Learn how to dehydrate grapes so you can make the juiciest raisins on the planet!
Raisins? Yep! By dehydrating grapes, you make raisins! You'll find they taste better than boxed... and your home-dehydrated grapes will plump up more than store-bought raisins, too. Not only that, they just plain taste better!
(OK, you could also say that raisins are grapes in disguise! What say you?)
As you very well know, raisins make snacking easy—whether you're at home or are backpacking in the great outdoors! Also, they're great nutrition for kids... Add grapes to fruit roll-ups too and for added sweetness to smoothies!
Raisins are also great in breads and in your breakfast cereal.
As mentioned at the top of the page, you'll notice that your homemade raisins are plumper, and a little more moist. I absolutely love 'em and you will too!
Did you know that grapes have been dried for thousands of years and have many hidden health benefits?
Grapes are a great source of vitamins A, C and K before they become raisins BUT when they ARE raisins, they have more Choline, Niacin, Folate, and Betaine, with higher trace amounts of Thiamine, and Riboflavin!
In the mineral department, raisins beat grapes hands down in Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, and Fluoride. Both grapes and raisins contain Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids.
I went searching for tips on Healthline.com to see how grapes help us. Read top 12 tips on the health benefits of grapes. Check out how to dehydrate more fruits here.
Coming up, I'll tell you more about cutting them in half after you have washed and removed the stems—or you may leave whole if desired.
If you cut them in half, place the grapes on the dehydrator sheet with the cut side facing up, so that the grape juice doesn't drip down to the trays below!
(If you blanch the grapes first, see step two, below, you can save a ton of time in the dehydrator).
See how to dehydrate grapes and how easy it is to make fabulous raisins! Choose dark/black grapes for the best looking (darker) raisins. Red grapes are not too shabby, so don't be afraid to "go red."
Reminder: If drying your grapes whole, the drying time jumps to 10 to 36 hours, so please bear that in mind. I highly recommend cutting the grapes in half AND drying them "cut side up" so they don't drip, as mentioned earlier!
When cutting your grapes in half, consider treating yourself to this fantastic knife by Trisha Yearwood. I LOVE IT! I've been using mine for years and with it being a solid knife (without the orange handle material) it makes it easy to keep clean. Plus, the old 'orange handled knife' I had started to get sticky. Ugh. This Trisha Yearwood knife's handle will never get that way!
* As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. The price you pay doesn't increase.
Drat! Looks like my fave knife is unavailable right now... so here's another chef's knife with a full tang (that means the handle and blade "are one" so they can't come apart when we're slicin' and a dicin').
* As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. The price you pay doesn't increase.
I tried the 'whole' method, but the trays got really sticky ... and as stated, they took far longer to dehydrate... so cutting the grapes in half won out for me!
For the green grapes, I simply washed and sliced the grapes in half, without blanching first. It worked a treat!
There's something about home-made raisins. They have that sweetness, but also a great tangy/tart taste too! (Try saying that fast three times!)
I hope you enjoyed learning how to dehydrate grapes so you can make your own raisins! You'll find they are really easy to make, and are larger and much juicier than the boxed store variety too.
Susan Gast began Easy Food Dehydrating in December 2010. Read Susan's story of what sparked her interest in all things related to "food dehydrating."
She is featured on Mother Earth News blog, and on Solo Build It (SBI) who host this site. Read her first SBI interview, and her second SBI interview.
Since 1980, Susan's involvement in publishing - in one form or another - led her to create a "review site" of products related to the publishing industry. Visit ePubTechReviews today, also hosted by Solo Build It. Susan also runs her namesake site SusanGast.com on Solo Build It that showcases the books she has written since 2010.
Do you want to send Susan a quick message? Visit her contact page here. She'd love to hear from you!