![\"Oven](\"http:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Oven_Dried_Strawberries-203x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Oven-dried strawberries make a delicious, portable and healthy snack. Although they\u2019re often dried in a\u00a0dehydrator<\/a>, you can get an equally great result with your oven.<\/p>\n You can make shelf-stable, oven-dried strawberries much like the freeze-dried strawberries NASA has sent to the moon with astronauts.<\/p>\n Obviously, the more flavorful the strawberries\u00a0you start out with, the more delicious the dehydrated version will be.<\/p>\n Choose locally grown\u00a0and dry a bunch of them while they are in peak season.<\/p>\n Drying food only minimally affects its nutritional value. Most research has been on foods that were commercially dried.<\/p>\n When you dry foods at home under gentle conditions (correct temperature and a reasonable drying period) you produce a high-quality nutrient-rich food.<\/p>\n Wash the strawberries. Cut the green leafy part off and cut each berry in half. Lay the halves cut side up on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Make sure to space your berries out so there\u2019s lots of room for air to flow through.<\/p>\n Note:<\/strong>\u00a0Strawberries are the #1 most pesticide-contaminated food on the\u00a0EWG\u2019s 2019 Shopper\u2019s Guide to Pesticides in Produce<\/a>, so\u00a0buy organic<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Place the sheets of strawberries in the oven and\u00a0dry them at\u00a0200\u00b0F for 3 hours\u00a0(or experiment with 170\u00b0 \u2013 if your oven goes that low \u2013 for a longer period)<\/strong>. You may want to flip them over\u00a0halfway through especially if you have hot spots in your oven. It\u2019s best to make oven-dried strawberries during a day you will be home all day, like on a weekend.<\/p>\n Lest I forget to mention, a side benefit of dehydrating strawberries is the wonderful aroma that fills the house. Mouth watering\u2026<\/p>\n You won\u2019t know if the strawberry\u00a0pieces are completely dehydrated until they\u2019ve cooled (you know how cookies crisp up after you take them out of the oven? Same way\u00a0with dried fruit). Remove the baking sheets\u00a0from the oven. Let the strawberries cool at room temperature\u00a0for 20 minutes.<\/p>\n After the cooling off period, break one of the pieces of fruit in half. There should be no visible moisture on the inside. The pieces should be somewhere between chewy and crisp like dried cranberries, figs, or raisins.<\/p>\n Even after the strawberries\u00a0are correctly dehydrated there may still be some remaining moisture in the fruit you can\u2019t feel.<\/p>\n That little bit of moisture shouldn\u2019t keep the fruit from being safely preserved and mold-free, but you will have a better tasting and keeping product if you do what is known as \u2018conditioning\u2019.<\/p>\n Put the dried, cooled strawberry\u00a0pieces into glass jars filled only about 2\/3 full. Seal the jars. Shake the jars a couple of times a day for 4-5 days. If any<\/p>\n condensation shows up on the sides of the jars, your fruit still isn\u2019t dried well enough and it needs to go back into the oven at 200F for another 30 to 60\u00a0 minutes.<\/p>\n Once your dried strawberries\u00a0are once again cool, store them in airtight\u00a0containers away from direct light or heat. I prefer to use\u00a0glass food-storage containers<\/a>\u00a0or canning jars instead of plastic. Go ahead and fill the jars to the top this time.<\/p>\nDirections<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Dry Time<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Cool the dried fruit<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\u2018Condition\u2019 the oven-dried strawberries<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"](\"https:\/\/media.deeprootsathome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/19044200\/dehydrated-strawberries-in-canning-jars.jpg\" "\\"Oven-Dried")
<\/div>\n