Have you ever dehydrated watermelon?

Did you even know you could  dehydrate watermelon?

As much as we love to dehydrate various foods, it wasn’t until this year that my husband decided to dehydrate some watermelon, when we were overflowing with it one evening. Turned out, it was a success, much like all of my husband’s ideas. (Did you read that, honey?)

I wasn’t sure at first how it was going to taste. Watermelon is one of my all-time favorite fruits… would drying watermelon ruin its sweet flavor?

No!

It was great. Dehydrated watermelon does taste a bit different from regular watermelon, just like raisins taste different than grapes. It came out with that dried fruit flavor, with a hint of watermelon taste. As long as you’re willing to try something new, that tastes yummy but not exactly like watermelon, I recommend you give it a try!

And just like dehydrating, it is phenomenally simple. Let me show you how it’s done! 🙂

How to Dehydrate Watermelon

Ingredients:

1. watermelon, sliced into about 1/4″ slices. You’ll have to find the balance between slicing it thin, so it won’t take forever to dry, and having enough room in your dehydrator to fit all your watermelon slices.

Equipment:

• dehydrator – this is the one I love and recommend, but any dehydrator will do!
• 1 paraflexx sheet (optional, read notes after instructions)

Instructions:

1. Place the thinly sliced watermelon onto your dehydrator trays. If you have an Excalibur or other square dehydrator, it’s a good idea to place one paraflexx sheet on the bottom rack to catch any drips.
2. Dry on low overnight, up to 18 hours or until the watermelon is dried and leathery. Flipping the watermelon over is not necessary, but if you would like to you can after about 8 hours. It’s fine if you don’t, though. 😉
3. Store in an air-tight container (I like this type) or a zippered bag until eaten. I can’t imagine they would last very long, but as long as the container is air-tight and the fruit is fully dried, it should last a year.

Notes:

Okay. You must understand how difficult it is to tell you how long to dehydrate the watermelon! It all depends on how thinly you slice the watermelon (don’t go thinner than 1/4″ for best results). It will also depend on how humid it is, and the type of dehydrator you use. So simply, dehydrate until it’s dry! 🙂

You don’t have to use the paraflexx sheet, I just recommend it because it will be a bit drippy. You could pat the watermelon dry before you lay it on the trays and that would help.

I haven’t tried this in the oven. Since it’s such a wet fruit, I would think it would take a while and you might not want to run the oven that long. But if you’re brave enough, let me know how it turns out! 🙂

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Pin: How to Dehydrate Watermelon

Happy dehydrating!

Love,

Danielle