This dehydrator was a gift from our son who decided he didn't have time to make jerky.
So one day in the mail we get a package and it just happened to coincide with the harvest of persimmons. I have a fuyu persimmon in the front yard but this year there wasn't a one on the tree. But my neighbor who has an almost seedless small fuyu tree full of fruit that she wasn't going to use offered them to us.
We have bags of persimmons.
So what you see is my first attempt to dehydrate anything. I did peel the persimmons and slice them about 3/8 inches thick. The dehydrator book suggested different things to do with fruit but a friend who had dried persimmons before said they didn't need any thing. Looks like it is going to take about six hours to dry this batch - I've tasted some and the dried persimmons are delicious.
The finished product is delicious. It took about 6 hours to dehydrate.
I think I will let some of the remaining fruit get soft so I can make some persimmon,date-nut bars with lemon frosting to give to friends at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
11/13 I'm on my 3rd batch of persimmons. I may give dried persimmons instead of the bar cookies. Much healthier and almost as delicious.
Wow, looks great! Thanks for posting this. I wanted to ask what temperature you used to dry the persimmons. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteSorry to not get back to you sooner but a friend was using my dehydrator during the time I was in New Mexico and I just got it back a week or so ago. Then the Christmas season happened....
Anyway I set the dehydrator at 135 and it takes 4-6 hrs. to dry the persimmons.
I am trying to do this also this year. Just got to find out how everyone does it your info is helpful. Thanks for that temp guide. Also, are the persimmons sweet as soon as dehydrated or later after the sugar crystallizes on them?
ReplyDeletei am getting ready to attempt dehydrating this "fuyu" type of persimmons... i was going to try slicing them like you would an apple... but yours are sooo beautiful!... it looks like you didnt even have to core them??
ReplyDelete..along the way... have you found an ez way to peel them? .. i'm dreading this part of the process!!
...Any suggestions are greatly welcomed!!??
thank you for posting your photos!.. i really appreciate it!
thank you!
~pam
Hi Pam,
ReplyDeleteI'm going to post a new photo to show the way I dehydrated persimmons this year. Last year I used my neighbor's fruit as I had nary a one on our tree. Her fruit had few seeds so slicing them horizontially worked great. This year our tree was loaded. I don't core ours although I do remove the stem & partial core. By slicing them vertically, I can by-pass the seeds easily.I find they are sweeter after drying.
As for peeling, our persimmons are the Ookii fuyu variety and are hugh. I use a sharp paring knife and only have to peel about 12 to get 4 racks full. My husband uses a sharp potato peeler but I find a paring knife is faster for me.
I like the fact that the persimmons do not need any kind of coating like pears need to dehydrate them.
Let me know how yours turn out. I'm giving my away as Christmas presents to friends & maybe family.
Diana
Thank you for responding!.. please don't remove your photo of your finished ones!!.. they are gorgeous!..i wished that i could have eaten them!..
ReplyDeletethe dehydrater i bought is an Oster.. w/ no temp. setting... any ideas on dehydrating times? (for my cheap one?) i had no clue about buying dehydrators..
i haven't had any luck w/ growing my own trees... but i did find a seller at a Fmarket... that are fantastic.. (definitely not free!!)
Persimmon season is so short...and after seeing your photo.. I HAVE TO TRY IT!!
thanks again! ~pam
Hi Pam,
ReplyDeleteYou should look at my most recent post & see what you think of the different slicing of the fuyu.
I use a NESCO-Gardenmaster, American Harvester. It was a present from a friend who bought it over the internet. If you have no temperature settings, I'd just check out the fruit every hour.
I have no idea where you live but if it were anywhere close to Sacramento, I'd say come by & get the rest of my crop.
We bought our tree when it was very young and it took about 3 years before there was any fruit and about 6 years before we got a dozen - and then it really bore fruit. Kept me very busy making persimmon chutney. I used a mango chutney recipe a friend in Hawaii gave me.
Good to hear from you.
Diana
My Fuyu persimmon bore over 300 fruit this year and I am going to dehydrate some of them. I have a mixture of those that are still firm and those that have partially softened. Reading your post and others, I am going to make thin slices, about 1/4 inch. To peel or not to peel is my question? I have not peeled fruit as I have eaten them fresh or in salads so why would I need to for drying? Would it affect the drying process? I think I'll go with not peeling some and peeling a few to see if it makes any difference. Your pictures are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteAnother Sacramento Gardener