Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Blueberries and Adventures in Dehydrating

Last week we were lucky enough to go to a friend of a friend's farm and pick some blueberries for free! Blueberries for the picking at the tail end of September is something pretty magical if you ask me... just as the local berries are almost all gone and we have turned to apple and pears, we have now been inundated with blues again! yay!
So, we made muffins, snacked out a bunch, froze some and I also decided to break in the dehydrator I got last year as I Christmas gift and dehydrate some blueberries. As soon as I started, I realized I had no idea what I was doing. The manual said to quickly blanch the berries before starting to dehydrate, but that just made them sort of messy. Then it said to dry between 10 and 16 hours, but 18 hours later, many were still big and juicy. A couple hours later, I discarded the ones that didn't seem to be drying and stored the rest, but I have no idea if I dried them enough.
Anyone have any tips on this? I thought that dehydrating would be super easy, but without any experience of what they are supposed to look and feel like, I am not sure if I succeeded.... I guess if they start to mold we will know I should have kept them in longer...
at

6 comments:

  1. elaineOctober 4, 2011 at 7:09 AM

    I've never tried dehydrating blueberries, but from my experience, it takes longer to dehydrate things than the instructions say. We like to make raisins and with some of the grapes, we've had the dehydrator on for a week before they were the consistency we like. My instruction book says to "dip (blueberries) in boiling water until skins crack." Perhaps you left them in the blanching water too long? It also says they will take 10-18 hours to dehydrate so I'd definitely count on a longer time. You might also try making fruit leather with them by pureeing in the blender with an apple or pear and drying. Whole fruit, no added sugar = yum!

    ReplyDelete
  2. WintryOctober 4, 2011 at 8:20 AM

    Never dehydrated blues, but I bought some once and they looked just like raisins

    ReplyDelete
  3. cpcableOctober 4, 2011 at 10:28 AM

    Lucky you in getting some blueberries this late! Unfortunately, I have no words of wisdom to share with you. I hope they turn out!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousOctober 4, 2011 at 10:45 AM

    I didn't try blueberries this year-- I got a dehydrator after the season ended-- but everything I have dried seems to take a lot longer than the directions indicate. If you are not sure that they are dry enough and you have space, you might want to throw them in the freezer-- then you won't have the mold issue. I did that with some dried cherry tomatoes I was on the fence about-- I did not want those babies to spoil.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mama Gone GreenOctober 4, 2011 at 7:57 PM

    Thanks for the tips everyone!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Pure EllaOctober 4, 2011 at 8:07 PM

    A dehydrator is on my wish list ;)
    Can't help you there with the blueberry tips - I only wish I were facing this same dilemma ;)
    xo

    ReplyDelete