Drying Apples

In a previous post I talked about canning apples.  Well, there were still apples on the tree – who knew one tree could produce so many big apples!  What to do with the rest of them.  I now have apple pie filling and canned apples on my pantry shelf, so I decided to dry the rest.

I love dried apples, they are perfect to throw in a lunch or take on a hike.  But store bought dried apples can get expensive, and you never know if they have preservatives or not.  I am fortunate to have a food dehydrator (it belonged to my parents), so I might as well put it to good use.

Drying apples is very simple, I just used my handy, dandy apple-parer/corer/slicer gadget and sliced up my remaining apples.  The fun thing about the apple slicer is it leaves the apple in a coil or spring shape.  So I just make two cuts through the whole thing to cut it in half and then I have perfect half slices to put into the dehydrator.  My food dryer is quite large and noisy – but my apples were dry in about 4 hours.  Yum!

If you don’t have a food dehydrator, you can still make your own dried apples.  To prepare the apples for drying -

• wash and drain apples
• peel and slice into 1/4 inch thick slices
• put the slices in a solutions of 1 cup lemon juice to 1 quart water until ready to use. This prevents browning. NOTE: This is optional. I do not do this step – that is why my apples are a little brown in the photo. I think it messes with the taste of the apples – but that is personal preference!
• place the slices on a cookie sheet in a single layer
• Dry the apples in a 200 degree oven. Keep the door slightly open to allow air circulation. You will need to turn the apples every so often for even drying.  This process takes around 8 hours. You will know they are done when they are pliable, but with no sign of moisture.

Apples can also be dried outdoors if it is warm enough.  Follow the steps above, but put the apples outside in the sun. Make sure you cover them with a screen to prevent bugs from getting to them!

All of these methods are great for drying apples and will produce the same results – but I am glad I have my food dehydrator!