Best Guide on How to Make Dehydrated Strawberries in a Dehydrator

Dehydrating berries is a great way to preserve fruit. In this post, you will find the ultimate guide on How to Make Dehydrated strawberries in a Dehydrator.

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When you buy strawberries at the store, harvesting strawberries from your garden or a local farm, sometimes their fresh quality can decline after a few days in your fridge.

Dehydrating fruit like strawberries is an easy way to help you preserve that strawberry flavor and freshness of strawberries that were freshly picked from a patch. You can preserve dry strawberries in many ways like baking them or freezing them so they can last for a long time. 

Table of Contents

Dehydrating is the one thing you can do to preserve them longer and capture that strawberry taste every strawberry lover can’t get enough of. 

How dehydrating food works

Dehydrated food is a method of preservation that has been around for years. 

The process of dehydration is the movement of circulating hot air that creates enough heat to remove moisture in food. Airflow and a heat source are two main components to reduce water content in food.

According to sciencedirect.com, “water content of food is usually very high, typically 80% to 95% for various fruits and vegetables and 50% to 75% for various meats.”

A dehydrator’s goal is to remove as much water as possible to prevent any bacterial growth. The high temperatures of a dehydrator have to be just right to preserve the taste of fruit and prevent it from spoiling. 

What you can dehydrate?

You can dehydrate various types of fresh food that have some water content. Fruit and vegetables are two main classes of goods that work well in the dehydrator.

Foods that have some fat content can not be dehydrated like avocado, milk, and butter.

How to buy a dehydrator

You can buy a dehydrator by purchasing one online through Amazon. I bought my Magic Mill dehydrator from Amazon, and I think it is a great dehydrator for beginners.

Big box stores like Home Depot, Lowe’s, or Walmart also have them. 

Buying a dehydrator is a great investment if you’re interested in trying to increase the shelf life of your good. We give great buying tips on our Magic mill dehydrator review.

• Some are examples from our Magic Mill dehydrator review of things you need to consider when buying a dehydrator: 
• Easy to clean and has dishwasher-safe materials
• Performs its heating element at the rear to dry food more evenly.
• Includes overheating protection and has an automatic shut-off mode
• Control buttons or screen is easily viable and won’t fade (LED screens are best)

What you can you use Dehydrated strawberries For?

Get creative when using dehydrated strawberries as there are the perfect fruit to have for a sweet treat or add in delicious recipes

Some examples of different ways to use dehydrated strawberries are:

Eat them for a healthy snack for work, school, or throughout your day

• Add in yogurt 
• Mix it only in with granola 
• Mix them in cereal to give some sweetness 
• Place in salads 
• I use it in muffin recipes 
• Add them to cupcakes or fruit cakes
• Add them to a trail mix 
• Use as toppings for baked goods 
• Add in loose leaf teas 
• Give color to a plate when garnished 
• Make strawberry powder by blending the dehydrated fruit
• Sprinkle on top of ice cream

Dehydrated strawberries Supplies

Having all the needed supplies is key to dehydrating strawberries or any fresh fruit or vegetables. Let’s run down all the things you need!

Fresh Strawberries: Getting your hands on fresh strawberries is the best for dehydrating them but you can always buy them at grocery stores.

Dehydrator: There are many dehydrators to choose from that don’t have to break the bank. Below we have the top affordable dehydrators on Amazon: 

Dehydrator trays: Most dehydrators already come with trays to help hold all your strawberries. You can always buy additional food dehydrator trays if needed depending on your brand of the dehydrator.

Large bowl: This is helpful to wash your fruit and store all your scrapes as well. I always like using stainless steel bowls because they are durable and last forever.

Cutting board & Sharp Knife: Needed to cut all the strawberries you will be dehydrating. I love my butcher block one! 

Airtight Container: You can use any jar container you like to store your strawberries, but glass jars like a Mason Jar are an amazing storage container that keeps your preserved food airtight. 

Dehydrated strawberries: Choosing strawberries

If you are purchasing strawberries at your local grocery store, try to purchase them during the strawberry season in your area, because you’ll have a better selection.

