Fruits and fruits themselves dry in the oven

The drying fruit, fruits and vegetables is also known as drying and has been known in this form for many centuries. It is one of the oldest methods of preserving food, which can be preserved for a longer period of time.

It undoubtedly comes from the time when refrigerators were still a foreign word or when alternatives had to be found due to a lack of electrical energy.

The Story of Dried Fruit

Dried fruit only has a residual moisture content of around 20% and can therefore be stored for a long time without spoiling. However, not every fruit is suitable for drying or to be parched. Grapes, dates and figs were originally dried in the Middle East – the area of ​​origin of the dried fruit. However, the people in this region did not know any drying devices, the fruits that fell ripe from the tree lay in the hot sun and dried there in a completely natural way. From here, dried fruits made their way to Europe and became known further north via Greece and Italy. Later, plums, apricots and peaches from Asia also took the same path.

What distinguishes dried fruit?

Dried fruit has a much lower moisture content than fresh fruit garden fruit. Simultaneously with the drying, however, the sugar content has increased, a significant contribution to the longer shelf life. This process also ensures that the fruit's own aromas are much more clearly present, i.e. dried fruit tastes much more intensively than fresh fruit. A small minus point is the dried fruit in the optics. It loses its fresh color and of course the bulging shell. Industrially produced dried fruit and vegetables are therefore treated with sulfur and other preservatives. Since this can cause health problems for more and more people or they prefer to enjoy natural products, dehydrating themselves is again in the foreground.

Which fruits & fruits can be dried?

According to the botanical explanation, the fruits include not only the varieties usually known under the term fruit, but also some fruits that go under the name "vegetables". Overall, these are the typical varieties that are dried:

• Apples, pears and plums
• grapes
• strawberries
• kiwis
• cherries
• peaches and apricots
• Red berries
• dates and figs
• bananas
• papaya, mango, pineapple
• coconut
• aubergine
• legumes
• paprika
• olives
• tomatoes
• Mushrooms
• Herbs

The drying of fruit is becoming more popular again, which is also due to the increasing health awareness of consumers. Dried fruit is added to muesli, it is made as a snack between meals and used in the home bakery. Many people who got a taste for dried apple rings or banana chips now also dry vegetables, fish and meat.

Drying in the dehydrator or in the oven?

In the past it was not a question of what the fruit was dried in, there were no electric dehydrators like the ones available today. A modern oven makes the drying process considerably cheaper because it takes many hours for the food in it to dry. Our grandmothers did not have this problem, they operated a charcoal stove in the kitchen, which also had an oven insert. An alternative back then was air drying. If you don't want to dry your apple rings on a string across your home and don't have any other suitable space available, you'll come back to the oven.

Preparation for drying in the oven

The oven is very well suited for getting started with the topic of drying fruit. You have it in the kitchen anyway, so there is no need to purchase an additional dehydrator (for the time being). Maybe that's a goal when you get favors or found taste.

For the drying process, the fruit or Vegetables - i.e. the dried food - must be prepared accordingly. Of course, only ripe varieties are used, which, however, do not show any rotten spots or other injuries. The peel is removed from kiwis, apples and pears. The cores are also removed and then the fruit is cut into thin slices. The thinner the fruit is sliced, the quicker it dries. Halve strawberries depending on their size, grapes can remain whole.

plums are halved and the stone removed, just like apricots, peaches or other pome fruit. These fruits are placed on the grid with the cut surface facing up. Then the grates of the oven are covered with a cloth and the fruit or vegetables to be dried are placed carefully and not too close together on them. Of course, you can slide a grating into each slide-in rail of the oven, so you can use the entire space and save time and money. However, it should be noted that not all types of fruit require the same length of time to be dehydrated.

How long does fruit take to dry?

The electric oven is set to approx. 40 °C preheated. When the grates with the fruit to be dried have been pushed in, the oven door should not be closed tightly, but should remain open a crack. It can be held in this position using a pot holder or kitchen towel between the door and the oven. It takes a few hours for the drying process to finish. The exact duration is very individual and depends on both the oven and the fruit used. It is ideal if only one variety is dried at a time in order to avoid drying times of different lengths.

• Apples and other pome fruits are dried at 60 °C to 70 °C
• for mushrooms, 50 °C is sufficient

After drying, the dried pieces have to cool down and air dry for a few days before being placed in tightly sealable jars. To obtain one kilogram of dried apples, you need 10 kilograms of fresh apples!

More dehydration tips

• Convection ovens are practical because you can dry several covered trays or grates in them at the same time.
• When rusting, the fruit is best placed on baking paper. The air can circulate well.
• For baking trays, put several layers of kitchen paper underneath, which absorbs moisture.
• The temperature in the oven should not be lower than 20 °C. Otherwise not enough water is extracted from the fruit. Then they go moldy quickly.
• At over 60 °C, the first cells in the fruit burst and the fruit juice runs out.
• How long you dry depends on the type of fruit, the degree of ripeness and the time of harvest.
• The process takes many hours and can take up to two days. The fruit should be turned from time to time, as the contact surfaces remain moist for longer.
• It is important that the moist air can escape. This happens automatically in hot and convection ovens.
• With other ovens, the door must be left ajar. It is best to clamp a wooden spoon between them.

To know when the fruit is good, you do the finger test. The fruit should feel soft and springy after cooling. It must not be wet or soggy. It's best to break a piece of fruit so you can see if it's still wet inside. Tip at the end: Dried fruit should be stored in airtight packaging, in a dark and, above all, dry place.

Learn more about harvesting fruit