1

I just tried dehydrating strawberries in our oven (it has a dehydrator setting), and used parchment paper to line the metal trays. The results were quite good, but the parchment absorbed a lot of juice and I'm wondering if wax paper would be better? Or would that just leave wax on the fruit?

Sasha
  • 111
  • 3
  • 1
    What problem was caused by the parchment absorbing the liquid? – moscafj Jun 29 '17 at 11:40
  • Only that I figure we're losing flavour/nutrients in the process. – Sasha Jun 29 '17 at 18:00
  • If the berries release moisture, they will release it regardless... – Catija Jun 29 '17 at 18:06
  • Do you know how hot the dehydrator setting on the oven gets? (And how well controlled the temperature is?) The hotter it gets the more likely it is that the wax paper will melt/transfer wax. – R.M. Jun 29 '17 at 19:09
  • The oven will do 100-140F, I'm using 135 because that's what the recipe calls for, but could also adjust. As for temperature control, that's a good point. I know it's much better than our old oven for baking temps, but I've never tested it. Maybe I'll do that. – Sasha Jun 30 '17 at 14:50

1 Answers1

2

Instead of parchment or wax paper, why not aluminum foil? If you use the slider type of foil (where one side is non-stick and food slides off easily), any juice released when dehydrated will also dry under the strawberries and stick to the dried berries, not the foil. I use it when dehydrating herbs in my oven. (I put a 100 watt incandescent bulb in the bulb socket and leave the light on. The temperature stays just under 120° F or about 50° C.)

Jude
  • 3,963
  • 1
  • 10
  • 20
  • I didn't know you could use foil (I thought you weren't supposed to use metal). Thank you, I'll try that! I just got home with another 4L basket (and wet, straw-covered knees), so will have results in the next 24 hours... – Sasha Jun 30 '17 at 14:53
  • Technically, the strawberries aren't in contact with metal but the very thin coating applied to the one side of this non-stick aluminum foil. I use the foil for other oven cooking and have never had it react to food, not even acidic foods. In fact, if it's not been crumpled, it can be wiped clean and re-used. – Jude Jun 30 '17 at 17:43