How to Dry Fruit in an Air Fryer?

Wondering what else you can do with your air fryer except air frying your snack and leftovers? Thinking of dehydrating your favourite fruits? Well, you can easily dehydrate and store your favourite fruits that too in a heck of a shot. You have no idea what wonders air fryers can do. Once you learn to experiment with the air fryer and your food items, there is o way back. One such wonder is dehydrating the fruits in the air fryer. Please note that only the air fryer with the dehydration function in it would be able to do the job.

Purpose of Dehydration:

For centuries, dehydration has been used for preserving fruits, vegetables and meat. It is considered to be one of the best methods to preserve off-season fruits and veggies. People used this method to dry grapes into raisins, apple chips, banana chips etc. People used to dry food in the sun but now you can do the same in an air fryer or dehydrator.

How does it Work?

• Air fryer throws warm air on fruits, veggies beef whatever you are intending to dehydrate
• It won’t cook the food but absorbs all of its moisture
• The air circulates around the food, absorbing its moisture, making it crispy and crunchy.

Process of Dehydrating the Fruits in the Air Fryer:

There are certain things to keep in mind before dehydrating the fruits. If you don’t pay heed to these minor things, you won’t be able to get the desired results and all your efforts will return in vain.

Temperature

The process of dehydrating the fruits is a bit slower and steady process as it requires a low temperature to make the food desiccated. High temperatures won’t absorb the moisture properly, instead, they will make the exterior crispy and dry or even cook the food to extreme levels but the interior will still remain moist. So you have to be careful with the temperatures and time while dehydrating the fruits.

Cutting

The second important thing to keep in mind is the fine cutting of fruits whether it’s apples, bananas or strawberries. Try to cut the even-sized pieces of each fruit to ensure equal dehydration and no piece will remain uncooked because of its size. Your knife should be of a sharp edge. Use a cutting gadget such as a mandolin. It will ensure equal sizes of fruits.

Placement

The third important thing to remember is the placement of chips or slices. Do not stack them or place them unevenly. Arrange them in an orderly manner at a distance so that air can circulate in between them, ensuring even dehydration.

Time

Different fruits require different times to get perfectly dehydrated. Some require 12 hrs and others require 6 hours to lose their moisture. Please refer to the air fryers manual guide for dehydration.

How is an Air Fryer different from a Dehydrator?

Many companies are offering their efficient dehydrators for the purpose of dehydrating the food but an air fryer can do the same job with greater efficiency.

• The dehydrator occupies more space as compared to the air fryer. The air fryer can be easily adjusted on the kitchen countertop
• Any dehydrator can dehydrate the food but not every air fryer can do this job. Only the air fryers with dehydrating function can perform dehydration of food.
• Dehydrators only dry out the water content of the food whereas an air fryer not only dehydrates but turns the food into crispy crunchy snacks just like deep frying but without using oil.

How you can make Apple Chips in an Air Fryer?

We have talked a lot about dehydration and air fryers, now it is time to show you an example of how you can dehydrate apples in an air fryer and make homemade apple chips. To begin with the apple chips, please find the following ingredients in your kitchen.

• A sharp knife
• Apples
• Air fryer
• Paper towel
• Mandolin (optional)
• Lemon

Instructions

• Wash the apples well. Make sure no dirt remains on the surface. Peeling is optional. No hard and fast rule.
• Thinly slice the apples or use a mandolin to do the job. It’s up to you whether you want ring-shaped or semi-circle chips. If you are not using the mandolin, try to cut the even slices so that it won’t affect the end results.
• Take cold water in a bowl and add lemon juice to it.
• Now put the sliced apples into the water, This will prevent the slices from browning.
• Now take out the slice from the cold water and pat dry them with the help of a paper towel or any clean cloth that can absorb moisture
• Place the patted slices on the bottom of the air fryer in an even manner. Do not overlap or stack them. Now do the same with the air fryer tray. If you still have more apple slices, put additional racks and place the slices over them.
• Turn on the dehydrating mode on your air fryer and see what time it suggests. In our case, it’s 135F for 7-8 hours.
• Once the time was reached. Check the apple’s crunch level. If they still feel moist, give them another 15-20 minutes to get perfectly dried.
• Now you can store them in an airtight container once they cool down. Make sure the container is also moisture-free and airtight otherwise your chips won’t last for too long.

Bottom line

Dehydration is a perfect option to store your favourite fruits and turn them into delicious and healthy snacks. A healthy substitute for snacks containing oil and other ingredients that can make you gain weight or other health issues. Fruit snacks are nutritious, time-saving and healthy. One bite has it all. Use them to make oatmeal snacks, enjoy them as ice cream topping, or munch on them in between your office hours or while watching movies, these fruity snacks won’t disappoint you at any time. Try the above-mentioned method for different fruits, keep experimenting and keep enjoying the healthy lifestyle that an air fryer is offering to you. This is what the air fryers are invented for, an oil free and risk free healthy lifestyle. So live it to the fullest.