Pick through your berries and select only the ones that are firm and ripe. Either cut them in half, or blanch them in boiling water for about 30 seconds, or until the skins split. Spread them in a single layer on your trays and dry at 120 degrees for 12 to 24 hours. (Less time if cut in half, but I usually like mine whole.) They are done when they are hard, but still a bit chewy. Every 2 hours or so, stir the berries around on the trays, and rotate the trays at least twice during the drying.
How to use your dried Cranberries:
- Reconstitute them by soaking them in an equal amount of water for about 3 hours, and use as you would fresh.
- Make Cranberry Apple Pie, one of my favorites.
- Add them to your favorite granola recipe, for added zing.
- Mix with other dried fruits, cover with water, add honey, and simmer until tender for a delicious “Fruit Stew,” a tasty dessert on a cold winter’s night.
- Chop coarsely and add to your favorite quick bread recipes.
- Make cobblers and “dump cakes” with them.
- Add chopped, dried cranberries to your pancake and waffle recipes.
Don’t want to dehydrate all those cranberries? Check out my other suggestions for preserving them at http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/food... and http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/food...
Because Cranberries are just now popping up in the stores in abundance, next time I’ll give you my Grandma’s Cranberry Tea recipe, so be sure to come back!
If you’d like more information on Food Preservation, please see my website at http://www.foodpreservation-tips.com and sign up for the weekly newsletter on that topic as well. Feel free to drop by and let me know what you’d like to see added!
For information on herbs, please see my website http://www.herb-tips.com . There, you will find more than 100 tips and links to herbal information, and sign up for my weekly newsletter!
If you have food preservation questions, please post to the discussion area, or join our Preservers egroup at http://members.aol.com/preservers/group.... , where you will meet a lot of very helpful canners.....both experienced and not-so-experienced. And look for tasty recipes in which to use your garden produce in the other topic areas at www.suite101.com .
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