Dehydrated Apples and Strawberries

While fruit can be incredibly healthy, nutritious, cheap, and delicious, people often hesitate to purchase it – or, at least, purchase it in larger amounts – because they fear that a fruit product will quickly spoil if not eaten quickly. There is a good deal of truth to this. Meat and vegetables can be frozen and dairy products can often be left in the fridge for a decent length of time, but fruit can grow mushy and unappealing within a week – whether sitting on a shelf, put into the fridge, or frozen and then thawed. Consequently, finding a good emergency food storage method for fruit products may seem elusive.

But there’s a process that can turn an apple’s shelf-life from six days to six months: dehydration. While you may think of dehydration as an expensive and difficult dehydration technique, both of these assumptions are actually far from the truth. In fact, once you purchase a dehydrator (available online for under $50) and get the hang of the process, every subsequent effort can likely be done effortlessly and with no additional cost.

Dehydrated Apple and Strawberries


Here are the ingredients you’ll need to dehydrate a few servings of apples and strawberries:
-1 or 2 apples
-1 pound of strawberries
-1/2 cup of lemon juice
-2 cups of water

And here are the directions:
-Cut the fruit into thin slices.
-Mix the water and the lemon juice in a bowl.
-Place the apple and strawberry slices in the bowl. Let sit for 30 minutes.
-Put the fruit in a steamer basket and steam for a few minutes. Then rinse the fruit slices and then let them dry.
-Arrange the fruit slices on the dehydrating tray. Then, turn on the dehydrator and let it run until all moisture has been removed.
-For maximum preservation, put the fruit in an airtight container or jar. It should now stay good for at least six months.

So there you have it: dehydrated apples and strawberries. If you seek a supply of slow-perishing emergency foods, find yourself constantly throwing out mealy apples, or simply want a snack that’s easy to eat while on the go, you likely won’t regret learning to dehydrate your fruit.

This article was provided.