Usually, strawberries are in season in the Springtime.

Looking at the bottom of your strawberry container at a store will show you if the strawberries have been sitting in too much moisture. Look for mold in this area and strawberry discoloration.

Picking strawberries yourself, getting the brightest in color will guarantee a sweet strawberry. The fewer flaws you have on the strawberry the better and make sure your tops are nice and green.

Dehydrated strawberries: How to cut in Strawberry Slices 

Let’s be real here, it is going to take a lot of strawberries to make a decent amount of dehydrated strawberry chips. 

So since you will be cutting a few, the best way to get them is as fast as possible by placing the strawberry point up after you cut the top off. 

Cutting the top off and then placing the tip up will let you cut slices of the strawberry evenly. You will have better control of cutting if you place a strawberry this way.

How Long to Dehydrate Strawberries slices?

Depending on your dehydrator brand will depend on how long to dehydrate your strawberry slices. To avoid bacteria the strawberries need to be fully dry so the longer the better. There’s no such thing as over-dehydrating your fruit in a dehydrator. 

I dehydrate my strawberry slices for 15 hours at 140°F. 

Prepare Strawberries to Dehydrate 

I like to prepare my strawberry slices by letting them soak in a vinegar and water mixture. I pace about ½ cup to 1 cup of vinegar and submerge them until I can clean them by hand and let them soak. 

This preparation will allow your strawberries to hold their color and get rid of all the things that grow on strawberries. 

Dehydrating Strawberries Video

Step By Step Directions

Step 1

Buy or harvest as many strawberries as you can and place them all in the biggest bowl you have. Add at least 1 cup of vinegar on top of your strawberries, you can eyeball it as the amount is not strict. Then add water until all the strawberries are submerged. 

Step 2

Cut up all the strawberries by cutting off the tops and cutting them into slices. 

Step 3

Placing all strawberries flat down on dehydrating trays and fill up your dehydrator with all your filled trays.

Step 4

Depending on what your manual says on your dehydrator set temperature for fruit drying, my dehydrator set temperature is 140 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 hours.

Step 5

After strawberries are all dried, place them in an air-tight container.

How to tell when Dehydrated strawberries are done

You can tell when you dehydrated strawberries when you hear a crispy sound coming from the strawberry slice. 

The strawberry slice needs to feel like there is no water left in it and you can break it like a chip.

Dehydrated strawberries Yield 

The yield of 4 pounds of strawberries for example can yield you about 5.2 ounces of dehydrated strawberries. 

You can gauge how much you need depending on how fast you or your household frequently eats them up. I know in my home they last no more than 3-4 days for my family if 5. 

The final yield can vary as not everyone is going to cut their strawberry the same size every time. If you’re like me you might lose some because of snacking in between making them.

How to Store Dehydrated strawberries

Using air containers to store dehydrated strawberries is the best way to keep your fruit preserved. Glass air-tight containers are easy to wash, and store and are eco-friendly to use to store dry goods.

When storing your dry fruit remember to write the date when you dried strawberries.

What is the shelf life of dehydrated food?

Dehydrating food will be good for at least 6 to 12 months depending on your environment. Keep dehydrating fruits in an airtight container in a dry place and cool place so they can have the longest shelf life possible.

Dehydrated strawberries Tips

For best results avoid dehydrating strawberries that have dark spots or have a bad appearance, they will reflect their not-so-good taste when dehydrated.

You can’t over-dry your strawberries so if you think they need more time in the dehydrator then do it. 

Picking ripe whole strawberries during their peak season that are rich in color and size will provide better testing strawberry chips

Try to cut your strawberries as close to size as possible so they can all dry evenly, it’s okay if you have thick slices just make it consistent

Get creative and have fun dehydrating strawberries at home in your dehydrator. The good news is as soon as you start dehydrating more fruit you will then have more fresh berries and dried strawberries

I hope you got some great tips, let me know if you tried dehydrating strawberries in the comments below. 

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