How to dry fruit in a dehydrator/make dried fruit/fruit dehydrator:

  Dried fruit is rich in nutrients, contains vitamins and minerals, and it is also rich in natural sugars. The volume of dried fruit is about 11 to 31% of the fresh fruit, and the weight is about 10 to 25% of the fresh fruit, so packaging, storage, and transportation costs can be significantly saved. In addition, dried fruit is easy to eat and carry, so it is welcomed by more and more people. Due to the low water content of dried fruit, it can be stored for a long time at room temperature. So, how are dried fruits made?

Common methods of making dried fruits:

1.Rack drying outdoors
2.Oven drying
3.Drying with a dryer

Pretreatment before making dried fruits:

1. Choose fruits suitable for drying.
Some fruits are suitable for making dried fruits, but some fruits are not suitable for drying, so we only choose those fruits that will produce excellent productions after drying. For example, bananas, apples, grapes, pears, apricots, peaches, strawberries, plums, mangoes, figs, dates, and so on.
2. Wash the fruits.
Use cleaning equipment to remove impurities and dust on the surface of the fruit, and then peel and core the fruit. When finished, drain the water.
3. Slicing.
Cut larger fruit into slices, but many small vine fruits like berries and grapes can remain intact. Grapes or berries with seeds can be cut and removed, and the stems or leaves can be trimmed.
4. Place the fruit slices on the material tray.
Place the fruit slices evenly on the material tray. If you want to use the oven, put the fruit slices on the baking tray. If you plan to dry outdoors, place the fruit slices on the drying rack.

How to dry fruit by rack drying outdoors:

1. Choose a hot day for drying.
It takes a few days to dry outdoors. Check the weather forecast in advance to avoid rainy days. 
It is better to choose the weather with a temperature higher than 30℃and humidity lower than 60%. If the weather is sunny and breezy, it would be better.
2. Put the fruit on the tray or drying rack
Arrange the fruit slices evenly on a tray or drying rack, but don’t put them next to each other
3. Place the tray or drying rack in the sun.
Place the fruit tray or drying rack on two blocks, keeping it away from the ground. Cover it loosely with cheesecloth and let it out in direct sunlight. Keeping the tray or drying rack away from the wet ground can speed up the drying speed. Putting tin foil or aluminum plate under the tray or drying rack can reflect more sunlight and speed up drying. The tray or drying rack can be moved to the room at night because the cool air at night will bring moisture back to the fruit.
4. Store dried fruit.
Check the dryness of the fruit several times a day until the fruit looks shriveled and chewy. Store the dried fruit in an airtight container.

Tips：

Fruit slices can also be put on a clean cotton thread and hung in the sun to dry.
Before drying fruits such as apples and pears, you can soak them in acidic juices such as pineapple or lemon to prevent the fruits from turning brown when they are dried.

How to dry fruit in oven:

1. Put the material tray into the oven.
Preheat the oven to 50°C. After the oven is fully preheated, put the material tray in the oven.
2. Dry for 4 to 8 hours.
In general, it takes 4-8 hours for the fruit to dry. The drying temperature and drying time can be set according to the type of fruit and the thickness of the fruit slice. Be sure not to increase the drying temperature to speed up the drying process, since doing so will burn the fruit and make it inedible.
3. After the fruit is fully dehydrated, take it out of the oven and cool it down.
4.Put the prepared dried fruit in an airtight container.

How to dry fruit in a dehydrator:

1. Preheating: set the temperature to about 35℃ for half an hour.
2. Drying:
In the first stage, the temperature is increased from 40 to 55℃, and the temperature is increased by 5℃ each time. The duration is different each time. It needs to be determined according to the fruit variety and drying requirements. A small amount of moisture can be discharged in the early stage, and the amount of moisture can be increased in the later stage. The entire period is approximately 6 to 12 hours.
In the second stage, the fruit contains high sugar and the water is not easy to disperse, so the temperature needs to be raised. The temperature is set to 55-65℃ for 2-4 hours. Pay attention to timely dehumidification.
In the third stage, the moisture content inside the fruit is low, but the moisture inside the fruit is uneven. The temperature is set to 55℃ for 2 hours. The drying process can be completed when the moisture content inside the fruit drops to the expected requirement.
3. Packaging:
Grading and packaging the dried fruits in time to prevent deterioration or re-moisture and ensure the drying quality.

Precautions:

In the drying process, in addition to strictly controlling the heating temperature, it is also necessary to pay attention to timely dehumidification. To adjust the indoor temperature and ensure hot air circulation in the drying room, it is necessary to ventilate the room at any time.

  The first two methods of drying fruit are easy to operate and low in cost, but the quality of dried fruit is not very good. It is suitable for homemade dried fruit at home, and the dryer is suitable for mass production of dried fruit. Next, let's learn some knowledge about the storage and use of dried fruits.

The methods of storing and using dried fruits:

1. Store the dried fruit in an airtight container in a cool place.
Most dried fruits can be stored for 9-12 months in an airtight container. Dried fruits in a sealed package should be consumed as soon as possible after opening. If you can't finish it, you can store it in the refrigerator in an airtight bag to prevent it from spoiling.
2.Use dried fruits for cooking, baking, and eating.
Some dried fruits, such as apples, apricots, peaches, and pears, can be simmered or soaked in warm water to replenish moisture. Dried mangoes and dried papaya can be soaked in cold water for one hour to replenish moisture. Raisins can be soaked in alcohol to rejuvenate, and then used for cooking or baking, such as dried fruit cake or pudding.

  If you require to dry fruits in large quantities, it is recommended that you buy a dryer. The dryer is not only easy to operate, but the quality of the dried fruit produced is also very good. In addition, it can save a lot of human resources and reduce costs. Baixin Machinery is a manufacturer specializing in the production of dryers. It has 20 years of rich experience. For fruit drying, it has professional drying equipment and mature drying technology to ensure the perfect drying effect.
  Baixin Machinery’s most popular fruit dryers are heat pump dryers and continuous mesh belt dryers. I would be happy to introduce these two dryers in detail for you:

1:The first method:fruit heat pump dryer

Commercial 100-3000kg/h large amount of dehydration wide application and easy operation
  Heat pump drying machine use the principle of inverse Carnot cycle. It absorbs low-temperature heat energy in the air, which becomes high-temperature heat energy after efficient heat collection and integration by the heat pump system, and is transported to the drying room for cyclic heating and drying of materials.It refers to exhausting the hot and humid air in the drying room directly to the outside of the drying room through dehumidification device, and then replenishing natural fresh air.

  Hot air circle drying machine belongs to high temperature heat pump unit. Its working principle is: the working fluid of the heat pump is compressed by the compressor, becomes high temperature and high pressure gas, enters the condenser, condenses and liquefies the heat, and is used for air heating in the drying room. The moisture in the material is vaporized and evaporated by the form of hot air, and the evaporated water vapor is discharged by the moisture discharge system, thereby achieving the purpose of drying the drying material.

2:The second method: fruit continuous mesh belt drying machine

Large amount of dehydration 200-5000kg/h fruit drying machine continuous automatic work easy operation
  Fruit dryer machine is a kind of continuous production drying equipment, the main heating way has electric heating, steam heating, hot air heating. Its main working principle is to spread the material evenly in the network. The material is moved in the dryer by the operation of the machine, and the hot air draws out the water vapor of the material. so as to achieve the purpose of drying.
  The operation temperature is 40-120 degree centigrade. And the dry cycle is 1-5 hours.

Fruit drying video：