Nature’s candy! How to DEHYDRATE STRAWBERRIES

[@priszorn]

I started using my egg slicer to slice strawberries. Works like a charm!

[@JusticeGirl]

I have a Fullstar vegetable chopper and I use the wide squares to chop my strawberries. It takes almost no time at all that way. I put my strawberries in my overnight oats, so I don't care if the pieces aren't pretty. 😁

[@mizzginger8377]

This video is awesome. I’m super excited to try dehydrating some strawberries tonight!!

[@BlandsPromisedLandRanch]

Great video and thank you for sharing your method. I have a rigid round dehydrator and find that I get a bunch of broken strawberries!! Considering a new dehydrator as I type. Also, you might want to try using the vacuum sealer to suck the air from the jar for longer storage! ~M

[@AlaskanBearsVlogs]

Oh my gosh! Something I have always wanted to do! Just came over from Life Goes North channel and look at that! So excited to try this and looking forward to your channel 😍

[@wholefedhomestead]

Thank you so much!!

[@kristinathompson7271]

Welcome!!! Can’t wait to watch all your content!

[@bascomroadblueberryfarm]

Awesome job Crystal!

[@kerryonregardless]

Yum! I love how crispy they come out.

[@thewildingslanding]

Those look delicious! I'm experimenting with dehydrating offgrid. I may try the car as you did with the sun jam.

[@wholefedhomestead]

I bet that will work great! I know herbs dry very quickly in the car!

[@MsLookinup]

I really enjoyed and learned so much from this concise video. Thanks so much!!

[@wholefedhomestead]

I'm so glad!

[@missourimongoose8858]

I like dropping them in my green or white teas and then eat them when they get soft again lol

[@seasaltz1]

I love this Crystal!! I want to try this!

[@the.browns.adventures]

Yum!! Thank you for sharing!

[@stephaniewurtzler8881]

This looks so yummy!

[@kristindisney5800]

Excited to try this out! Strawberries are one fruit I've never dried. I always freeze them for smoothies. These look amazing, though.

[@millaezman8984]

comments also help the algorithm. Finally you are making youtube videos!!! yes! Thank you!!!

[@samsgardenproject]

These look delicious

[@Tomc8030]

Great video thank you for posting

[@chrisd9961]

Thank you for your efforts

[@markkristynichols845]

Beautiful berries! What variety? Thanks, Kristy in Missouri zone 6b 😃🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@ryanpaul5604]

Cool video!

[@lisadeluca5714]

wonderful ty

[@paulahernandez4455]

How long do they last in the mason jar and do you have to seal it or add oxygen absorber?

[@wholefedhomestead]

No special sealing or anything needed. They last a good year.

[@beepingwithbeppe6376]

So funny that you should post this today. I did the exact same thing. I dehydrated a whole whack of strawberries in my Excalibur dehydrator as well. Aren’t they the best?

[@wholefedhomestead]

Yes!! So good!

[@Deborah-hn3rt]

Are ur dehydrated strawberries 🍓 crispy or chewy? My grandkids loves the crunchy ones I buy for them at the store. But those get expensive when buying for 8 or 9 kids. So I want to start dehydrating them myself. Thanks dg

[@wholefedhomestead]

They're kind of in between... crisp but with a chewy texture. They are not crunchy like freeze dried ones.

[@chipbutta406]

What is the temperature setting that you recommend for strawberries

[@texas9078]

Do you add an oxygen absorber packet? I got two bags of strawberries the other day. I’m going to dehydrate them you motivated me.

[@wholefedhomestead]

Nope, I don't!

[@billr6344]

Can you put a light coating of oil on the tray to keep them from sticking?

[@wholefedhomestead]

I wouldn’t do that, no.

[@debbiepeabody]

I'm using round parchment paper on my round trays and they stick to the paper just like in this video, just bend the paper and they fall off, there is no paper stuck to the berries when they fall off, you may need to give a few a soft push or tug with your fingers if it is really stuck, but, even those come right off when they're loosened. No mess to clean.

[@Maleezza]

I saw u put them in a jar. Do u air-seal them or just put a lid on & put them n your pantry? TIA

[@wholefedhomestead]

Just a regular lid and in the pantry 👍🏻

[@Maleezza]

@@wholefedhomestead How long do they last in a jar stored?

[@azanepsilon]

​@@Maleezza1 year

[@debbiepeabody]

​@@Maleezzathat's not an easy question, the humidity in your house could reduce their freshness when you open the jar to take some out, if the jar gets left open for a period of time like on the counter, whether you put those little dry packs in the jar or not, how often you open the jar, how hot the cupboard gets, how much you fill the jar, and so on. I saw another video that suggests gently shaking the jar ever so often so the dried berries keep seperated in the jar, but I haven't tried that. If you see, smell, or taste any mold of course throw them all out, and that could happen in a few days or weeks or months. There's just not a one size fits all answer. My idea is to store them in smaller jars and open only one at a time until it's used up, therfore, not exposing all of the berries to the air each time the jar is opened.

[@Maleezza]

@@debbiepeabody Thank you

[@SteveDegitz]

Can I use the strawberries for fruit leather? And how would I do this?

