Though I was amazed at the possibilities of using a dehydrator at home, I never thought of buying one, till I saw it on sale in ALDI last year. I got this for less than $ 14 and I am delighted with that purchase, because I have used this many times to make delicious raisins, vadagams and dried vegetables (vatral) .
The dehydrator from ALDI and the raisin I made in that. |
Homemade cloth base for dehydrator plates |
Raisins made in dehydrator |
store it in airtight container at room temperature. |
Kesari made using homemade raisin |
Ingredients:
Seedless grapes - 1 kg
Method:
The dehydrator is an equipment (see photo), that would have a heating coil at the base and some plates with holes stacked above it. The center hole and the holes in the plate facilitates the hot air circulation.
I covered the plates using a new thin cotton cloth and cut out the center holes for aeration. But that is not necessary, if the grapes are larger.
First rinse the grapes thoroughly (thrice or more times). Remove the stems.
Pat dry using a clean cloth.
Place on all the plates of the dehydrator (evenly spaced).
Arrange the plates over the coil.
Switch on at maximum heat.
It may take nearly 2 to 3 days for drying the grapes to a hard stage.
I always run the dehydrator when I am at home and switch it off while sleeping. But many people run it continuously and it gets dried in 24 hours for them.
Finally place all the dried raisins in a single plate and continue drying for 6 more hours if needed.
Dry it till it turns more harder than store bought to ensure longevity (as we are not adding any chemicals to preserve them).
Note:
Before we use it any recipe (raw) we can soak a handful of raisin in few tsp of water and puff them in microwave. It will get the same softness like store bought.
I use this in many desserts, oats and fruit cake.
Making raisins is a good way to turn sour grapes to sweeter ones.
Buy the organic grapes (optional) during season at a lesser price and enjoy perfect raisins throughout the year.
yields : 2 cups raisins