Dehydrating Strawberries
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Dehydrating strawberries is so cool and a good preservation method to have in your pocket. I turned 8 pounds of diced strawberries into 1 quart plus a little bit in a mylar bag! I love storing dehydrated goods because they shrink down to such small things.
(Obviously, a freeze dryer would give you a completely different product and shape and store a lot longer buttttt $$$ and I will very likely never have one.)
These rehydrate beautifully for strawberry bread, muffins, or tossed into sun tea, lemonade, or muddled with fresh mint for a mojit (my fav!). When rehydrating for baking, I will use orange juice or apple juice, or a few times I have even used blackberry juice I saved back when I strained my blackberries I had canned or leftover whey from cheesemaking. Be creative!
Below, I will post my favorite dehydrating tools along with a long to my Amazon storefront dehydrating section.
The instructions:
Wash strawberries, allow to drain.
Slice off tops.
Slice, dice, karate chop into whatever shape pleases you. Keep in mind, the thicker they are, the longer they take!
Layer onto dehydrator mats lined with nonstick liners (link is below for my favorite reusable ones) in a single layer.
Set your dehydrator at 130-135F and allow to dry for 10-16 hours. Strawberries should be pliable but have no evidence of any remaining moisture when you squeeze or bend them.
To Store:
Store vacuum sealed in jars or in mylar bags with an oxygen absorber. I vacuum seal in jars when I plan to use them within 12-18 months and put them in mylar to extend shelf life past that! There is no hard and fast rule for how you do it, this just works for me!
Happy Dehydrating!
