Drew, thank you very much.
Dax
Tonights haul, at least what made it inside…around 10 varieties. Best flavor was Smith, followed by Ronde de Bordeaux. Albo (big one in center) was quite good for a large light fig, and Kesariani was a standout among the Mt Etna types.
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I quarter them. They take less time to dry when more surface area is exposed.
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Well, I bought a dehydrator this afternoon. I’m going to get into this.
Thank you, Anne.
Dax
What works even faster is if you have the right dehydrator with the right tray, is making fig leather, liquefying the figs whole peel and all and pour that right in the proper tray and dry. I find it’s very addicting. I did not add any sugar and liked it as is. Yet some people might prefer it sweeter with a little honey. Dry sugar can make it way more sticky and hard to remove.
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The surface could be sprayed or wiped with a thin coat of oil first. Brady
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I bookmarked your recipe, Alan.
Dax
Now I’m jealous having a broken dehydrator! I made leather twice, once with yellow raspberries, and another time with Black Velvet gooseberries. Both were awesome, I used cut out parchment paper. I use this paper for chocolate dipped fruit too. My new dehydrator will have square trays so it will be easier to cut the paper! I have to wait for December, the wife wants to buy it for me as a present. I did make some awesome syrups I could use. I froze the syrup. I have black currant (wow, best syrup I ever made), tayberry, and raspberry. I use them to top ice cream, for fruit martini’s or cordials
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Thanks to drew I remembered that I used wax paper as well, back then I read online that doing so makes it easier to remove the fruit leather. It’s something I did not plan well nor did I even make up a real recipe, very unlike me to not make a real recipe. Make sure that you know how much you should fill your tray because if you put too much a huge mess, at least that is what I read. I made sure to know how much I can put in mine.
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What are the green one Tony?
LSU Gold. They are very sweet.
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I got a write-up on my fig adventure-
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Congrats Jesse! Another Mainer! How great! Love to see pictures of your orchard and trees!
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Very excited by the prospect of beginning to harvest figs from some of my inground plants, I was not sure if this was even possible when I planted them 2.5 years ago. Last year I lost the few that ripened to my free ranging chicken flock-now under confinment. The plants have come back stronger every year, and seem to set and ripen fruit earlier as well. With a bit of luck and some warm, dry weather this fall, I might get a couple hundred figs from my inground plants. This is Hardy Chicago, Sal’s EL is also ripening.
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Jesse have you gone over how you protect them anywhere? Sal’s EL is a nice Mt Etna, very good, and produces well. So does Malta Black and many others. I have a bunch of Mt Etna types to find what works here. They are not all alike in vigor and production.
I will take some pics when I do my winter protection…
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Sal c is a little better tasting than C/H, my in the ground figs are just now ripening, still like Smith better, but these are in containers.
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Yes, please do. I was giving up on in ground, but you inspired me to try again. I have a zone on you, so it should be possible. I have 2 in ground now, but they have only been in one winter and completely neglected.
I have added this one this year. Fruitnut said Smith was his biggest disappointment this year, he probably will cull it out if it doesn’t improve, but does have a number of Mt Etna’s he is keeping. I think it comes down to location, location, location! Smith is great in some places mediocre in others.
In the colder zones like 4-6 the Mt Etna’s taste very good. They are from more mountainous regions so ripen well in moderate weather. I think they taste better here than in zone 9.