Dehydrating Oranges and Lemons

The last few days my wife has been drying lemons and oranges.  She has two dehydrators running, a Excalibur which she loves and an old Ronco 10 tray, which she dislikes.

She slices the lemon and oranges into thin slices without peeling them.  She uses a mandolin to slice them. The slices are about 1/8 inch thick.  The slices are placed right into the dehydrator and dried until the slices will snap when you break them.

She has multi uses for them, some she puts into a blender and powders them.  The powder is then used for seasoning in baking and other types of food.  The oranges can be used in salads.  The slices can be rehydrated and used in many dishes. She used them in marinates for meat.  My wife leaves the peels on them, but the peels can be removed if you don’t like them.  You can eat them plain as a snack or dip them in sugar or honey for a candy.  This is best if done before drying.

Dried fruit vacuumed sealed in mason jars

They are also an additional source of vitamin C and other nutrients.  This is a great way to store your citrus fruits so that you can enjoy them during their off seasons.

Howard

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4 thoughts on “Dehydrating Oranges and Lemons”

  1. Just got a new dehydrator for Christmas. I dried a batch of green, yellow and red bell peppers. They are so sweet we are eating them as snacks. Not sure I will have any for cooking. Then I bought some early Louisiana strawberries. They weren’t real sweet. I halved the first batch and the second batch I first pureed in my food processor. The fruit rollups and the halved are both very sweet after drying. All of these will be gone by tonight.
    The flavors certainly are more concentrated after drying.

  2. Hee, hee…looks like my jars! I also dehydrate lemons and limes. I like any of them in a cold glass of water for “citrus water”. And yes, powdered they make a plain powdered sugar icing taste wonderful! I dehydrate just about anything I can get my hands on because it saves me valuable space. I put them into jars which I can re-seal anytime w/my food saver attachments…or put them into mylar baggies which I can also seal w/food saver. I have 3 dehydrators…none of which is the expensive Excalibur…and I love two newer units, and only use the very old one when I’m truly “overloaded” and need to get something dried. I usually just put my fruits in and leave them overnight, at 130-135. Don’t “cook” them, just dry them. I’ve even got some jars of dried watermelon! SWEET!

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