Barb Hodgens

Barb Hodgens loves to cook with alternative, healthy whole food ingredients, with a focus on gut health. Barb has overcome her own gut health issues through healthy eating. Share your ideas, comments and photos at the end of this post :)

Enjoy delicious peaches anytime of the year.

Name: How to dehydrate peaches
Ingredients: Fresh peaches

We all know that come summertime, peach season is fleeting. Whether you have an abundance in your orchard or just love to buy them up at the markets, dehydrating is one of the easiest ways to preserve your bounty so you can enjoy peaches all year. Dehydrated peach is sweet, delicious and truly candy-like!

Choose peaches that are completely ripe. The more flavourful the fresh peaches are to start out with, the more delicious the dehydrated version will be. You want all the sugars to have fully developed, so the dehydrated slices taste rich and chewy.

how to dehydrate peach

Dehydrated peach slices are a tasty and portable snack as they are but there are many other delicious ways to use them. Chopped up pieces of peach are great added to breakfast cereals such as homemade muesli and granola or added to trail mixes for when you are on the go. You can also rehydrate them and add the plumped-up pieces of peach to your homemade cakes and muffin batters, pies, granola bars and much more. Simply put the slices of dehydrated peach in a bowl and cover with hot water for 15 to 30 minutes. Drain the water and add to your favourite baking recipes.

Dehydrated peaches

Before selecting peaches for dehydrating, you should know that there are two types of peaches to choose from. Freestone and clingstone; either variety can be dehydrated, but the preparation for each is slightly different.

Clingstone peaches

The flesh of these peaches cling to the pit making it difficult to slice them in uniform pieces. Peeling the skin is optional, however the flavour is sweeter, and the texture is less chewy with the skins removed. We recommend it with store bought peaches. Wash the peaches thoroughly if you prefer to leave the skins on.

how to dehydrate peaches

Freestone peaches

Freestone peaches are more suitable for dehydrating because the pits pull out of the flesh making them easier to slice. Peeling freestone peaches is optional as well however the extra work removing the skin is well worth it because they'll taste sweeter. Wash the peaches thoroughly if you choose to leave the skin on. The quickest way to remove the skin on freestone peaches is to blanch them. This step does not work on the clingstone variety.

how to dehydrate peaches

NATURAL PRESERVATIVE OPTIONS

If you are concerned about your peaches turning brown (it's only aesthetic, and nothing to worry about), soak the slices in an acidic medium before placing on the dehydrator trays. Learn more about that here. We skipped this step because we didn’t want our peach slices soaking up more water and taking longer to dehydrate.

CONDITIONING PEACHES

Conditioning is a process that allows any moisture differences between the pieces to balance out. Find out how here. If you plan to eat the peaches within the next 3 months, you can skip this step. The process is only necessary if you plan to keep your dehydrated peaches in long term storage.

How to dehydrate peaches

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Dehydrating is one of the easiest ways to preserve peaches so that you can enjoy them out of season. Dehydrated peach is sweet, delicious and truly candy-like!

Ingredients

Fresh peaches

Directions

HOW TO REMOVE THE SKIN

Clingstone Peaches: must be peeled by hand using a sharp paring knife or vegetable peeler. (blanching will not remove the skin on this variety of peach)
Freestone Peaches: Cut an ‘X’ into the bottom of each peach. Boil a large pot of water. Once boiling, place approx. 6 peaches (depending on pot size) in the water for 30 seconds. Remove the peaches to a bowl of cold water to avoid cooking the peach too much. Once they are cooled, with your fingers, gently peel the skin back from the incision lines. The skin should peel away easily. If the peaches are unripe or damaged, some areas of skin may stick. If this happens cut the skin away with a knife or vegetable peeler.

DEHYDRATING PEACHES

Once the peel is removed cut the peach in half (freestone) or the flesh away from the pit with a knife. (clingstone)
Cut the peach flesh into even slices (1/8- to 1/4-inch thick)
Optional step – place all the slices in acidulated water and then drain in a colander. Learn more here.
Line the Breeze Food Dehydrator trays with silicon mesh sheets to avoid the peach slices sticking or falling through the wire racks.
Arrange the slices on the trays, allowing a little space between for airflow.
Set the Breeze food dehydrator to 60C/140F and set the temperature to 10 hours to check in. If they are moist and sticky, continue to dry them, checking every few hours. Finished peaches will be pliable and leathery with no signs of moisture. To test, remove a slice and let it completely cool. You should be able to bend it. Tear and squeeze the thickest part. If there are any signs of moisture, leave them in the dehydrator for longer. It might take up to 20 hours to fully dry the peaches depending on how thickly they are sliced and the humidity on the day.
Store dried peaches in a tightly sealed glass container, in a cool dark place. If finished correctly dehydrated peaches should last for months – to over a year.

Recipe Video

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how to dehydrate peaches

How to dehydrate peaches

Enjoy delicious peaches anytime of the year.

We all know that come summertime, peach season is fleeting. Whether you have an abundance in your orchard or just love to buy them up at the markets, dehydrating is one of the easiest ways to preserve your bounty so you can enjoy peaches all year. Dehydrated peach is sweet, delicious and truly candy-like!

Choose peaches that are completely ripe. The more flavourful the fresh peaches are to start out with, the more delicious the dehydrated version will be. You want all the sugars to have fully developed, so the dehydrated slices taste rich and chewy.

how to dehydrate peach

Dehydrated peach slices are a tasty and portable snack as they are but there are many other delicious ways to use them. Chopped up pieces of peach are great added to breakfast cereals such as homemade muesli and granola or added to trail mixes for when you are on the go. You can also rehydrate them and add the plumped-up pieces of peach to your homemade cakes and muffin batters, pies, granola bars and much more. Simply put the slices of dehydrated peach in a bowl and cover with hot water for 15 to 30 minutes. Drain the water and add to your favourite baking recipes.

Dehydrated peaches

Before selecting peaches for dehydrating, you should know that there are two types of peaches to choose from. Freestone and clingstone; either variety can be dehydrated, but the preparation for each is slightly different.