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Drying Fruits (2003)

nchfp.uga.edu

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Re: Drying Fruits (2003)

#21

Post by hammock »

dylan604 wrote: post #11
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 majorit…

> Vitamin C is a temperamental thing. It oxidizes very easily, and then just becomes this inert thing.

Doing exactly what it was designed to do, biologically speaking.

Re: Drying Fruits (2003)

#22

Post by hammock »

hedora wrote: post #16
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 ca…

Just put your oven on convection roast at the lowest temp possible... boom dehydrator mode

Re: Drying Fruits (2003)

#23

Post by kwhitefoot »

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?

My oven can be used to prove bread dough at 30°C

Re: Drying Fruits (2003)

#24

Post by shalmanese »

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?

> Does anyone have an oven that can maintain such low temps?

They seem quite common for ovens outside of the US but most digital US ovens I've used have a minimum temp of 170F for what I assume is some liability reason.

Re: Drying Fruits (2003)

#25

Post by danuker »

hedora wrote: post #16
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 ca…

Firmware on an oven? My cheap dehydrator has a thermostat and a on/off switch. My cheap oven also has a timer. How is software warranted on an oven?

Re: Drying Fruits (2003)

#26

Post by Fnoord »

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 own an Excalibur food dehydrator (since approx 2005), but using it requires adequate space and electricity.

We have a fig tree, a pear tree, and tons of herbs. Most of that is for whatever frolics outside though. Last year I was also on vacation at a farmer who had tons of fruit and nut trees on his yard. But people didn't wanna come to pluck so it ended up rotting on the floor. That made me sad, and it makes me sad I have this amazing device unused. But at least the birds and other animals such as bees and insects get to utilize them.

Re: Drying Fruits (2003)

#27

Post by fullspectrumdev »

purpleflame1257 wrote: post #20
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.

The “multi cooker” unit I have made by Ninja has such a feature, though I’ve found various aftermarket “racks” are needed for good performance dehydrating various stuff.

It’s fucking excellent for drying mushrooms, for example. Whenever I have some left over from cooking or harvest that I can’t use immediately, I just dry and powder them to use as seasoning in soups and stocks and such.

Other food scraps from cooking that are not destined for compost can be treated similarly, if one wants to get into making their own spices.

Re: Drying Fruits (2003)

#29

Post by mithr »

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?

The Anova Precision Oven is one, it goes as low as 77F (25C).
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