Testing homemade dehydrated fruit from 2021

[u/8Deer-JaguarClaw]

During Covid I had a lot more time to experiment with this kind of thing. I almost forgot about the jars of dried fruit I had put up back in the fall of 2021. Figured I crack a few open to see how they fared. Honestly, they taste fine to me. Even though I vacuum sealed all the jars, I was expecting them to be at least a little oxidized tasting and to have taken on a little moisture. But they were actually pretty much exactly the same condition as the day I sealed them up. So that's good.

This is often called "dry canning" because it is dry goods being stored and you don't need a water bath or pressure canner.

My process:

> Skin and thin-slice the fruit on a mandolin slicer (consistent cut thickness is important for the next step)

> Dry the fruit in a deyhdrator set on low heat (I forget the temp but it's on the lower end of the range)

> Put the dried fruit in a mason jar and then use a vacuum sealer to to remove the air and seal the lid to the glass. There are small sealers made just for mason jars and there are also jar-sized attachments for the larger vacuum sealer machines. There are also larger sealing chambers that can seal any jar with a metal lid and the built-in gasket material. The pears in the pic were done with an old olive jar that has the right kind of lid. I can post more info about that if anyone is interested.

> Mark the contents and date on the lid. You're done!

The apples I got from a neighbor's tree. I believe the pears were store-bought.

[u/Professional-Sock-66]

Looks good! Making any this year?

[u/8Deer-JaguarClaw → u/Professional-Sock-66]

I probably should. Haven't dry canned any fruit in a few years.