Dry Apples

Maybe your apple tree was overzealous in production, maybe you bought too many apples thinking you wanted eight apple pies — whatever the reason, you now have a lot of extra apples on your hands. Why not try drying them out? Dried apples are delicious, healthy snacks that can be stored for months. Follow these easy steps to dry your apples.

Ingredients

  • Apples
  • Lemon juice
  • Water
  • Cinnamon, nutmeg or allspice (optional)

Steps

Washing and Coring the Apples

  1. Wash your apples. You do not necessarily need to peel them. The skin adds extra flavor to the apples and also contain a good deal of the fiber apples are famous for. Other people like to peel their apples because they do not like the texture of the dried skins. It is really just a matter of what you like.
    • Any variety of apple can be dried, though Gala, Fuji, and Golden Delicious work particularly well.
  2. Cut away the cores. You will also want to cut out any worm-eaten parts. Kitchen stores sell apple corers that will easily and efficiently remove your apple cores. However, if you do not have one of these devices you can also core your apples by hand.[1]
    • If you are using these apples for decorations, or you really like your food to look as beautiful as possible, skip the coring. Apples that are not cored and are cut so that they keep their circular shape have a pretty star pattern in the center created by the core.
  3. Cut the apples into thin slices. You can either cut your apples so that they retain their circular shape, or you can cut them into thin wedges. Again, this is simply based on your own preference, though some say that the thinner the slices, the easier it is to dry the apples.
  4. Dip your slices into a solution that will keep them from browning. An excellent solution for this is lemon juice, pineapple juice and water mixed together. The pineapple juice isn’t necessary but it adds sweetness to the mixture that counteracts the sour flavor of the lemon juice.[1] Pre-treating the apples will also help them retain more of their vitamin A and vitamin C properties as well as provide a better texture in the final product. Here are some methods you can use to pretreat the apples:
    • Soak the apple slices in lemon juice. Mix 1 cup (240 mL) lemon juice into 1 quart (2 pints) of water. Do not soak for more than 10 minutes. Drain the liquid from the fruit.
    • Soak the apple slices in sodium bisulfite. Mix 2 teaspoons (9.85 mL) of sodium bisulfite into 1 quart (2 pints) of water. Do not soak for more than 10 minutes. Drain the liquid from the fruit.
    • Soak the apple slices in ascorbic acid for a result 6 times more effective than lemon juice. Mix 1 tablespoon (14.78 mL) of crystalline ascorbic acid into 1 quart (2 pints) of cold water. Soak the fruit for 3 minutes. Drain the liquid from the fruit.
    • You can also add orange juice and lemon juice mixed with water.
  5. Sprinkle seasonings on the slices (optional). Some people like to flavor their apple slices with spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, or allspice. These give the apple slices a flavor boost, but unflavored apple slices are equally delicious.[2]

Drying the Apples

Method One: Using the Oven

  1. Set your oven to 200ºF (93.3ºC.) You can even make your oven go down a bit lower, to 145ºF (62.7ºC), but many ovens will not go down this low.[3]
  2. Place the apple slices on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Make sure that they are not overlapping or else they will fuse together while they are drying.
  3. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake the apples for at least an hour on each side. Bake the apple slices for an hour. When the hour has passed, remove the sheets and flip all of the the apple slices over. Bake the apples for one more hour is you prefer your apples to be a little less crispy. If you like crispy dried apples, bake them for two more hours. Just make sure to bake them evenly on each side.
    • You should keep an eye on your apples and check them periodically. All ovens are different and your oven might take a longer or shorter amount of time to dry the apples.
  4. Turn the oven off but do not take the apples out for another one to two hours. Inside, crack the oven door open a small amount and let the apples cool inside the oven. You should not take the apples out until the oven has cooled completely (this should take one or two hours).[3].
    • There's another school of thought that you should keep your oven open during the entire cooking process, with a fan blowing on it to help circulate the air. If you decide to prop the oven open in advance, just cook the apples for 6-10 hours.

Method Two: Using the Sun

  1. Spread the apple slices on some shallow cooking trays. Cover the bottom of the trays with parchment paper or some other cooking paper before placing the apples on the trays. Cooking trays that have lips are better than cookie trays because the drying apples may leak a little juice which could make a sticky mess.
  2. Place the apples in the sun on a warm (or hot) day. Keep them out as long as the sun is out. Cover the apples loosely with cheesecloth to protect the fruit from any pesky bugs. In the evening, before the dew falls, bring the apple slices indoors so that they do not get moldy. Place the tray in a dry spot in your house.[4]
  3. Turn the apple slices. At least once a day, turn the apple slices over so that the underside faces the sun. This will result in an even drying. You should also turn them when you bring them in for the night.[4]
  4. Place the apples in the sun again. The next day, spread the apple slices in the sun again and keep them out all day once more. They will probably become quite dry during the course of the day. Normally this method takes about two days to be fully completed.
  5. Hang the dry apple slices. When the apples are quite dry, which is when the outside flesh is not moist at all, put them into brown paper bags and hang them up in an airy, dry place; alternatively put them in plastic airtight containers for storage.

Method Three: Using a Food Dehydrator

  1. Arrange the slices on the drying rack of the dehydrator. Try to spread them out so that none of the pieces are touching each other. If they do touch, they might fuse together while they are in the dehydrator.
  2. Turn the dehydrator on. If your dehydrator has a temperature control, set it to 140ºF (60ºC). Using the dehydrator will take anywhere from 12 to 24 hours depending on the type of apple and how thickly you cut the slices.[2]
  3. Take them out when they are done. You can tell when a dried apple is done by feeling it. The slices should feel bendable or leathery and not brittle. Some people liken them to the consistency of a fresh raisin. Store the apples in airtight containers until you are ready to sit back and enjoy them.

Tips

  • The dried apples will be delicious in flavour when stewed, and are very acceptable substitutes when fresh fruit is scarce.
  • If the weather is rainy, the apples must be dried indoors only, and extra care must then be taken that they are neither scorched nor cooked on the stove. Whilst cooking is going on they will dry nicely on sheets of paper on the plate-rack.

Things You'll Need

  • Drying trays
  • Sheets of paper
  • Brown paper bags or airtight plastic containers
  • An oven
  • A knife or apple corer
  • Baking sheet
  • Parchment paper

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://jenniferskitchen.com/2011/12/how-to-dry-apples.html
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://www.pickyourown.org/apples_dried.htm
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.eatingwell.com/healthy_cooking/healthy_cooking_101_basics_techniques/how_to_make_dried_apples_and_apple_chips_in_the_oven
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://www.goinghometoroost.com/2012/simple-living/diy-dried-apples/

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