Hi Sammy,
I have not done a lot of my own dehydrating - with or without a dehydrator, but if all you wanted to do was dry out fresh cranberries, set your oven to 100 - 150F, sprinkle cranberries on a parchment or silpat line baking sheet, and "bake" until dried the way you want.
Make sure cranberries are all independent. You don't want them kissing any of their friends - as that will inhibit heat to pass all around the globe.
This could take anywhere from 2 - 5 hours, depending on many factors, so you may want to do it on a day you can stay around...
Just know this - the dried cranberries in trail mix and granola, have been sweetened and then dried, so they are soft and chewy. If you just dry fresh cranberries they will be very dry and crunchy/hard, because the fruit has a lot of fiber, but very little sugar. Does this help? I hope so...
I'll add just one detail. A dehydrator circulates the air all around whatever you are drying because the food sits on screens. You may need to flip the berries once about halfway through the process or you may end up with moist spots which could mold. I've not dried cranberries, but they may remain soft and chewy like cherry tomatoes do.
3 Comments
I have not done a lot of my own dehydrating - with or without a dehydrator, but if all you wanted to do was dry out fresh cranberries, set your oven to 100 - 150F, sprinkle cranberries on a parchment or silpat line baking sheet, and "bake" until dried the way you want.
Make sure cranberries are all independent. You don't want them kissing any of their friends - as that will inhibit heat to pass all around the globe.
This could take anywhere from 2 - 5 hours, depending on many factors, so you may want to do it on a day you can stay around...
Just know this - the dried cranberries in trail mix and granola, have been sweetened and then dried, so they are soft and chewy. If you just dry fresh cranberries they will be very dry and crunchy/hard, because the fruit has a lot of fiber, but very little sugar. Does this help? I hope so...