How to Oven Dry Fruit

Drying fruit is an easy way to preserve your favorite fruits. Drying fruit successfully involves using fully ripe fruit and proper storage. You can oven dry any type of fruit as long as you prepare it correctly; this involves pitting and slicing fruit.

Things You'll Need

• Your choice of fruit, which can include apricots, apples, peaches, and berries.
• Parchment Paper
• Cooking Sheet
• Large pot

Instructions

How to Oven Dry Fruit

1. Preheat your oven to 145 degrees.

2. Use fully ripe fruit that is blemish-free.

3. Thoroughly wash, pit, and slice the fruit. The smaller the pieces the quicker it will take for the to dry. However, the fruit should be uniformly sliced so they dry evenly.

4. Blanch or dip the fruit. Blanching works best for apricots and apples. Pectin dips work well with peaches, berries, and cherries. Honey dips can be used for bananas, peaches, and pineapples. Juice dips are preferred for peaches, apples, and bananas.

5. Cover a cooking sheet with parchment paper and place the fruit on top making sure that no slices touch each other.

6. Close the oven door but prop it open with with a wooden spoon so steam is allowed to escape.

7. Keep the fruit in the oven for 4 to 12 hours. After 4 hours you can test a slice and see if it is dry but flexible when cooled. Continue to test until you're satisfied with results.

8. Place the dried fruit in a large open pot in a warm, dry, and airy room. Stir the fruit one to two times a day for 10 to 14 days.

Tips & Warnings

• It may take several times to get the timing right. Start with smaller amounts of fruit you want to dry and gradually increase once you have a solid routine.