Do you have gotten an abundance of latest apricots in your palms? Come study to dry apricots two strategies: in a meals dehydrator, or using the oven. It’s a super quick and easy strategy to guard apricots, and create a delicious healthful snack! I’ll moreover cowl the easiest way to best retailer dried apricots to maximise their shelf life too.
We’re blessed to have an infinite outdated apricot tree in our yard. It provides us with seemingly infinite fruit each summer season, manner over we’re in a position to eat modern. So together with drying apricots, we always make an enormous batch of our favorite low sugar apricot jam too. It’s like summer season in a jar!
RELATED: Love drying fruit? Come see our best suggestions on dehydrating apples, dried persimmons or the easiest way to dry orange slices – which make truly beautiful pure trip decor!
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Chances are you’ll dry apricots in each a meals dehydrator or the oven. I like using a meals dehydrator because of it requires a lot much less oversight and is inconceivable to by chance burn them. We use our favorite Excalibur meals dehydrator. Between it’s timer, actual temperature settings, and fan behind the machine (fairly than excessive or bottom), we merely set it and neglect it! I don’t even have to rotate the trays.
Step 1: Cut back and Pit Apricots
Begin by washing your apricots. Subsequent, reduce every in half. (Since there is a big pit inside, you’ll need to chop in a circle throughout the pit fairly than slicing correct by it.) Gently twist to separate the two halves and take away the pit from the center. Hottest apricot varieties are “freestone”, so the pit ought to come back out fairly merely – notably if the fruit is ripe.
Step 2: Unfold on Trays
Unfold out the apricot halves with their skin-side going by way of down in a single layer on meals dehydrator trays, OR on oven-safe wire baking racks set on excessive of baking sheets. Placing the pores and pores and skin aspect down prevents them from sticking to the tray below.
Apricots dry best throughout the oven using wire racks, as a result of it permits ample airflow throughout the fruit. In case you don’t have wire baking racks, you presumably can put them instantly on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper as a substitute. Nonetheless, you’ll need to present and flip them every hour this vogue, and it will take longer to dry.
Step 3: Dehydrate
In a meals dehydrator, dry apricots on 135°F (medium heat or fruit setting) for roughly 8 to 12 hours. The time it takes to dry apricots relies upon upon your dehydrator, how big and juicy the fruit are, and easily how “carried out” you want them. As an illustration, they’ll dry faster using a hotter setting.
Throughout the oven, use the lowest temperature setting potential (150-175°F) until they seem completely dry – about 6 to eight hours, presumably longer. Start routinely checking on the dried apricots after the first 2 to 3 hours. In case you aren’t using a wire rack, flip the fruit over every couple of hours. In case you’re drying a few tray, rotate the trays a few cases too.
*See further notes about assessing doneness below.*
When are apricots carried out drying?
The apricots are carried out drying as quickly as they’re not moist or sticky throughout the center, have become leathery, and the sides start to curve. On account of they do not comprise preservatives, handmade dried apricots gained’t be as thick and moist as ones you may buy throughout the retailer.
The exact time to stop drying is a little bit little bit of a non-public judgement title. Drying the fruit for a shorter time interval will result in further clean and supple dried apricots. The longer they dry, the additional highly effective, chewy, and jerky-like they will become. I choose to dry mine until they’re not moist, nevertheless nonetheless have some bend and softness to them.
You might uncover some objects dry faster than the others, so I usually take a look at on them after 8 to 10 hours, take away these which could be carried out, and allow the remaining to proceed to dry.
For sure the additional moisture that’s nonetheless, the shorter their shelf life may be. An extreme quantity of leftover moisture can lead to mildew growth in storage. Subsequently, in case you want your dried apricots clean and plump, plan to eat them inside a pair months of drying. In case you make them extra-dry, they’re going to final so long as a 12 months or longer in storage (nevertheless might be not pretty as good to snack on with out reconstituting first). See further storage strategies below.
