Putting Food By - Janet Greene [180]
Drying time depends on juiciness of the fruit—usually 6 to 9 hours. To make heavier leather, spread fresh pulp thinly on a layer that has lost all tackiness: building up on a nearly dry layer is better than working with a too-thick original layer.
To store, leave each sheet of leather on the plastic wrap on which it was dried and roll it up, tucking in the sides of the wrap as you go along. Overwrap each roll for further protection against moisture. Refrigerate until used, up to a couple of months; freeze for long-term storage.
Open-air/sun. Cover from dust and insects with cheesecloth held several inches away from the fresh fruit pulp, and place in direct sun. Bring inside at night. Protective cover can be left off when the leather is no longer tacky to the touch. Finish with a pasteurizing treatment at 145 F/ 63 C for 30 minutes. Total sun-drying time 24 hours or longer.
Dry test. Pliable and leathery, stretches slightly when torn; surface slick, with no drag when rubbed lightly with the fingertips.
Nectarines
Treat as for Apricots.
Peaches
Yellow-fleshed freestone varieties are the best for home-drying. Commercially dried peaches are halved, and seldom peeled. (For home-drying slices. however, peel.) Halve and stone the fruit; leave in halves or cut in slices. Scoop out any red pigment in the cavity (it darkens greatly during drying). Treat slices or halves with ascorbic-acid coat as you go along to hold color temporarily.
Indoor dryer. Steam-blanch slices 8 minutes, unpeeled halves 15 to 20 minutes. If using a dehydrator, start drying at 130 F/54 C, increase gradually to 155 F/68 C after the first hour. Turn over halves when all visible juice has disappeared. Reduce to 140 F/60 C when nearly dry to prevent scorching. In a stove oven or handmade indoor dryer, aim to maintain a temperature of 140 F/60 C throughout. Average total drying time: 15 to 36 hours for halves and up 6 to 18 hours for slices.
Open-air/sun. Prepare as for an indoor dryer. If steam-blanching slices and halves as above, sulfur-soak slices 10 minutes, halves for 15 minutes; or sulfur-fume slices 30 minutes, halves for 90 minutes. If not blanched, sulfur-soak as for blanched or sulfur-fume 60 minutes and 2 hours, respectively. If sulfur-fuming, be careful not to spill the juice in the hollows when transferring the halves to drying trays, where they’re placed cut-side up. Proceed as for Apricots. Test dry. Pasteurize. Cool and store. Solar dryer: about 70 percent of open-air/sun time.
Dry test. Leathery, rather tough.
Pears
Best for drying are Bartletts, picked quite firm before they are ripe, then held at 70 F/21 C in boxes in a dry, airy place for about 1 week—when usually they’re ready. Split lengthwise, remove core and woody vein, leave in halves (or pare off skin and slice). Coat cut fruit with ascorbic acid.
Indoor dryer. Steam-blanch slices 5 minutes, halves 20 minutes. If using a dehydrator, start at 130 F/54 C, gradually increasing after the first hour to 150 F/66 C. Reduce to 140 F/60 C for last hour or when nearly dry. In a stove oven or handmade indoor dryer, aim to maintain a temperature of 140 F/60 C throughout. Test dry. Condition; cool and store. Average total drying time: up 6 to 18 hours for slices, 15 to 36 hours for halves.
Open-air/sun. Sulfur as for Peaches; dry like Peaches. Test dry. Pasteurize; cool and store. Solar dryer: about 70 percent of open-air/sun time.
Dry test. Suede-like and springy. No moisture when cut and squeezed.
Plums and Prunes
Italian prune-plums have so much more natural sugar than other varieties that they dry well whole without fermenting; nor need they be pitted beforehand. Other kinds of plums should be pitted, then sliced or quartered in order to dry without spoiling. Check the skins of whole fruit with a 30–45-second dunk in boiling water. Cool.
Indoor dryer. Steam-blanch 15 minutes if halved and stoned, 5 minutes if sliced. If using a