The Ultimate Guide to Dehydrating Fruit (the easy way!)

Whether you’d like to dry your homegrown peaches or make raisins from scratch, find out how to do it in The Ultimate Guide to Dehydrating Fruit!

We love to snack on dried fruit in the winter, and have been hard at work the past few weeks drying a wide variety of fruits. With four small children, I’m all for skipping unnecessary steps, so in this guide you’ll find the quickest and easiest methods for dehydrating fruit at home!

We source fresh fruit for dehydrating locally from small farms, friends and family, or sometimes purchase cases of in-season fresh fruit from Azure (a natural foods co-op that delivers for free to most of the US).

 

What You Need for Dehydrating Fruit

Disclaimer: this page contains affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

 

To get the best results dehydrating fruit, you’ll want a solar or electric food dehydrator. For an affordable and dependable option, I like my Presto electric dehydrator. The Excaliber is more expensive, but is a workhorse if you will be doing some serious dehyrating. Or if you have a handy husband the solar type can be built at home! Below you’ll find links to the dehydrators I recommend.

Don’t have a dehydrator? You can also try dehydrating fruit in the warm setting on your oven, in a food warmer, near a wood stove, or in your car. It’s literally something that can be done anywhere!

 

 

The Ultimate Guide to Dehydrating Fruit

 

Tip for Drying Fruit:

The more dry the fruit is, the longer it will last. Without adding preservatives, you’ll have the best luck dehydrating fruit till it’s a little harder than store bought dried fruits.

If you like your dehydrated fruit softer, store it in the freezer and only remove small portions as needed. Alternately, you can soften hard dried fruit by opening the container or adding a damp paper towel 12 hours before consumption. 

For long term storage at room temperature, dehydrate fruit till it is a little crispy!

 

How to Dehydrate Apples

Step 1: Prepare a bowl with 2 cups water, 3 T honey and 3 T lemon juice.

Step 2: Slice apples into rings or thin slices. Peeling is optional. Immediately drop each slice into the prepared water.

Step 3: Drain apple slices and place in a single layer in the dehydrator. Dry at 135F.

Dried apples are done when they are very dry and chewy but still flexible.

 

How to Dehydrate Apricots

Step 1: Prepare a bowl with 2 cups water and 3 T honey

Step 2: Slice apricots in halves or quarters, removing the pits

Step 3: Dry at 135F until dry and leathery all the way through.

 

How to Dehydrate Blueberries

Step 1: Freeze blueberries or cook until soft.

Step 2: Toss frozen or cooked blueberries in sugar. Refrigerate for 24-48 hours.

Step 3: Drain liquid. Spread berries in a single layer on dehydrator trays.

Step 4: Dry at 125F until completely dry and chewy.

 

How to Dehydrate Cranberries

Step 1: Cook berries on the stove with a little water until soft.

Step 2: Toss cranberries in sugar. Refrigerate 24-48 hours.

Step 3: Drain any liquid and spread berries in a single layer on dehydrator trays.

Step 4: Dry at 125F until dry and chewy.

 

How to Dehydrate Grapes (Raisins)

Step 1: Cut larger table grapes in half. Smaller table grapes or juice/wine grapes can be left whole.

Step 2: Spread grapes in a single layer on dehydrator trays.

Step 3: Dry at 125 until chewy and a little harder than storebought raisins.

Note: While seedless grapes are a lot less work to make raisins out of, historically all raisins had seeds that had to be removed before use! You’ll typically get better raisin flavor from smaller types of grapes.

 

How to Dehydrate Nectarines

Step 1: Prepare a bowl with 2 cups water and 3 T lemon juice.

Step 2: Slice nectarines thinly, removing pits and bruises.

Step 3: Dry at 135F until dry, chewy and leathery.

 

How to Dehydrate Peaches

 

Step 1: Prepare a bowl with 2 cups water and 3 T lemon juice.

Step 2: Slice peaches thinly, removing pits and bruises.

Step 3: Dry at 135F until dry, chewy and leathery.

 

How to Dehydrate Pears

 

Step 1: Prepare a bowl with 2 cups of water and 3 T lemon juice.

Step2: Slice pears into rings or thin slices, removing the core. Immediately place slices of pear into the water and lemon.

Step 3: Drain sliced pears and lay in a single layer on dehydrator trays. Dry at 135F

Dried pears are done when they are dry and chewy but still somewhat pliable.

 

How to Dry Plums

Step 1: Slice plums into halves or quarters, removing the pits.

Step 2: Dry at 135F until dry and chewy.

 

How to Make Fruit Leather

To make fruit leather, first cook hard fruits such as apples. Soft fruits such as peaches and pears can be left raw. Puree fruit in blender with a splash of lemon juice. A little honey can be added to sour fruits. Dry at 135F on wax paper or on a fruit leather tray.

Fruit leather is done when it is completely dry, but still pliable like leather.

Tip: Most fruits pair well with apples. Try pureeing applesauce with another fruit!

 

Find more homestead recipes here!

 

Would you like to dry more types of fruit? Let me know in the comments and I will add it to this guide to dehydrating fruit!