PROJECT 39

DEHYDRATED FRUIT LEATHER

Commercial fruit leather is pretty popular, and I remember eating “fruit roll ups” as a child. Unfortunately, commercial fruit leathers can be expensive and they can also contain a lot of unnatural additives.

Homemade fruit leathers should not contain anything other than fruit, lemon juice, and MAYBE some sugar (however, we will give some additional options later).

I find that the following fruits work well for fruit leathers, but personal taste may vary:

Apple, apricot, banana, blackberry, blueberry, cherry, cranberry, grapefruit, grape, kiwi, lemon, nectarine, orange, peach, pear, persimmon, pineapple, plum, pumpkin, raspberry, rhubarb, strawberry, watermelon.

Basically you are going to make a sauce with blended fruit and then dehydrate it—so it is possible to use vegetables if you want to get creative.

The Materials

Material:

•   Fruit

•   Lemon juice (to prevent browning)

•   Optional sweeteners/flavorings:

o   Fruit juice

o   Honey

o   Maple syrup

o   Brown sugar

o   Fruit jams/preserves

o   Vanilla or almond extract

o   Brandy

o   Cinnamon

o   Nutmeg

o   Ginger

Tools:

•   Fruit Peeler

•   Blender or Food Mill

•   Teaspoon

•   Mixing bowl

•   Dehydrator

•   Solid tray or fruit leather tray

Procedure:

1.     Wash fruit and remove cores or large seeds.

2.     Peel if desired, but you can also leave the skin on fruits with edible skins.

3.     Cut fruit into small pieces and place in a blender.

4.     Add a teaspoon of lemon juice to cover the cut fruit to prevent browning from oxygenation.

5.     Add any sweetener and flavor you want but don’t use too much as it will thin out your mix and make it take a lot of time to dry. Also, some flavorings will cause the dried leathers to be sticky. It is also important to know that dehydrating intensifies flavors so use additions sparingly.

6.     Blend until smooth.

Fruit puree spread on dehydrator sheet

7.     Spread parchment paper, Excalibur ParaFlexx, or fruit leather inserts on your dehydrator tray—don’t use wax paper.

8.     Spread your mix about ⅛-inch thick on your dehydrator tray, but since the edges will dry quicker try to make the edges thicker so that the leather dries evenly.

Dried leather peeled off—the thicker, the easier to peel, but the longer the process will take.

9.     Set your dehydrator to 135 degrees F.

9.1.   Drying times will usually be in between six to twelve hours; it mostly depends on the water content of your fruit leather.

9.2.   After about six hours, your leather may be dry enough to peel off and place directly on the mesh trays. This will speed up drying.

9.3.   Leather will be pliable not crispy when done. Be sure to check spots where the mixture was spread thicker to make sure there is no moisture.

This is best stored in the refrigerator at home, but wrapped in plastic it can last a few days for use camping or hiking.

If you want, you can add a little water and rehydrate it back into a sauce, but I like to eat it dry.

It tastes good

Lessons Learned:

Cooking teaches cause and effect, and by using the dehydrator kids learn patience, as well as how to preserve food using one of the basic food storage methods.

This is also a great way to teach economics as you can compare the cost and quality of homemade fruit leathers with store bought kinds.