[@wholefedhomestead]

Once they are dried? No

[@kindredinspirit]

Do you vacuum seal the mason jars or just hand tighten the lid?

[@wholefedhomestead]

Just hand tighten, though if I had a jar vacuum I’d probably use it here!

[@Iamshininglight]

Is the DIGITAL Excalibur best dehydrator on the market in order to keep the vitamins, nutriments intact? I saw that Excalibur has a digital ones now. Pricy however, since you have expérience, I need your opinion on that. 👉Does it have a BPA free trays? Your answer Thank you

[@wholefedhomestead]

The fact that it’s digital has nothing to do with nutrient retention in dehydrated foods. I wouldn’t personally recommend the digital one- not necessary in my opinion. BPA-free doesn’t really mean anything anyways, kind of a green washing term. But if you don’t want plastic trays they make stainless steel ones too.

[@Iamshininglight]

@@wholefedhomestead THANK YOU VERY MUCH. How about the BPA free trays. Are they BPA free? ☀️💫

[@CrazzyOntarian]

​@Iamshininglight BPA free is just a green washing term and doesn't trust mean anything unless you're putting hot liquids in something, and even then, it's more of a sales pitch then a real concern

[@Aena.khan3]

i dont have dehydrator :(

[@nathan1sixteen]

How different are these from freeze dried strawberries?

[@wholefedhomestead]

Quite different-- these are thin/crispy/chewy and freeze dried are thick and crunchy.

[@ChompChompMeow]

do they taste the same as the freeze dried ones from the store? or does this process make them different?

[@wholefedhomestead]

Dehydrating and freeze drying are very different- these are more like a fruit leather quality. 👍🏻

[@debbiepeabody]

​@@wholefedhomesteadthank you, I was wondering why mine didn't turn out like the store bought "dried" fruit. After reading the comments here, it sounds like those are freeze dried and then ours are dehydrated which makes them thin and juiceless, but they are still chewy when I am eating them, like a flavor burst.

[@patriciaellen09]

I went 11.5 hours on 122 I have a cheaper dehydrator....do you have any tips for me because mine were still not chips they are gummy in the middle and I sliced mine half as thick as you did

[@wholefedhomestead]

They might take a couple days with a less powerful dehydrator… just let them dehydrate until they are crisp. 👍🏻

[@addison752]

How much time does strawberry take from frozen?

[@wholefedhomestead]

I wouldn’t do this with frozen strawberries

[@EXTREMERC416]

I dehydrated for the first time. Anything i dehydrate has that horrible dehydrated taste i tried to avoid by doing myself. I wanted to try it on store bought strawberries and it just doesnt taste good

[@wholefedhomestead]

Hmm… I’ve never dehydrated anything and thought it had a bad or off flavor.

[@debbiepeabody]

That sounds awful. Maybe you could sanitize your dehydrator? The instructions that came with my machine said to sanitize before use at 1 hour with 195 degrees F. The fruit I've tried just tastes like the original fruit, there isn't any other smell or flavor.

[@TheGuyThatWondersWhy]

Anytime you have some manufactured that heats up good like an oven, microwave, air fryer, bbq etc you need to do a burn off. You have to burn off the chemicals from the manufacturing process.

[@mizzginger8377]

I was just gonna ask if it smells like a new machine. I hope that makes sense, I started using mine and it had had a bit of a smell, but I kind of chopped it up to it being New. we’ve just done bananas so far, but my partner says that they turned out really well though we have that new machine smell. If you haven’t already wash your machine and wipe the base, I’m thinking the smell will “burn off” as you continue to use it

[@P3rmissionD3ni3d]

That stem removal method is awesome. I’ve been trying to find ways to not waste as much as possible. My method was a shallow v cut. I’m going to try your way!

[@wholefedhomestead]

Glad it was helpful!

[@debbiepeabody]

I agree! Your method is shockingly simple. Sadly, I've cut about a quarter inch off the top of every strawberry my whole life. I learned that from my mom. I didn't realize I was wasting food, it just seemed "normal". I have two containers of strawberries I purchased at the store yesterday and they're already looking ugly in the fridge. So I thought about trying dehydrating for these. First, I'm going to use your method for stem removal, and for slicing. Next, I'm wondering if they will keep in a jar with a lid even though I'll be opening and closing it daily until they're all eaten? I don't have 30lbs like you do, maybe 2 or 3 pounds if they're not moldy already. Storebought fruit just doesn't keep well where I live. I tried growing strawberries this year, and I ended up with a gorgeous 4 raised beds with giant plants (some leaves a big as my hand) but zero fruit. I planted a mixture of different plants/seeds. Some plants I bought as starts, others I ordered seeds online. I figured if one failed, the other might succeed. I don't know what I'm going to do with all these plants now. There's no chance of getting any fruit this year. I have lots of pollinators, 6 - 8 hours of sun, organic compost, daily automatic watering at dawn every day. I can't figure out what these plants needed in order to flower/fruit. Any idea? Well, that is why I buy the fruit at the store, and the quality is so bad, there's never a container without at least one moldy strawberry, or more. I have to sort through containers to find the least moldy, at $4 a pound here. 😮