It was time for a dehydrator....

[jmrtsus]

Can't keep up with my fig crops this year so my new toy came today and I quickly filled 3 trays with Celeste and a few White Marseilles. Never dried figs in a dehydrator before but I expect it to take quite a while. I bought an inexpensive model with a fan, my old one was fanless and very slow. I think my next batch the small Celeste and the Champagnes that are coming along will be done whole like giant raisins. I'll let you know what I learn!



Update: 14 hours/3 trays and nicely done. Doesn't have an adjustable thermostat so I don't know temp for sure but manual says 165F.

[bullet08]

say it ain't so! my fresh fig supply went away with dead trees. been eating dried figs. better than nothing. you've got nice set up there!

[don_sanders]

I run about 125 for about 24 hours. Might give you a starting point. I store them in the freezer afterward just in case there aren’t dry enough to be shelf stable.

[GuyA]

Lol won't be any for further drying lol yum yum.

[ginamcd]

Congrats on your bounty!

Since you're experimenting, give Ed Boone's method a try - 8-12 hours at about 105F then stored in the freezer. He said they retain more of their flavor versus drying them completely and at a higher temperature. I'm hoping this is the year I have so many that I have to freeze some.

[Badgerferrit]

In his post “rehydrating” is mentioned. How is this done?

[ginamcd]

@Badgerferret Doug has a freeze dryer which is different from a dehydrator. Freeze dryer units like the one he uses cost thousands of dollars and are the size of a washing machine.

[jmrtsus]

Boil or steam dried products to rehydrate.

[Sparky]

Joe, does your model have heat or just a fan?

[davej]

I bought one, but my pathetic fig crop won't justify it. Maybe in a few more years?

[ZingsFigs]

I was able to dehydrate some two years ago and I really loved them. The hard part is not to eat them before they are all done.

[GuyA]

Bingo!!

[arachyd]

I love my dehydrator. When I run out of room in the freezer I dry whatever doesn't get eaten while still fresh. It's great to find a stray ziploc bag of figs in March when the withdrawal is really bad.

[khuang]

My celeste is loaded. I have been putting those in the freezer. I might try to dehydrate some of them too. How thick should the slices be so that the middle won't get too soggy?

[jmrtsus]

That is up to you I just dried a batch of Celeste whole, like giant raisins. Took 12 hours with a still slightly soft like a raisin.

[khuang]

I cut them into half for smaller ones and slice larger fruits into 1/3. Most of them are completely dried in 6-7 hours and a few of them still a little bit wet. They shrunk a lots. I probably ate 20 of them in half hour.

[Otis]

I got a dehydrator this year hoping to be overrun with fruit...it's not happening with figs, but its been a real handy thing with our glut of tomatoes this year.

[ginamcd]

I still have several vacuum sealed bags of dried tomatoes stashed in the fridge from last year. I didn't get enough for sauce, but more than enough for drying.

My favorite thing to do with them is to quick blanch them in boiling red wine vinegar (about one minute), drain and pack them in a jar with a little salt, dried oregano, and olive oil to cover, then leave the jar in a cool, dark location for six weeks. I chop them up and put them on pizza, enjoy them as part of an antipasto platter, or put them on a slice of good crusty bread with a slab of fresh mozzarella.

[Otis]

Thanks Gina. Well give that a try since it's my 1st year dehydrating.
We've got some sauce I the freezer and have been dehydrating them almost every day for two weeks now. Some my wife packs I olive oil and freezes for later. Some she packs in zip locks for freezer or glass for shelf. I didn't think just 11 or 12 plants were going to do so well this year. The eggplants are coming pretty hard now too, but I can eat enough of them to not worry about freezing unless it's a couple of trays of parmesan for later.

[ginamcd]

My goal this year is to dry one fig for every two we eat. I have a good number of early varieties now which should all start ripening around the same time, and a good number of Mt Etna types that should all come grouped closely together.

While we could easily gorge ourselves on fresh figs for a few weeks, the thought of having a stash in the freezer for enjoying over the winter is a good incentive to set some aside!

[eboone]

don_sanders

I am doing my dried figs like in the post Gina linked. The timing works for the usual Mt Etna size figs, but bigger figs take more time. Trial and error

i now like the lower temperature better for flavor