Each summer I can applesauce, apple butter, and apple jelly. This year I decided to give drying apples a try.
The easiest way by far is too use a food dehydrator-but I wanted to use the old simple way of drying the apples in the sun.
I lined my pans with parchment paper and covered my slices with cheese cloth-to keep the bugs off. It took several days (I took them in at night) to dry the apples. I do live on the north side of the mountain-so a sunnier location might be faster.
When the apples are dry-they will feel rubbery but not brittle. Mine turned brown-I’m sure there are methods to prevent browning-but since it doesn’t change the taste, I don’t mind the brown.
Dried apples can be used to make applesauce, pies, cakes or just eaten. Miss Cindy, The Deer Hunter’s Mom, makes her own trail mix-she adds her dried apples to it. (I always pick out the dried apples and eat them before anyone else has a chance!)
In the old days, folks sometimes preserved apples by using a bleaching method or by smoking the slices. A few additional tips for drying apples today:
- You can dry apples inside a car on a hot day-this also helps with the bugs
- Apples can be dried in your oven-it can take up to 11 hours-set your oven to the lowest temperature and check them often
- Turning the slices aids in the drying
- Store dried apples in a cool dark place
Since I’m a true novice at apple drying-I hope you’ll leave me a comment if you have additional tips.
Tipper
p.s. I couldn’t resist showing you:
This is what happens when you stay out late Contra Dancing and then try to catch up on homework!
To anyone who doesn’t know, you can prevent fruits from oxidizing and turning brown using ascorbic acid, aka vitamin C (this is why citrus juice works). Just grind up a supplement tab or buy it in bulk powder form. It only takes about 1/8-1/4 tsp per gallon of water. This works on apples, avocados, potatos, prettymuch anything that turns brown on exposure to air.
Love the recipes, thanks.
i wash my apples(drain)in salt water and use the dehydrator, so far they havent turned brown
one year i dried tomatoes, it worked but they are so watery it kept me busy rotating the trays , they are good in soups etc and dont take much room to store them ,they will keep in a crisper drawer
We dry apples pretty much like Tipper does. Once they are done, we divide them up and use the Foodsaver to vacumm seal them. The stick them in the freezer until we need them for cooking. I couldn’t live with out the Foodsaver. During a heavy harvest, we can get edibles in the freezer fast until I want to can them during fall or winter.
I love dried apples. I use my dehydrator. It is a large one and can hold up to 25 small sliced apples. I dip mine in orange juice befor drying, to help stop the browning. My girls also like to just eat fresh apples dipped in orange juice. Nice flavor. Apple do not grow down here, so I have to wait for them to go on sale at the grocery store. I look forward to picking them from a tree one day. 🙂 I store my dried apples in the freezer, to keep the girls from eating them all at once.
I have a bushel of apples from a friends tree right now and was just contemplating what I wanted to do with them this year. I may try drying a few, but living in the Pacific NorthWET I will be using the food dehydrater!
Love that last picture! Very cute~
Yum….my grandmother’s fried apple pies were made from dried apples, cooked and then used as the filling, and there is nothing better in this world to eat! I have dried apples in the car before–put the pan on the back dashboard and the sun going through the glass does a great job, and as you said, no bugs. Plus, then your car smells absolutely heavenly after that!
Marie
I dry my apples in the oven on my beef jerky racks, Tipper… I got tired of fighting with the yellow jackets outside!! And in 4-5 hours, they’re done, rain or shine. (Not to mention how good it makes the house smell!!)
This post made my mouth water. Thanks for describing the procedure. I think I can handle this one!
Hey Tipper,
I love fried apple pies made from dried apples.
We used to dry so many apples when I was growing up. We used a wood frame with screen wire on it so the apples could get air all around them.
I have used a clean sheet and put it on the car hood or trunk. As hot as it is around here it don’t take long to dry apples.
Another recipe that was my grandma’s was to make up your dough like biscuits and roll it out in a rectangle. Put your cooked dried apples on it and roll it like a jelly roll.Slice and put them in a cooking pan. Then heat water, sugar,butter, and vanilla flavoring and pour in pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon.Bake.I’ll have to find the exact recipe. My Mama was saying not long ago, I need to put that recipe on my site.lol…
Have a good weekend.
Pam
Mmmmm. Love apple butter! Would love some right now on a fresh slice of 8-grain bread. Thank you, Tipper. I’m adding it to my shopping list right now! :)) And the photo is priceless! Hope you and your family are having a wonderful weekend! :))
A true Sleeping Beauty!!!
