Are you crazing? No, it’s not a mental condition, it’s a technique to crack open tough-skinned fruit to reduce the drying time when you are dehydrating fruits with natural protective wax coatings such as grapes or cranberries. Today I am dehydrating one of my favorites, blueberries. “Crazing” or “checking” causes the skins to burst open allowing moisture to escape. This reduces the time needed in the dehydrator. Crazing is slightly different from blanching. Observe your fruit, it doesn’t take long to craze the skin of a blueberry.
First, plunge the washed fruit into boiling water.
I take them from the boiling water, plunge them into ice-water and arrange them on the dehydrating tray. Watch the berries carefully as it only takes 1 to 2 minutes to craze their skins.
It was messy as some of the berries overcooked since I was trying to take photos of berries in the boiling water. So, I am calling these “action-shots’ as you have to work quickly. See how the skins have cracked opened? This is what we are trying to achieve.
Set your dehydrator on 135 degrees F for between 10 to 15 hours. When they are properly dried, they will feel leathery to the touch. Remember to use the Zip-lock moisture test on a test sample. (That’s where you put some in a Ziploc and watch to see if any moisture appears on the bag. If it does, you dry longer).
Check them after 5 hours and adjust the temperature if it’s a damp day. Exterior conditions will affect the drying times.
I am testing out techniques for drying blueberries so, I’m also trying several trays where I have not crazed them but just washed them and arranged them on trays. I want to see how much longer it will take to dry them with no prep-work, can be up to 35 hours.
One of my favorite ways to use dried blueberries in the middle of winter when berries are overpriced and tasteless in the stores. I make pancakes with this batter on a cast-iron griddle that I purchased from Buchheit.
Rich Blueberry Pancakes
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour or (I use half whole-wheat flour)
3 teaspoons baking power
¼ teaspoon salt
2 eggs (since I am using a heavier flour, I add an extra egg to help “lift” the whole wheat flour)
1¼ cups milk (whole milk is better)
6 tablespoons vegetable oil or butter (melted)
1 cup dried blueberries
½ cup chopped pecans (optional)
1. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the dry ingredients
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk until they are light colored and foamy
3. Add the milk and oil (or melted butter). Mix.
4. Gradually add the mixed dry ingredients to the egg mixture. Stir until just smooth. Fold in the dried blueberries.
5. Pour the batter onto a hot cast-iron griddle, cook until golden brown.
Note: If you like crispy pancakes and waffles add 1 tablespoon of brown sugar to the batter when you add the milk and oil.
Try drying some berries. They will keep if stored at 52 degrees for up to 24 months. Have fun today! I’m here to help!
Anne May
