I am slowly dying....

[KrazE]

From the incredible smell in my house.

I'm making fruit leather right now (aka fruit rollups) since I picked up all those strawberries on the weekend and OMG it's just killing me.

It's a basic recipe - 3 cups of whatever fruit, and 1 tablespoon of honey.

If you don't have a dehydrator (which I don't - yet), then you simply spread the mix out on a pan covered in parchment paper, and bake in a 250 degree oven for 2 to 3 hours.

I say 2 to 3 hours because everyone's oven is different and you want the fruit leather to be dry, not sticky - so test it at 2 hours and every so often after until you get the right consistency.

Anyone have a food dehydrator already? What make/model is it? What do you think of it?

[MomOfOne79]

ohhh, thanks for the tip...going to have to try this, just bought a bunch of strawberries, too. Do you think this would work with frozen berries?

[KrazE]

1 cup of the 3 I used was frozen - you have to puree them with the honey & pour into the sheet

[Lynn49]

I have a simple dehydrator, nothing fancy and it works very well..I can't remember the name but it's well-known and not expensive..I like dehydrating canned pineapple slices...SO nice on car trips and snacking.

[walkonby]

that title of yours scared me a bit. Death by strawberry aroma is acceptable though. lol Nice going!

[KrazE]

It gets worse!!

2 cups of red delicious apples, 1 cup of strawberries, 1 tablespoon honey

The smells!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[stacymarie]

I have a simple dehydrator, nothing fancy and it works very well..I can't remember the name but it's well-known and not expensive..I like dehydrating canned pineapple slices...SO nice on car trips and snacking.

that sounds llike a fantastic idea. We bought a HUGE can of pineapple from costco and I have been avioding opening it since I have no clue what to do with it all.
How long do you leave it in for?

[ninna]

So glad you posted this thread OP! I too have toyed with the idea of getting a dehydrator but I've been on the fence about it. We'd like to dry seasonal fruits and have them for trail mixes. Also thought I'd like to try drying vegetables as well.

My question is this: how long would it take to dry the stuff out? I presume each thing takes longer depending on how juicy inside it is.

Like, say I wanted to dry out bananas in a dehydrator. How long would that take in hours? What about blueberries? Carrots? Like, I'm looking for a time amount kind of thing.

OP..that fruit leather sound delish! I'm not sure I'd be able to stay away. hahaha.

[Darth Penguin]

DH666 is the Dehydrator King....

[KrazE]

He shall need to be hunted down when I start my research for one to buy lol

[Andit]

I have a simple dehydrator (not sure of the name, got it cheap cause the box was damaged & can't find the logo on it). The only yummy thing I've done is dehydrate bananas (I left it on overnight) - I buy cheap bananas when they're ripe & on clearance, slice them thinly, then the dog & I snack on them & the cat sometimes steals a piece to play with it). I saw yummy, but that's in human terms. I originally bought it to make dog treats. I dehyrate liver every couple of weeks (I pan fry the liver first, slice it thinly, then dehydrate for a day).

OP, care to switch? I'll dehydrate your fruity snacks if you do a batch of liver treats.

[KrazE]

OMG liver

I cannot even handle the smell of it and physically gag, then vomit.

[sassypants]

Thanks for posting - I saw a recipe on Pinterest (but it said up to 8 hours to make ... and I don't have that kind of patience, LOL!). I will have to try out your recipe ♥

[elsiefaye]

Yummy I need to try strawberry fruit leather. I have only tried apricot and it was awesome. My son can't leave it alone and I am sad that I did not freeze any apricot. I did search fruit leather and the recipes I found say to leave it in the oven on the lowest temp for 8 hours. Boy what a pain to leave it so long, I might try a higher temp for a shorter time.

[gourmetsue]

I have the American Harvest and it's not bad. If you're going to get serious about it then the Excalibur is the way to go. I believe the 2900 is the 9 tray model but there are also smaller models. I find with the one I have it has a lot of wasted space being round.

I have done blueberries in the past and it took an age. Many hours. I wasn't too worried about it when I was in an apartment not paying the electricity bill but now that I'm a home owner I'm a little more wary .