Storing Dried Apricots
As quickly because the dried apricots have cooled absolutely, change them to an airtight storage container of choice. Good examples embrace zip lock baggage or a giant glass container with tight-fitting lid. Retailer in a cool, darkish, dry location.
If appropriately dried, apricots must maintain good in dry storage for numerous months or longer. Though not required, storing them throughout the fridge will help cease mildew and lengthen their lifespan even further – as a lot as a 12 months. As long as they don’t develop mildew, they’re nonetheless good!
Strategies to Use Dried Apricots
Dried apricots are implausible to eat on their very personal as a snack or healthful dessert. You may additionally chop up and add dried apricots to salads, path mix, baked objects, handmade sourdough granola or sourdough bread, on excessive of plain yogurt, in oatmeal, or paired with cheese and crackers or bread. I actually like mixing dried apricots with a handful of pecans or almonds for a well-balanced snack. Dried apricots pair very effectively with chocolate too. Take into consideration dipping some in melted chocolate, or together with chocolate chips to your house made path mix as a further decadent take care of!
In case your dried apricots are on the highly effective aspect, you presumably can merely reconstitute them by soaking them in water. Merely cowl the dried apricots with warmth water in a bowl, enable them to take a seat as long as needed to get clean and plump as soon as extra (about thirty minutes to some hours), after which drain the water and pat dry.
Learn the way to Dry Apricots (Oven or Dehydrator)
Dried persimmons are delicious, nutritious, and easy to make! Uncover methods to dry persimmon slices (Fuyu or Hachiya) throughout the oven or meals dehydrator with this step-by-step data.
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A meals dehydrator or oven
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Wire baking racks and baking sheets (if using the oven)
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Air tight storage containers
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Wash the apricots correctly.
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Use a knife to cut each apricot in half (decreasing in a circle throughout the pit) after which gently twist apart each half. Take away the pit.
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Unfold out the apricot halves with their pores and pores and skin aspect going by way of down in a single layer on meals dehydrator trays, OR on wire baking racks set on excessive of baking sheets. (See notes below)
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In a meals dehydrator, dry the persimmons on 135°F (medium heat or fruit setting) for roughly 8 to 12 hours.
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Throughout the oven, use the lowest temperature setting potential (150-175°F) until the services are completely dry – about 6 to eight. Start routinely checking on the dried apricots after the first 2 to 3 hours. In case you aren’t using a wire rack, flip the fruit over every couple of hours. In case you’re drying a few tray, rotate the trays a few cases too.
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The apricots are carried out drying as quickly as they’re not moist or sticky throughout the center, have become leathery, and the sides start to curve. Drying the fruit for a shorter time interval will result in further clean and supple dried apricots. The longer they dry, the additional highly effective, chewy, and jerky-like they will become. The additional dry they’re, the longer they are going to last in storage.
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As quickly because the dried apricots have cooled absolutely, change them to an airtight storage container (e.g. zip lock baggage or a giant glass container with tight-fitting lid). Retailer in a cool, darkish, dry location.
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If appropriately dried, the apricots maintain good in dry storage for numerous months or longer. Storing them throughout the fridge will help cease mildew and lengthen their lifespan even further (though not required).
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Benefit from dried apricots as-is, in path mix or granola, with oatmeal, yogurt, cheese, chocolate and additional!
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In case your dried apricots are on the highly effective aspect, you presumably can merely reconstitute them by soaking them in water. Merely cowl the dried apricots with warmth water in a bowl, enable them to take a seat as long as needed to get clean and plump as soon as extra (about thirty minutes to some hours), after which drain the water and pat dry.
Using wire racks helps apricots dry further evenly and shortly throughout the oven, allowing airflow all through fruit. In case you don’t have wire baking racks, you presumably can put them instantly on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper as a substitute. Nonetheless, you’ll need to present and flip the slices every hour this vogue, and it will take longer to dry.
Successfully folks, that concludes this lesson. I hope you found this data to be useful. If that is the case, please depart a consider – and be at liberty to ask any questions!
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