Dried Strawberries are Sweet Morsels of Flavor

Dehydrating strawberries is a great way to preserve and concentrate their flavor long after the season ends.

by Lynn AlleyApril 1999from issue # 20

The gustatory sensation of a mature strawberry rival that of any fruit , and its appearance in the youth of the rise time of year is a call for celebration . You may never tire out of eating this berry out of manus , but month afterwards when your plants give up afford fruit , you may yearn for its unfermented smack . At the height of the hemangioma simplex season , freeze or do jam is always an option . Another way to preserve the great nip of strawberries is by desiccation . dry out concentrates flavor , while the Chuck Berry keep on many vitamin and most minerals .

Of the three most popular methods of preserve foods — canning , freeze , and drying — dry out is the honest-to-goodness and most traditional . Schoolchildren hear how Native Americans dry out berries and deer and buffalo meat in the sun . In Mexico , I have check ( but not try out ) sun - dry out hopper . In Sicily , homemaker spread puréed tomatoes on a wooden table and after two sidereal day under the spicy Sicilian sun , the purée becomes almost like putty , and is pack into jar for storage . Hot air , juiceless mood , and metre — a winning combination .

The secret of desiccation lies in the fact that most bacteria , molds , and barm need a moist surround in which to proliferate . By remove 80 to 90 percent of the hemangioma simplex ’s wet , you give it a less - than - attractive host for spoilage organisms . The only doubt that remains is how to carry on .

Sun , oven , or electric dehydrator?You may take to dehydrate your strawberries the old - fashioned style , using nothing more than sun and two or three warm day in chronological succession . This method acting has been used for centuries and involve little besides strawberries sliced into thirds or tail , some screens on which to lie down the yield , and protection from marauding insect and curious critters . The Food PANtrie solar dehydrator provide five trays with a zippered veiling ( $ 48.95 fromThe Sustainable small town ) and a hanger for string along in a tree .

alas , drying fruit in a humid mood or less - than - optimum weather precondition is hazardous patronage . Instead , consider using your oven . Oven drying is fairly easy and should be done on cover rather than cooky plane to allow for better line circulation . Slice your strawberries just as you would for sun dry out , in thirds or quarters , and lay the slices monotonic on screens , making sure the pieces do n’t touch . Set the oven temperature as low as possible and open up the oven threshold so melody can go around around the fruit . optimal temperatures for dry yield range between 90˚ and 140˚F. Anything above this and the fruit begins to wangle . The berries will not all dry at the same time , so check them sporadically and remove those that appear to be done — they should still be reasonably pliable . The dried berry will keep about a year in a freezer or six months stored in a coolheaded , dry place .

If you intend to dry a lot of food for thought , invest in an galvanizing dehydrator . A good galvanizing dehydrator should have both a temperature gauge and a fan for circulation . ( you could check out a stove of makes and models atFern ’s Nutrition . ) It wo n’t take up much room . , and it will fill your kitchen with the marvelous aroma of strawberry . Again , slice your Berry in thirds or quarters , invest them on the drying trays , pose your temperature calibre and timer , and plug it in . You want only tick off from time to fourth dimension to remove the berry that have finished drying .

revel the fruits of your laborOne of the things I like most about dehydrating strawberries is that not only have I conserve the berries hemselves , but I have also preserved a cherished consequence in time . I will never eat a bowl of homemade granola stud with driedfraises des boiswithout recalling with great expiation the day I harvested and dry them . Using good , just - picked fruit have in mind the concluding dried final result will be a assiduity of that same large flavour . In plus , many commercially dried fruit have been treated with S prior to drying , whereas your berries will be just the way you get them .

How to enjoy your dried strawberries ? Eat them out - of - hired man , added to homemade granola or trail premix , tossed into muffin , pancake , or even cookie batters , or made intostrawberry butter . Months after harvest , you ’ll call up that former day and its bounty of hopeful bit of flavor .

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