Y’all, I am in fresh fruit heaven over here!
Last week I got to enjoy fresh peaches brought to us by my mother in law, which we turned into a delicious and fast crumble… This week my mom brought fresh figs from her own garden!
As much as I love figs though, this is probably more than I can eat in a week.
So I need to put some of them up for later.
Last summer I talked about putting up fruit (strawberries) by canning them, but what about that fruit that you want to preserve without sugar?
That’s where dehydrating comes in! It’s a fast and easy way to preserve fruit so that you can keep enjoying it for weeks, months, and even years to come!
Figs are a great fruit to start with if you’ve never dried any fruit before, because they are fairly forgiving.
If you over dry them, they don’t really change all that much!
Alright, here’s the step by step…
How to Dehydrate Fresh Figs
First, thoroughly wash the figs. Be careful not to crush them, they are very delicate!
Next, remove the stems and quarter each fig.
Arrange them onto trays for your dehydrator.
Make sure you leave a little breathing room between each piece so that the air can circulate properly.
While there are many dehydrators on the market, not all are created equal. So be careful and do your research before buying one!
I use an Excalibur 5 Tray. I’ve had it for about 8 years and have used it for MANY hours… it’s absolutely fabulous and you should get one!
Turn your dehydrator to the “fruit” setting, or about 135°.
I live in a very humid climate and it took about 8 hours for them to be fully dry. But times may vary, so check them every so often after about 6 hours.
The figs are done when they are fully dry to the touch, but still pliable and chewy.
You can test them by removing one, letting it cool a bit before tasting it in all it’s figgy goodness!
Note: Try not to eat them all before they are finished! 😉
Once the figs are completely dried, remove the trays from the dehydrator and allow the fruit to cool.
From there, they can be placed in an airtight container. They should be good for 1-2 years in a cool dry place!
If they last that long… 😉
Faith says
Oh yum!!! I want some!