Raspberries are my husband’s favorite fruit, which sometimes makes my life a little difficult. Raspberries go bad faster than any other produce I buy. I do not have room in my garden to grow these troublesome berries and besides, they really do not grow well in my area. I know in some parts of the country they grow wild, sweet and perfect, but I’m stuck with buying mine at the grocery store, which often means consuming them or processing them within 24 hours of purchase. Luckily, it is super easy to dehydrate them!
How To Dehydrate Raspberries Step-By-Step
- Wash and dry your raspberries thoroughly.
- Arrange them in a single layer on your trays, with the hold down to allow water to drain.
- Spray with just a bit of lemon juice to keep them from turning brown.
- Dehydrate at about 135 degrees for 15-18 hours.
Start with raspberries that are not over ripe. If they are mushy they will not dehydrate well (they might fall apart). The fruit should be firm and red, not dark burgundy (the color raspberries turn when they are super ripe).
Wash your raspberries.
Try and dry your raspberries the best you can. It’s hard to get them completely dry. They seem to absorb twice their weight in water. Plus they have the small hole (left from the hull after being pulled from the branch) in the center that holds water too.
Fill up your dehydrator trays. I have a nine tray Excalibur Dehydrator, and had about 12lbs of raspberries. I filled up 8 of the trays. I gave each berry plenty of room and made sure I placed it upside down so the water caught in the hole drained out.
I sprayed just a bit of lemon juice on them to keep them from turning brown.
You can not taste the lemon juice once the fruit has been dehydrated, but you do not need much. Spray lemon juice lightly.
Place your tray inside your dehydrator.
On the fruit setting they will take about 15-18 hours.
This is what they look like after they are dehydrated.
Here is a close up of what the raspberries look like when they are fully dehydrated. They should be light and crispy.
I like to store my dried fruit in canning jars. I vacuum packed these raspberries with a FoodSaver using the FoodSaver attachment for wide mouth jars.
I’m using a smaller jar and sealing with a regular mouth attachment to vacuum pack the raspberries.
I love the FoodSaver attachment because it will fit on the little 4oz jars as well. Here are just enough raspberries for a dessert topping or perhaps a snack for my husband.
I put the raspberries in the freezer for two weeks to “pasteurize” them. Freezing the food in a deep freezer for several weeks takes care of the majority of problems that might arise from bugs and bacteria. It’s not 100% foolproof – some bacteria freezes just fine and will thaw out and still be active. But this is one extra precaution that I take. Then store your raspberries in a cool dry place.
