Dehydrating cranberries is one process I have agonized over. I read several sites, watched videos. In the end, I dehydrated cranberries using the method I planned to use before I researched.
I did not put sugar and water on them, heating until berries popped. I don't want sugar and did not want sugary wetness in the dehydrator. If these don't work to eat raw, I will have successfully stored cranberries in a jar without using my freezer.
When I cook whole berries, I never use the amount of sugar suggested because the cranberry sauce is then too sweet. I never like it sugary.
Each cranberry was sliced in half and then put onto one dehydrating tray when I finished a whole 12 ounce bag of Ocean Spray cranberries. Let me tell you, all the slicing of tiny berries
is a pain in the neck. And, I have five more bags to dehydrate.
When I sliced the cranberries in half, I was shocked to see the inside was white! The red outside must color the inside red when the cranberries are cooked. Well, I just had to taste one of the halves. It was the most disgusting taste ever, nothing remotely like cranberry, even unsweetened cranberry! I don't mean I did not like the taste, but it was horrendous.
Then, when they were mostly dehydrated, I tried another. Other than being rock-like, it tasted better, cranberryish. Then, when exbf came here on Sunday, I told him how putrid the just-cut cranberry was. He willingly took the dehydrated cranberry and said it was very hard, took him two minutes to get it moist in his mouth. He said it did taste like cranberry.
Men will eat anything!
These were priced $1.98 most places, but I got these on price-match for $0.98. I keep searching, but this is the cheapest price I find for Ocean Spray Cranberries, 12 ounces.
Send good thoughts my way as I personally must slice five more bags of cranberries. Oh, they do roll! So, many were on the floor and eventually were squashed by me. ugh!
The results--12 ounces of whole cranberries fill a half pint (8 oz.) canning jar. These can be used in any way the whole berries are used. I think that they might even be good in trail mix.
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Your turn
Did you ever dehydrate cranberries? With or without sugar? What is the best price you have found?
Have you tried the method that works with small tomatoes - put a layer on a plate, cover with another plate and slice between the plates? Not sure if it will work with cranberries but worth a try.
ReplyDeleteJane,
ReplyDeleteI thought of that, but cranberries are so much smaller I did not think it would be doable. Plus, cranberries are not soft. It takes effort to cut them. I could see a disaster in the plan. Thanks for the suggestion.
I am interested in drying some also. The dried cranberries you can purchase are all dried with sugar and I want just cranberries. Slicing each one might be a deal buster for me though.
ReplyDeleteAnne,
DeleteThe commercial ones have sugar and oil. I was tired and becoming ill when I did the slicing. Any of the dehydrating requires some work that is not fun at all. Once I just set my mind to it and quit finding something else to do, the job was not so onerous.