Drying blueberries

Fruit in the Kitchen
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I just dried some Springhigh blueberries and am amazed at how good they are. Raw they’re good, dry much sweeter and more flavorful. This first batch I cut in half and dried about 12 hrs at 120F. Next I’m going to try drying them whole. If that doesn’t work then I’ll buy a food processor with a slicing blade.

I’m really impressed. Don’t know as I’ve had any other fruit improve in eating quality this much via drying.

Has anyone else tried this? Any tips? How thick of a slicing blade?

Warning, you’ll eat too many of these…lol

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I don’t have any tips because I haven’t tried it, but I love dried fruit and should have some blueberries to spare. Please post how you make out with drying them whole when you get around to it.

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I think drying them whole will not give as good result and will take forever.

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Yes I’ll post how they turn out whole and how long it takes. I’ll do half a batch whole and half cut up to get a good comparison of drying time and taste…

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Drying peppers whole, i found a few punctures made them dry perfect. You may not have to slice, just nick them.

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I’m going to try blanching a few to see if that speeds drying while whole.

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Drying whole was a total loss. I had to throw these away after 4 days drying time. They kind of acted like roasted marshmallows.

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Blanching for 30 seconds helped a little but not enough to make any difference. This is also 4 days. They tasted better than expected but not great.

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Cutting them in half reduced drying time to ~30 hrs at 120F. The finished product is extremely sweet and highly flavorful.

Before drying:

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After drying 0.75lb from 3 lbs berries and they are very dry but still good texture. Not hard like some over dried fruit.

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I’m very pleased with the finished product. Some of the best dried fruit I’ve made. Lots of work, yes…!! A slicing blade in a food processor would make it easier but would have cost $125 to buy and then not sure if I was getting the right one.

The cut up ones are Sweetcrisp and 20-24 brix fresh. If I calculate right that’s 80+ brix dried…lol

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You can also mash up the fruit and dry the paste, its alot faster than slicing. I’ve also pureed them and spread on cookie sheets to dry to make fruit leather. Fruit leather of blueberry is excellent.

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I’m going to try mashing some up next. I’m sure that would work if one has the right drying setup.

Thank you for your input…!!

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A bit off-topic, but I’ve taken to freezing my blueberries whole in small ziploc bags. My kids love to eat them straight out of the freezer, thawed or not. They keep well for several months. Going to try to dry some this year too, though there is no chance I’m cutting each one in half. Fruit leather sounds fantastic!

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This was just to see how the product turned out. There are food processors with a slicing blade that are supposed to work well.

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I have a food processor with a slicing blade, but it (and most processors) are very high speed. Seems like it would puree blueberries in half a second. It would take quite a contraption to slice through each berry only (about) once. Love a challenge though- I will mess around with mine once my berries start coming in. If I can get it to work I’ll post about it. Thanks for the idea!

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I’m thinking of a food processor with a feed chamber on top and a holding container below. Push the food in, it gets sliced, and then drops into the lower chamber.

The blades look like this:

The processor like this:

https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/1/1/72716-kitchenaid-9-cup-food-processor-black.html

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Same here. I wash and dry before freezing so they are ready right out of the bag.

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But blueberries frozen are just mush. I don’t care for them. Dried are much better IMO.

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I eat them frozen or semi frozen. Nice cold snack

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Freezing is certainly easier…!!

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If you are careful, a sharp mandolin should be able to save time cutting them in half. I don’t think its possible to use a home food processor to get perfect halves. that disc is meant for carrots etc, really hard veg. even if you pulsed the machine once, you would get uneven cuts.

Freeze dry technology is becoming closer and closer to a reality for the home, from what I’ve read maybe 5-10 years for a reasonably priced appliance with a service contract to refill the necessary gasses.

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You don’t need perfect halves. In a related thread on another forum the slicer is said to work well. Freezing (and dehydrating) blueberries - Ourfigs.com

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Ah, OK, the disc. I see what you mean. Might work for bigger berries, but it would need to be super sharp. I’ve only used mine for chopping veggies when I use a lot for salsa making. I will give it a shot for sure. Thanks!

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