Fruit leather, lasts over a year :D

[Toddy]

I've been squirrelling, it's just that time of year
Anyway, in my redd out of the pantry I came across a 1.5L kilner jar, one with the orange rubber seal and the wired lid, full of apple and pear fruit leather.
The date on it was August 2016, and it's lovely stuff I'm happily chewing a roll of it right now, it's tough, I dried it really well, but it's kept beautifully and is absolutely sound.
So, homemade fruit leather, definitely lasts over a year

M

 

[TeeDee]

Good to know Toddy , thanks.
I'd assume a sachet of Silica type stuff would also assist.

 

[Monikieman]

Braw. I've just started a jar of 7 year old cherry jam!!!!!!!!

 

[Robson Valley]

I help eat both the fruit leather and that cherry jam.
I never get enough cherries to be so forgetful!

I found a recipe for plum sauce. Plum jam, mango chutney and other things.
It's not much good until it passes the 2-year mark. Like a wine?
The last jar of 2014 is up from the cellar and into the fridge. My, oh, my.

Toddy, can you come up with a DIY for fruit leather? This autumn in McBride,
there was such an abundance of local fruit that a lot of it simply went to livestock feed.

 

[oldtimer]

Some French friends of ours make this and bring it to our annual village fete.

Any chance of a recipe? I'd love to surprise our friends with an English/Scottish version next year. It is very hard to keep up to standard when everyone is trying to out do one another.

Believe it or not, they really love our cucumber sandwiches and rock cakes. They are not just being polite, they regard them as exotic food! One year I'm going to be brave Marmite, although my son tried it on his Spanish friends and got a negative response.

 

[Monikieman]

For the fruit leather I just took cores out of apples, added a bit sugar (trying to keep the sugar contant low/healthy) then some cinnamon. Boiled it all up for 20mins, may have added a touch of water but that's it. First batch I did peeled, then got bored. unpeeled seemed a bit firmer.

Sheets of grease proof paper on the dehydrator and it soon dries up. it does harden a little after the machine goes off. (Toddy will have a far more exacting receipe )

 

[Robson Valley]

Thanks. Good humor = my apples are really firm = -20C this morning and they are on the ground in the snow.
The starlings and waxwings gleaned off all the grapes that the pickers missed, yesterday.

Think I'll have to put this off. Making cheese indoors has greater appeal.

 

[Toddy]

This is me, mind the Scottish housewife with the, "I'll not waste that", mindset

So, Himself, he loves dried apple rings, and we work together, me peeling and removing the stalks and flower ends, and him slicing (we've got a machine that you caw the handle on and it neatly slices and cores them, but it doesn't do a good peeling job on anything but really evenly shaped apples, I'm quicker with a paring knife ) and coring them, dipping them in lemon juice and packing them on the racks of the dehydrator.
And, I'm left with bowlfuls of washed (because I'm a fussy besom about scrubbing off wax and insecticides from my fruit) peelings.
I put the centre of the cores, with the seeds which contain cyanide, the stalks and the hairy black end into the compost bin, and I boil the rest up with very little water. I do the same with pears, and this batch was made from the peelings of three days dehydrating; two of apple rings and one of pear slices.
Once it's all boiled really soft and mushy, I push it through a sieve. It doesn't all go, but an awful lot of it does. If the pulpy stuff looks runny I boil it up some more (carefully, it sticks and spatters) until it reduces down a bit.
Then I spread it out on the silicon sheets I cut to fit my dehydrator and it dries like discs of leather. I cut those into quarters and roll them up. I store them in Kilner jars, and it's usually eaten pdq, but we made an awful lot last year and this jar was tucked away in the pantry until I redd it out and rediscovered it

No added sugar, no need. It's sweet and tangy and chewy and all in all a good thing


M

 

[Hunkyfunkster]

That sounds lovely. Is a dehydrator a useful piece of kit then? I may have to talk to the Mrs

 

[Toddy]

For thirty quid ours has seen a tremendous amount of use. We've had a lot of good eating from it too, and fun trying different things as well.
Ours is the most basic entry level model, no temperature control, it's on or off and that's it, but it works, and it works well

M

 

[Hunkyfunkster]

If I get one I may have to pick your brains for ideas. I do prefer homemade snacks over shop bought

 

[Robson Valley]

I've got an "American Harvest" dehydrator. Wonderful.
It's a fast paleo method to conserve an abundance of food, fruits or meats.

One minor advantage of mine is that the motor & heater is on top, driving down through a central chimney.
That way, there's no chance of sloppy fruit juice getting into the electrics.

The whole house smells heavenly when I'm drying really ripe Roma tomatoes?
25lb box of Romas cost me $12.00, about 7.5BPS to you.

Fast way to make meat jerky, too. Never made raisins but would be fun to try.

Dried apple gives me the sprints. Live and learn.

Buy a good one. It's easier to beg forgiveness than to ask permission.
Quality food and you know what's in it.

 

[Toddy]

Upfront many fruits you'd gather, like brambles and and blackcurrants are too sour when dried on their own and need sugar added. Fruits like apples and pears and bananas and mangos are absolutely wonderful just as they come.

We don't use ours for meat, but my brother has the same model and he used it to make jerky from everything from chicken, turkey, pork, beef, pheasant, venison, and mutton to fish, and he didn't waste any of it. It was all devoured pdq. Folks on the forum make up meals and dry them too. From mince to chilli, it dries them all.

My husband likes apple rings, I prefer the pears, we both like the mango, and I like the fruit leathers.
The dehydrator owes us nothing, it really doesn't. It's starting to stain now, and the clear plastic lid is cracking a little, but it's still working fine, and we've been using it for around ten years, so it's no shame to it.

Best advice though; keep the box it comes in to store it. All those trays and the cable and plug go tidily away.

M

 

[MartinK9]

That sounds lovely. Is a dehydrator a useful piece of kit then? I may have to talk to the Mrs

Use mine to make camping meals.. mix and match.

 

[Robson Valley]

Thank you MartinK9. I do believe that is exactly what we are talking about.
Mix and match in any quantity that's required.
Weigh all that stuff. Multiply X10 for the water that was lost.

BTW, is anybody messing with sulfur dioxide gas as a preservative?

 

[Monikieman]

I think they are well worth the money. lots you can do. beef jerky, fruits and I just started doing my own veg stock. Grated carrots, chopped leeks, celery. All done seperately. then powdered in the blender. Works great in stews etc.

Rice can be cooked and then dehydrated. Add veg and you've got a great meal, no long boil time.