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market-farming - Re: Holding Strawberries / Fruit Leather

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  • From: "Ava Devenport" <essenheal AT iname.com>
  • To: market-farming
  • Subject: Re: Holding Strawberries / Fruit Leather
  • Date: Tue, 30 May 2000 15:27:26


On 05/29/00, "Allan Balliett <igg AT igg.com>" wrote:

> I asked about drying strawberries earlier. I'm not happy with the
> results we got. Now I'm ready to try fruitleather. Can someone give
> me tips on making fruit leather, especially from strawberries?
>
> Thanks
>
> -Allan



Sorry to hear your drying experience didn't work out to your satisfaction,
but here's some fruit leather info! You will need heavy plastic sheets and
a blender and you may wish to sieve through a fine strainer to remove the
seeds.

Wash and puree the berries in your blender until very smooth. Do not use
wax paper or aluminum foil(they tend to stick to the leathers), but line
your drying trays with a fruit-leather sheet, mylar or food-grade 4ml
plastic. You can also use kitchen plastic wrap but tape to all 4 sides of
your drying trays with masking tape to prevent it from blowing over the
leathe as it dries.If you choose to use non-stick baking sheets, you'll
still need to coat them lightly with a pure vegetable oil or a non-stick
vegetable spray. for a 18"x14"x1/4" tray you'll need approx. 2&1/2 cups of
puree (in some blenders you may have to add a small amt. of juice or water
to start the blending process). Fruit that is fully ripe produces the best
flavor, but if it the puree is too tart, add 1 tablespoon of honey for each
quart of puree (can be repeated to desired sweetness).

Pour the puree onto the drying sheet and slightly tilt the sheet to help it
spread evenly (should be about 1/4 inch thick), leaving at least a 1-inch
border all around to allow for spreading during drying. You can also make
smaller 4 to 6 inch fruit leather "pancakes" by pouring smaller amounts.

If you 'garnish' the leathers, add the garnishes while still moist, then
dry it it's leather-like and pliable. There should be no sticky spots in
the center.

Remove the leather from the tray while it is still warm and roll it up,
cooled fruit leather does not roll as easily.

You can dry the leathers in approx. 6 to 8 hours in a dehydrator. In an
oven it may take up to 18 hours and oven-drying will remove more of the
nutrients due to the longer drying time.

You can add spices to flavor the puree, but use sparingly as spice flavors
will concentrate when dried. All these spices can be used in fruit
leathers: allspice, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, ginger,mace, mint,
nutmeg, and pumpkin pie spice. Natural flavorings which can be used:
almond extract, lemon extract (plus juice or peel), lime juice or peel,
orange extract (plus juice or peel), and vanilla. If you'd like to uses
garnishes, these are all good for fuits: shredded coconut, chopped dates,
dried chppoed fruits, granola, chopped nuts, chopped raisins, poppy seeds
(but don't eat these and take a urine drug test, as you'd test positive for
drugs), and sunflower seeds. Just sprinkle the garnishes of choice over
the drying leathers and they'll stick if it's still moist. You can also
try fillings, then roll them up and slice into very appealing bite-size
pieces: melted chocolate, softened cream cheese, cheddar cheese spread,
fruit fillings, fruit jams, marmalades or preserves, marshmallow cream and
peanut butter.

If your leathers are dried to long, it may become brittle and crack when
peeled off. If this happens, chop them into smaller pieces in the blender
to make fruit chips for cereal toppings. The chips can also be
reconstituted by soaking in hot water for 10-15 minutes. Use 1/2 cup of
hot water for each cup of chips, then stir in a blender for a smooth
consistency, makes a great topping for ice cream, baby cereal and yogurts.

Store in glass or plastic containers.

For those who have left-over pulp after juicing or making home-made
jellies, save the pulp, press it through a collander to remove seeds and
peels and add just enough juice to flavor it and bring it to a pouring
consistency. Then dry the pulp mixture as you would pureed fresh fruit.

Some other good purees to combine with strawberries include apple,
apple-rhubarb, peach, pineapple and rhubarb. The combinations of fruit
leather purees can go on and on with a little imagination and sometimes
pure luck!

Blessings,
Ava




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