How to dehydrate strawberries
In addition to dehydrating mangoes, I also dehydrated strawberries last week, and they were so delicious and easy.
The first thing you’ll want to do is wash and dry your strawberries.
Then you hull them – basically chop off the green top (feed that to your chickens!).
Slice strawberries into 1/4 thick slices.
And lay them out on your dehydrator tray.
Dry at 130 degrees F for 8 to 16 hours. You’ll know they are done when they feel dry, leathery and no longer juicy. But they are still pliable.
And interesting fact I read in The Dehydrator Bible: Includes over 400 Recipes
My only complaint so far is they get eaten so quickly. I’d love to put them in a jar and admire them all afternoon, but my kids (and husband) devour them within a day. At least they’re getting healthy foods and it sure is fun to see them enjoy it so much.
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
I personally have the Excalibur 3900B 9 Tray Deluxe Dehydrator, Black
Check out the mangoes that I also dried recently!
I’d love to hear from you – what do you dehydrate? How do you use your dehydrator? Have you dehydrated strawberries before?
I was given some pears from someone local trees. It was the best dried fruit I had ever and it was totally undexpected.
I started dehydrating this summer when I was given a little dehydrator and I love dried strawberries! But we are a family of 8 and the little machine we have is not keeping up with the demands of 6 kids and a hungry hubby (and me). I’ve thought about getting an Excalibur, still probably more than we need since I don’t know anything about it but the fact that it has 9 tries is so very exciting. I could finally dehydrate enough for our family!
Is it possible to thaw frozen strawberries to dehydrate? It’s almost October, so there haven’t been any fresh local ones for a while.
I have the Excalibur 9 tray unit and in the fall, it practically runs non-stop. I have dehydrated everything I can think of. Carrots, potatoes, corn, celery, peppers and apples, bananas, strawberries and kiwi. I want to experiment with some meats before I put it away again. My family loves the fruits for snacks and to put on their cereal. I love to add it to smoothies and desserts. The vegetables are used mostly for stews and soups. I keep a lot sealed up in glass jars and we seal some up with our food saver. All around, dehydrating is a great way to salvage fruits and vegetables that wouldn’t keep well any other way and it doesn’t take up a lot of room.
Just wanted to say that I bought the Nesco one when it dropped in price, and we love it! I have dehydrated strawberries, and they are yummy!!!