Drying Apples in the New Dehydrator

We had an unexpected windfall, so we decided to use the proceeds to buy a dehydrator. We probably should have bought a new fridge, but we decided to be whimsical instead. I am not sure if the dehydrator will pay for itself. It does have a ten year warranty, so maybe it will. Anyway, it sits where our fridge used to and it does use much less energy.



I love apple chips, so we went to the UBC Botanical Gardens Apple festival and bought around 12 pounds of apples for drying. We have Czech, a King, and a long keeper apple. I read somewhere that if you planted all the seeds of an apple, each seed would produce a different variety. I am not sure if this is true or why this would be the case.


As you can see the apples turned out really well. I used a mandolin cutter to speed up the task and to get even portions for consistent drying. After cutting, I put them in a citric acid water bath, rinsed and then dried them at 135 degrees F for 8 to 15 hours. I made various thicknesses, so the drying time varies. The dehydrator costs between 4 to 8 cents an hour to run, and it heats up the kitchen and makes it smell nice. It also attracted wasps, but they have now gone to ground for the winter.