One of these recipes (or rather a “How To” guide) was dehydrating cherries.
I love dried cherries and can snack on them often. I love baking recipes that call for dried cherries.
I hate the price of dried cherries. So, when I was reading The Feast Nearby and came across Mather’s instructions, I knew that I would give this a try as soon as I was able.
How to Dry Cherries Adapted from Robin Mather in The Feast Nearby
1 lb. of sweet cherries
Wash cherries and allow to dry well. Remove stems, pit, and halve each cherry. Place cherries in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with a silicon pad or parchment paper.
Before the drying process.
Optional drying methods:
I am fortunate enough to have a “dehydrate” setting on my convection oven. (One that I recently just realized I had and this recipe marks the first time I have used it.) On this setting, I preheated the oven to 160 degrees F. I started with a two-hour time limit, but soon added a third hour (and a fourth and a fifth). I think my total time was 6ish hours. I then just turned the oven off and left them in over night.
According to Mather, these are the temperatures and times when using a food dehydrator. “Dry the cherries at 160 F. for 2-3 hours, then turn the temperature down to 130 F. until the cherries are dry and pliable, with no pockets of moisture.”
If using a traditional oven, Mather writes to “turn the oven to its lowest setting and prop the door open slightly by placing a wooden spoon near the top of the oven door. Arrange the cherries cut side up on baking sheets in a single layer….It will take 12 to 24 hours for the cherries to dry.”
I did not have to stir my cherries as they dried.
After.
Some drying methods recommend to sulfurize the cherries before drying. I did not want to to this so my cherries became pretty dark.
Hopefully I will post a recipe soon using up these homemade dried jewels.