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How Much Fruit Fills a Dehydrator?

sliced in half green grapes on a Nesco dehydrator

Deciding how much fruit fills a dehydrator is not an exact science.

It obviously depends on what size dehydrator you have and how often you use it. It also depends on what size family you're feeding!

But for now, we're going on the assumption that you're filling FOUR full trays. We created this guide to help make that decision easier for you.

It helps to have a rough idea of how much fruit to purchase at the store!

An Easy Guide for Fruit so You'll Know How Much Fruit Fills a Dehydrator!

This guide helps you figure out how much to buy if you cannot afford to buy in bulk, or don't have room to store it, and prefer picking up your fruit on a weekly basis.

Maybe it's time to begin growing your own. But...

Most of us do not have tons of spare time to grow stuff or have room in our fridges and freezers.

Before you go out and buy too much though, a little farther down the page I'll show you roughly how much fruit will fit on four dehydrator trays.

Please remember this is just a guide. It's not an exact science...

4 Trays = THE Minimum to Use for Nesco Dehydrators

The reason why I picked how much fruit it takes to fill four full trays is this: FOUR trays are the Nesco Dehydrator brand's recommended minimum tray usage.

If you use any less than four full trays, for instance, only two trays, then you are not getting the proper air circulation necessary to dry your fruits properly.

About Dehydrator Non-Stick Sheets

Read more about Nesco dehydrators here. They have plenty of great accessories, such as spare trays (I purchased the four-tray starter Nesco); and they have non-stick solid sheets which are great for making fruit leathers.

The non-stick mesh sheets are great for stopping smaller pieces of food from dropping down into the tray below. When food dries, natural shrinkage occurs. Keeping the dried food on the trays means less stuff to clean up out of the bottom of the dehydrator, right? Right!

Excalibur dehydrators also have non-stick sheets for the same purposes I listed above as the Nesco dehydrator.

Here is Your Guide to How Much Fruit Fills FOUR Trays

  • Apples: fresh, 3-4 medium
  • Apricots: fresh, 5 whole per tray (20 total); frozen, 2lb bag
  • Bananas: fresh, 6-8 medium to large
  • Berries: fresh or frozen, 2lb
  • Cherries: fresh or frozen, 2lb
  • Grapes: fresh, 1lb if cut in half; 2lb if left whole
  • Citrus: 4-5 medium oranges,
    7-8 lemons or limes
  • Melon: 2lbs diced
  • Peaches: fresh, 4 whole if slicing; 16 whole if halving—but please note: you may have to use an Excalibur machine which has the ability to remove alternate trays to allow for the height of the peach, so that would drop the quantity down to 8 and two trays; frozen, 2lb
  • Pears: fresh, 4-6 whole pears; frozen, 2lb
  • Plums: fresh, 24-28 whole, sliced in half—but please note: you may have to use an Excalibur machine which has the ability to remove alternate trays to allow for the height of the plums, so that would drop the quantity down to 12-14 and two trays; frozen, 2lb
  • Rhubarb: fresh, 2lbs sliced into 1" chunks
  • Strawberries: fresh, 1-1/2 to 2lbs; frozen, 2lbs

Nesco and Excalibur Brands are Super Dehydrators

As mentioned in the dehydrator section, I do have an Excalibur dehydrator and a Nesco dehydrator.
I use the Nesco on a daily/weekly basis, and the Excalibur is great for proofing bread!

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If you wish to learn more, tune in to Susan's free Podcast: "What's the Difference Between Nesco and Excalibur Dehydrators" HERE.