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Drying Fruits (2003)

nchfp.uga.edu

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Re: Drying Fruits (2003)

#11

Post by dylan604 »

shpat wrote: post #8

Here’s the fact sheet they reference[0] with nutrient loss info. Interestingly, vitamin C seems to suffer the most. [0] https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/dry/csu_dry_vegetables.pdf

Vitamin C is a temperamental thing. It oxidizes very easily, and then just becomes this inert thing. Luckily, it turns color when it oxidizes, so it lets you know it happened. Skin care products try to stabilize it with other ingredients while packaging it in UV protective containers. Some even go so far as to recommend keeping the product refrigerated. There are now many options for adding Vitamin C with the majority of them reducing the effectiveness of the Vitamin C to gain stability in the product as in some are not as efficiently absorbed by the body, but won't oxidize. Some are water soluble, some are oil soluble. Of all of the ingredients, VitC is definitely the most finky

Re: Drying Fruits (2003)

#12

Post by jrgoff »

phone8675309 wrote: post #6
dfxm12 wrote: post #2

Raisins are just grape jerky :) Arrange pretreated fruits on drying trays in single layers, pit cavity up. Dry at 140 degrees F (60°C) in an oven or dehydrator. Does anyone have an oven that can maintain such low temps?

I bet my car hits 140 in the summer sun.

I accidentally made raisins one summer by forgetting a cluster of grapes on my car dash for a few days. They tasted pretty good!

Re: Drying Fruits (2003)

#13

Post by bagels »

dfxm12 wrote: post #2

Raisins are just grape jerky :) Arrange pretreated fruits on drying trays in single layers, pit cavity up. Dry at 140 degrees F (60°C) in an oven or dehydrator. Does anyone have an oven that can maintain such low temps?

Toaster ovens are cheap and have good enough thermostats.

Re: Drying Fruits (2003)

#14

Post by a012 »

dfxm12 wrote: post #2

Raisins are just grape jerky :) Arrange pretreated fruits on drying trays in single layers, pit cavity up. Dry at 140 degrees F (60°C) in an oven or dehydrator. Does anyone have an oven that can maintain such low temps?

Not household ovens as far as I know, this is why I bought a commercial one (UNOX - an Italian brand) that allows me to set a low temperature. It’s basically a convection oven with PID.

Re: Drying Fruits (2003)

#15

Post by rrauenza »

dfxm12 wrote: post #2

Raisins are just grape jerky :) Arrange pretreated fruits on drying trays in single layers, pit cavity up. Dry at 140 degrees F (60°C) in an oven or dehydrator. Does anyone have an oven that can maintain such low temps?

I use convection mode on my oven and set it to 170F. Convection mode on my oven doesn't actually use the temperature you set it to, but some auto slightly lower temperature to accommodate for the convection.

I don't think it's as low as 140F, but I get good sundried cherry tomatoes out of it.

Re: Drying Fruits (2003)

#16

Post by hedora »

dfxm12 wrote: post #2

Raisins are just grape jerky :) Arrange pretreated fruits on drying trays in single layers, pit cavity up. Dry at 140 degrees F (60°C) in an oven or dehydrator. Does anyone have an oven that can maintain such low temps?

For dehydrating food, you'd also want it to have a fan + turn over air pretty rapidly. That speeds up the process, which matters even more if it's monopolizing your oven!

A "food dehydrator" mode would be much more than at least half of the dozen modes our oven does have; I wonder why they omitted it, or if one mode could be tricked into that use case. It definitely has a fan to actively vent hot air from the oven cavity (I think this is mostly to protect its computer, and not particularly useful for anything except cost reduction), and it has a proof mode, so I know the thermostat can drop down far enough.

As an aside, LG ovens have the worst firmware I've ever encountered on a home appliance, and it is by a large margin.

Re: Drying Fruits (2003)

#18

Post by h2odragon »

The cooler you can keep things while drying them, the more flavor the final result has. Airflow is important; but only up to a (rather small) velocity: as long as air is circulating around everything and not static you're good; beyond that you're just going to be adding heat and dust.

Air will soak up an astounding quantity of water, but it takes time. I cold dry flowers at room temp in a closed cabinet (no outside air ventilation, full internal re-circulation) for 4 to 7 days, usually. Depends on density and temp. If I need to rush I'll use a rock salt dehydrator bucket in the cabinet.

Re: Drying Fruits (2003)

#19

Post by ch4s3 »

0_____0 wrote: post #5
dfxm12 wrote: post #2

Raisins are just grape jerky :) Arrange pretreated fruits on drying trays in single layers, pit cavity up. Dry at 140 degrees F (60°C) in an oven or dehydrator. Does anyone have an oven that can maintain such low temps?

I've used the incandescent light in my oven to keep sourdough starter warm before. If the wattage is too low, you could hack together a simple thermostat driven relay and a larger light bulb run into your oven.

A big cup of hot water works pretty well too.

Re: Drying Fruits (2003)

#20

Post by purpleflame1257 »

dfxm12 wrote: post #2

Raisins are just grape jerky :) Arrange pretreated fruits on drying trays in single layers, pit cavity up. Dry at 140 degrees F (60°C) in an oven or dehydrator. Does anyone have an oven that can maintain such low temps?

Many air fryers have a "Dehydrate" setting.
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