Yield: Depends on how many apples you have.
Materials/Ingredients:
· Cooling racks
· Plastic storage containers or freezer bags
· Apples (less juicy varieties, such as Golden Delicious, Jonathan, and Gala, will dry more easily)
Seed, core, and cut apples crosswise into slices of uniform thickness, about 1/4 -1/2 -inch thick. Lay out the apple slices on the cooling racks, making sure that the slices don’t touch each other. Cookie trays will work, too, if you flip the slices over periodically during drying to expose the other sides of the apples. Heat the oven to 150 degrees Fahrenheit (or your oven’s lowest setting if it’s higher than 150 degrees). Put the cooling racks with the apple slices into the oven, centering them on all available oven racks and allowing space all around them for air circulation. Check the apples regularly, rotating the trays and switching oven racks (and turning the slices, if needed) to obtain even heating. When the slices are dry (after about 10 to 20 hours), remove them from the oven. If you’ll be storing them at room temperature, condition them (see next paragraph); otherwise, freeze them in plastic bags or other suitable containers once they’ve cooled completely.
To condition your dried apples, seal them in a plastic container once they are completely cool. Open the container and stir them once a day for seven to ten days to help distribute any remaining moisture. If moisture appears inside the container or lid, check that there is no mold in the container and let the slices air-dry longer.
This article was excerpted with permission from the book Urban Farm Projects: Making the Most of Your Money, Space, and Stuff, copyright 2014, I-5 Publishing, LLC. For more budget-friendly and environmentally conscience projects and recipes, pick up a copy today!
