dehydrated oranges lemons how to dehydrate citrus fruits Excalibur food dehydrator
FoodSaver vacuum sealer jar attachment mason jars hi it's AlaskaGranny Alaska Prepper citrus
fruits oranges lemons limes becomes ripe in the winter time so that's a great time to think about
dehydrating some fresh citrus fruits you can get oranges lemons limes grapefruits blood oranges
there's a large variety of fruits a great time to buy them or even pick them if you're fortunate
enough to have the trees is in the winter months how do you dehydrate citrus lemon lime well
it's simple wash them well because usually we dehydrate them with the skins on then you want
to slice them as uniformly as possible so that the drying time will be approximately the same
I have the five rack Excalibur dehydrator and today i'm going to dehydrate two oranges and one
lemon so i've sliced them up as evenly as i can and now you spread them right out onto the racks
you leave a little space between them so that the air can circulate and that's all you have
to do slide them right into the dehydrator even if you haven't filled all of the trays
you want to put them all into the dehydrator so that it helps the air circulate appropriately
if you look on the top of your excalibur it shows that fruits should be dehydrated at 135 degrees
so you can set it at 135 degrees mine has a 24 hour timer and i usually set it at 12 hours that's
what works best for me it varies according to what your produce is how much moisture content it has
and the humidity in your air you can always adjust it more or less depending on your circumstances
and your preferences check your citrus fruits and make sure that they're leathery and that the
moisture is all gone out of them you'll know your citrus fruits are done when they're a little bit
brittle they shouldn't be real rubbery anymore that probably means there's still too much
moisture in them i store them in clean canning jars and i leave the lids off for a few days
so that it conditions them it allows extra air to get around them make sure that everything is
completely dried and if for any reason you think that they're not dried enough you can put them
back in your dehydrator for a few more hours until you get them to the dryness that you want after a
few days i like to seal them with my foodsaver with the jar attachment lid the jar attachment
comes with a hose you put one end into the foodsaver and one end into the jar attachment mine
has a lever on the side you twist that down press the on button and it should suck the oxygen out
of your jar you want to listen for two clicks at the end so that you know that your jar is sealed
um
remove the hose then remove the jar attachment and then check that your lid is sealed
your food is ready to go into your prepper pantry your dried citrus can last for several
years and it's fantastic to add into hot teas add a little honey with it think of
how you use lemons oranges or limes that's how you can continue to use your dehydrated slices
i've seen where people even string them together and hang them as a garland because they're just so
aromatic they smell so good they're absolutely delicious they should last for several years
i've used them up to five years after i've dehydrated them you'll know they're
not as fresh when they turn brown and you don't smell the wonderful fragrant aromatics anymore
one of the challenges of dehydrating the citrus is that it smells so good your whole house fills up
with the aroma of delicious citrus so if it's too strong for you you might consider dehydrating it
on an outside patio or maybe in the garage but it certainly is a delicious smell
dehydrating fruits and vegetables with an Excalibur food dehydrator is so simple and
it's a wonderful way to add the variety of your fresh produce into your prepper
pantry so that you'll have the variety of foods that you want in your long-term food storage
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