A Square-Shaped Dehydrator Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging on sale for $55. This is the best price it’s ever been on Amazon. Regular price is $98 and it has nearly 5 out of 5 star reviews.

I personally have the Excalibur 3900B 9 Tray Deluxe Dehydrator, Black – but it’s certainly a dehydrator on steroids – probably much more than the average person needs. The only reason I splurged is because I found a crazy good deal that included a lightning deal and a gift card I had. But I have to say that I do love it and I’m super impressed.

I’d love to hear from you – what do you dehydrate? How do you use your dehydrator? Have you dehydrated mangoes before?