Strawberry and Banana Bonanza: How to Dehydrate Fruit in 7 Simple Steps

There is nothing quite so satisfying as making healthy — and sweet — treats yourself. Dried fruits that you have dried yourself are an enjoyable alternative to store-bought dried fruit or candy and other processed foods high in sugar.

For a start, you know for sure that there are no harmful preservatives in your homemade delights. Don’t worry if you have never dried fruits before. We’re going to run through how to dehydrate fruit in this article, and give you tips and ideas on how to make the most of this simple process.

Remember, it’s a healthy and convenient way to introduce variety into your diet. Your family and friends will love these snacks too!

What You Need

You need fresh fruit and a food dehydrator. You’ll also need a chopping board and a decent knife.

There are several methods of drying fruit, such as on fine wire mesh trays in the blazing sun in summer – if you live in a country with a Mediterranean climate, that is.

People in soggier climes often use their oven at low temperatures to prepare dried fruit. This method works for smaller quantities but is not kid-safe since the oven door needs to be kept partially open. The oven method also needs careful coordination so that the drying process does not interfere with preparing dinner for the family.

Use a food dehydrator especially built for this purpose. It’s the most efficient method of producing dehydrated fruit for immediate consumption and long-term storage. Again, you can waste endless hours trying to build one yourself – the internet is full of videos showing you how. Or you can do what we recommend: get yourself an Excalibur Dehydrator.

The Excalibur Dehydrator is one of the best of its type for domestic use. The electrical appliance has adjustable temperature control and an extractor fan. The two work in tandem to dry the fruit, which you put inside its box-like structure fitted with nine sieve-like trays. Since drying time depends on the type of fruit, the 26-hour timer is a useful feature.

Food dehydrators are capable of drying a surprising variety of fruits and other foods. Today, we are going to concentrate on how to produce dried strawberries and dried banana chips.

Both are a welcome addition to your morning bowl of muesli or cornflakes, or as a snack on their own. You can also push the boat out creatively and prepare dried fruit and popcorn trail mix.

How to Dehydrate Fruit: Enticing Strawberries

In Ancient Rome, strawberries were associated with Venus, the goddess of love, and later became a symbol of fertility because of the many visible seeds that stud this delicious fruit. More importantly, strawberries have many health benefits.

Once dried, strawberries are smaller and firmer. As expected, their flavor is more concentrated than the fresh fruit. Depending on how long you let them dehydrate for, they will be anywhere from chewy to crunchy.

A few dried strawberries add flair to a cheeseboard. They are great in granola, cereal and cooked oats porridge – and one way to do away with granulated sugar. Dried strawberries add another dimension to trail mix, or you can eat them as a snack on their own.

Drying strawberries in a dehydrator is easy. There is no special pre-treatment required, apart from rinsing the strawberries thoroughly in water before you start.

Slice the strawberries about 1/8 inch thick. If the strawberries are very large, cut each sliced piece in half. Lay them on the trays that come with your dehydrator. Set the temperature to 135F and time them for 6–7 hours.

The temperature and time may vary slightly, depending on the make of your dehydrator. The numbers above are simply a rough guide.

It is always a good idea to check how the strawberries are doing midway through the process. Don’t be tempted to sample more than one piece at this stage – and remember that your test sample will be hot. Allow it to cool before the taste test!

The strawberries will be ready when there is no noticeable moisture when you break a piece apart. Allow to cool and store in a jar.

Go Bananas

Bananas are a great source of potassium – an essential mineral for the proper functioning of your heart. We love the dried banana chips idea because it’s one way to make sure you get mouthfuls of nature’s sunshine at any time.

Dried bananas retain their authentic flavor, and make a pleasant contrast in texture and taste to raisins and dried berries.

For those who re allergic to nuts, bananas are a good alternative for the crispy, crunchy chew.

To dry bananas in a dehydrator, slice the bananas about 1/4 inch thick. Make sure that your slices are of uniform thickness. Instead of cutting “rounds”, you might want to angle your knife and cut across the banana diagonally. This way, you can have a variety of shapes, thus making it easier to pick a couple of dried banana pieces out of a bowl with your hand.

I bet you didn’t know that trick!

Bananas need about 8 hours in the dehydrator for about 8 hours. It’s worth checking on them for the last couple of hours so that you can remove them from the dryer when they reach the texture you prefer.

Preserving Food, Preserving Flavor

Knowing how to dehydrate fruit has endless benefits. The main one is that you have a handy way of preserving food that might otherwise go to waste.

If you’re traveling, or need a light easy snack during the day, dried fruit is often the most healthy option. It also packs an energy punch – and that’s the reason trail mixes are so popular.

Experiment with other fruits as they come into season. One final tip: If you do manage to store (and not eat) dehydrated fruit for any length of time, be sure to label your jar with the month and year and the type of fruit.

One thing we know is that once you get the hang of dehydrating fruit, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without your dehydrator – or your dried strawberries and banana chips, for that matter.