This summer I have dried apples, pears, and blueberries. The blueberries are tricky. Dry them too long and they are hard, don’t dry them long enough and they will mold. Some molded this year, so all the dried blueberries will be stored in the freezer from now on!
I can remember my grandmother drying apples and green beans–leatherbritches– she put them on a window screen out in the sun.
Mighty fine eaten!
oh my. the apples. they just keep coming. We never try to dry apples the old fashioned way here because it is just sooo damp. I think it would take months!
we also make apple pie filling, apple butter, applesauce.
now we are moving on to pumpkin butter…
I have never dried apples. I wonder if my kids would eat them. They love banana chips 🙂
Your still getting apples? Wow! I’ve never tried drying apples. But maybe next year I need to try.
I can so relate to the trying to catch up
I use to make apple butter but I seem to have gotten really lazy since going to college *sigh*
Tipper, thanks so much for your comment about the fried pie pastry. I am tickled that it worked for you!
All of it looks tasty! Thanks for sharing!
Cool post! I had 2 experiences with drying apples this year…I dried a bunch after a good soaking in lemon suice+water adn they didn’t brown at all. I dried another bunch using fruit fresh (per directions) and they all turned brown. Just some info…
Anyhow, cool on the contra dancing. I have been twice and my in-laws go all the time! It’s cool that your kids are in to it too!
Mmmmm…. dried apples!
Yum!
Love the picture of your sleepy daughter!
Blessings!
Lacy
Tipper: Neat shots of the apple drying process. I must admit the homework photos was the best part of the story. What a neat capture.
You have given me a wonderful idea – I had forgotten my oven has a drying feature, and my grand children would love dried apples, I’m sure. btw – I’ve given you an award, visit my blog
I have dried apples in the over before but I think I might like to try the car. What a great idea. Love that napping photo. Cute.
Your apples look yummy!! 🙂
Yummy! I’ve not dried apples either. I would love to have the chance to try it 🙂
I love the “homework” photo! I would love to eat some of those apples!
I’ve never dried apples before. How do you store them after you’ve dried them? Can you dry pears also?
Those look delicious. Love dried apples… Well done!
I love that picture of Chitter or Chatter sleeping!
I am try to dry some persimmons as I type. Not sure about them. Yesterday I made a loaf of persimmon bread. It was ok, but I will look for a different recipe.
I had a sack of black skinned apples given to me today. They look almost like a purple plum. Very firm and sweet tasting. I will keep them just for snacking.
I’ve dried apples before, first we blanched them in some lemon juice and water.
Yours look tasty.
Osagebluffquilter
I have never thought about drying apples, how cool!
Love the sleeping child…ah to dance all night.
That looks yummy. We can’t really grow apples here. There are a couple of varieties that a few people coddle into producing, but it there aren’t enough chill hours to produce much.
My Grandma used to dry apples the same way you do, but she just had brown paper bags instead of the parchment paper. I, like you, would try to eat as many as I could. Got my hands tapped a few times. Sorry, Grandma, they were just too good to resist! 🙂 xxoo
Never tried drying apples, but we do peaches and tomatoes in the dehydrator and eat them like fruit
roll-ups–YUMMY!
Your fresh apples look just like mine did!
🙂
Can you can the apples like you did your pear recipe? I have been wondering about that! We have apple, pear, and peach trees and I want to get some better/different ideas about preserving them.
I love dried apples. Good munchy. I’ve done them in our dehydrator.
I put mine in the freezer.
Fried apple pies!! Now I’m hungry!!!
I love the idea of putting them in the car – I could put my car out in the sun and it would get really warm. With the added plus of the wonderful scent in my car! When dried do you reconstitute them before making apple pie filling? blessings, marlene
I have never eaten dried apples.
Probably cause you’ve eaten them all before I got to try them. tee hee
I’ll have to try them, they do look appetizing. Can you tell, I’m hungry?
Love the “got caught napping” picture!
The apples look yummy. I like apple smelling shampoo. Maybe you could make your own.
The photo of your tired student was funny. Like can be so hard when your social calendar is so full.
Personally, that was never my problem.
Tipper, Your family will be eating some good energy snacks this winter and some good pies and cakes too.
I wish I had an apple tree. Or knew someone with one. Here in No Louisiana we have lots of peaches and blueberries available but not apples. My Granny had a couple of apple trees and dried apples and used them in fried pies, a cake filling, and some other delicious goodies. I can remember helping her take them outside every morning. I would give $100 for one of those fried pies right now!!!
Oh, how wonderful to be young and to go dancing all night! sigh, thanks for the dried apples info. I want to try my hand at this. It’s getting cold this week,will that hinder the process? blessings,Kathleen