Fruit Leathers and Apple Rings

Dehydrating with a Beginner

     I've been wanting to try out a dehydrator for a while now, but they're kind of expensive. Luckily, my parents let me borrow their American Harvest Snackmaster Dehydrator, which I'm told is older than I am. But this dehydrator, even in it's 30's, works great! If only I could figure it out. The first time I used it, I forgot to spray the trays with cooking spray and my applesauce stuck like glue. I had to soak the trays in water just to clean it off. It was unsalvageable, not too mention over cooked. Live and learn! So I just tried it for a second time, and you better believe I sprayed the heck out of the trays! Probably a little too much, but that's okay.

     First things first, I went to the store and bought three pounds of apples, a pineapple, and a simple apple corer. After looking up how to cut pineapple videos on youtube (yes, I've never cut a pineapple), the pineapple went into the blender and then straight onto the trays. Two trays for one pineapple. Don't forget to spray the trays first! 

     Then for the apples. I cored and peeled all three pounds. Half of the apples I cut into apple rings and threw those on three trays. Then the other half of the apples got tossed in the blender with 1/4 cup sugar, half a teaspoon of cinnamon, and a bit of lemon juice. I could have soaked the apple rings in lemon juice and water before putting them on trays to keep them from browning, but I'm happy with how they turned out without the lemon juice.

     After about ten hours, I decided that everything looked good. Or so I thought! The apple rings were perfect. The pineapple leather, though, turned out more like crisps. Full of air bubbles from the blender, the "leather" had a bunch of holes in it and instead of a fruit roll up-like texture, it was very fragile and prone to shattering. So into a glass jar it went! Tastes great, but I just couldn't roll it up like I had imagined.  The apple leather, on the other hand, turned out a bit better. It actually rolled up in parchment paper. I used some washi tape to keep the rolls closed, although apparently washi tape doesn't stick very well to parchment paper when there is a little cooking spray involved. For the future, I'll find some string or ribbon or something else equally as cute to keep the fruit leather rolled up.

     All-in-all I am pleased with how it all turned out. It's definitely more of a success than the first time I tried it! Do you have any experience with dehydrating fruit leathers? If you do, let me know how yours turned out! Do you get all those pesky air bubbles too? Let me know in the comments!