Dehydrating Apples

I have a page on how to do this: http://www.onepanwonders.com/apples.htm

Tell us how it goes! :)

What Dicentra doesn't mention is the type of apple to use. You are better off to choose eating apples as opposed to those you would cook with. Apples like Granny Smith, Tantation, Fuji, Royal Gala and Red Delicious are wonderful dried into slices.

It's best to put the apples slices in a lemon (or lime) water solution or fruit fresh to keep them from going very brown. Let them sit for 5 minutes and then dry them until they are dry through but still pliable. The best way to tell if they are dry through is to take a slice and tear it… if any beads of moisture appear on the tear then you need to dry them a little longer.

The apple slices on my dehydrator page were crunchy, not chewy. Slice thicker for softer dried apples.

As for what apples to dry, dry what you actually like to eat! My favorites are Gala, Braeburn and a couple others – we are lucky though here in Washington as sooo many types are grown just on the other side of the passes!

http://www.allaboutapples.com/varieties/index.htm

So many tasty types ;-)

And the best types of apples are urban foraged ones where they grow nearly wild! Where I live there are many, many trees loaded that no one picks. So I have no issue with going up to the owner and asking if I may pick. Never had a 'no' yet! Hehheh!

A lot of the time those "wild" apples are heirloom varieties too (like the tree on our property). Good stuff!

Thanks for the replies/advice. How would a go about making a lemon water solution? A tablespoon of lemon juice + 500 mL water?

Chris, that will work fine. You don't need a lot to prevent browning :-)

See the photos on the I posted… I didn't use lemon water and they barely browned. *shrugs*

I just checked your website. Looks delicious and it looks like everything I need to know is there. Thanks. One quick question, though. How long are the dehydrated slices good for if you don't store them in a freezer or refrigerate them (ziplock bag)?

Chris…

The lemon water solution you mentioned is about right. You just need a little lemon.

As for keeping them. If you have dried them thoroughly and properly they will keep for 8 months to 1 year in an airtight container. I tend to package mine in individual serving sizes placed within smaller ziplocks and then put those in a larger container. That way you aren't letting air and moisture in everytime you take some out for a hike. Then again, I dry a ton of apples because we live near some of Ontario's best orchards.

Mine never last long enough to figure it out! The kidling INHALES them! lol. Laurie's timeline sounds about right though.

quarter, core, I never peel.

slice into 3/8" thick wedges on the wide side.

arrange on the drying flats as I slice.

sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon lightly to taste (usually).

dry until crisp like a cracker.

my family loves these, I haven't found I need to pretreat with lemon or ascorbic acid ("fruit fresh"). I've never noticed much difference.

If it's reasonable for you, you could online ordering Brothers All Natural Fuji apple crisps/bananas and strawberry combo packages from Costco. They're individually packaged into servings each about 15gm in weight. They taste good too.