Friday, July 13, 2012

Shriveled Strawberries Revisited

A little while back we were sent a Pinstrosity concerning drying strawberries in the oven. We loved it and posted it. Since then we have had more emails showing the results people have gotten from following that exact same pin, and thought we'd do a repost.

The Original Pin
http://www.theworldwidegourmet.com/recipes/dried-strawberries-ruscalleda/
Here's the results we've been sent in:

The Pinstrosities





How to fix this? With the original post, I was not able to test these out so I asked for input from all of you and we got some great responses (along with a lot of "This is what happened to me too!" comments).

From Anonymous:
"Next time...try a lower temperature...my oven has a "keep warm" setting which, according to my oven thermometer, is about 175*. Also, lift them off the baking tray. I find that wire cooling racks work well. If you don't have cooling racks, parchment paper will help, but the wire racks seemed to work best. I've never personally done strawberries, but I did peach slices last summer. Check them after 2-3 hours and see how they're doing. My peach slices took about 5 hours, but smaller fruits will probably take less time. Better luck next time!"

From Kori S:
"
I would use parchment paper to help with the sticky-ness, but i found this website and in the comments it has peoples tips on drying fruit in the oven. Good Luck!

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-dry-fruit-in-the-oven-92637"

And we checked that link, it's safe. 

From Keri:
"We've done this before, and it worked! Our old kitchen was too small for a dehydrator, so we dried everything in the oven. You have to make sure the heat is VERY LOW (like 200 degrees or lower, if your oven will get that low) and be prepared to sit around a while because it takes a long, long time. The one thing you really need is airflow, so we propped open our oven just a bit with the handle of a wooden spoon. This lowers the temp as well. Also, some parchment paper on the pan is a good idea, since all of that juice is coming out and evaporating. Don't try to rush it at all! I guarantee rushing will spoil anything that is dried."

"ALSO! (Sorry forgot to mention it!) You should definitely leave the strawberries WHOLE. Just take off the green part."

From Anonymous:
"Most dehydrators are set to only heat up to 100 degree so if you can get your oven that low your set.
I do happen to have access to a dehydrator (my dad owns one) and I can tell you, they do taste amazing and the best part is that they are so much healthier than the ones you buy in the store that are dipped in chemicals and such to keep them looking like the original pin. Even dehydrated they are not beautiful but they are definitively worth the time!"

                        

14 comments:

  1. I tried to make these too and it was a HUGE FAIL. I was so disappointed! I'm glad to know I wasn't the only one!

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  2. I laughed when I saw this. I haven't tried it myself, but I guess that is why I have tons of pins and not so many of them actually accomplished. That way I can still live in a dream world that these are great ideas and I haven't turned them into failures yet. 'Cause believe me they would be worse than these I imagine!!!Glad I found this blog so I can come here to ease my wounded pride!!!LOL

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  3. I feel so much better now! Mine did exactly the same thing :)

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  4. Ugh mine turned out awful too!

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  5. I followed the directions exactly and my strawberries burned so badly I almost had to throw the pan away! I broke the spatula trying to pry them up!! Something i'll just spend the money on from now on.

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  6. I am dying over this! I was so excited to try this pin and mine turned out so gross my kids wouldn't even come in the kitchen! Awesome. I hope you have a FAIL board on pinterest because people should be warned about impossible-to-make-work pins like these!

    This blog is brilliant!

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  7. Mine turned out really badly as well! I think the acidity in the berries soaked up the metal from my pan too. They were disgusting! What a waste of organic berries!! I need a dehydrator....

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  8. Mine turned out exactly like these! It was a waste of time and yummy strawberries!

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  9. Lemon juice may help them keep their color. My mom has a dehydrator that she used twice, she made dehydrated apples half coated in lemon juice and half not. The half with lemon juice kept its color and the one without turned brownish. It doesn't really change the taste of them at all, it just makes them look more appetizing. (:

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  10. I also had a pinstrosity with this exact pinterest post! AHHH! Mine didn't burn, but they lost their color and were slightly uneven. You have to have your strawberries in exact same sizes. That being said, they were very tasty on a salad the next day.

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  11. Mine didn't look as bad but it was a total fail!

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  12. Mine LOOKED bad, but still tasted delicious! I'd definitely do it again.

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  13. I tried this as well, it was a complete FAIL!!! I laughed so hard when I saw this post. My berries looked exactly as above. I had my oven on the lowest heat setting 170 F and the door propped open the entire time, and they still turned out like this. Definitely doesn't work in normal ovens, perhaps convection ovens might work better because the flow of air?

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  14. This might mean a whole new level of Pinterest fails, but has anyone tried dehydrating in your car? Or if you live on a Red Neck estate, one of the abandoned cars? There will be smells, but on a hot day cars can be great for low temperature baking/dehydrating projects.

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