Dried tangerines serve as an atmospheric winter decoration, especially during the Christmas season. Enjoyed as dried fruit, they taste particularly aromatic. They are a delicious snack and ingredient for muesli or fruit bread. You can dry tangerines yourself, even without a dehydrator. You can find out how to do this in this article.
How can you dry tangerines yourself?
Drying mandarins is easy in the oven, microwave or on the heater. To do this, cut the fruit into thin slices, drain the fruit juice and gently press it dry. Depending on the device, use different temperatures and times for drying until the slices are completely dry.
Required materials
- Mandarins, preferably organic
- Knife
- Kitchen strainer
- Grid, for example the oven rack or a cake rack
- kitchen paper
- rolling pin
You can dry the tangerines:
- In the oven,
- the microwave,
- or on the heater.
Alternatively, of course, this also works in a dehydrator, according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Drying mandarins
- Wash the citrus fruits thoroughly.
- Cut the fruit into thin slices.
- Place the tangerine slices in a colander so that some of the fruit juice can drain away.
- After 15 minutes, place on kitchen paper and place more leaves over the tangerines.
- Go over the slices with the rolling pin. Do not press too hard, otherwise the citrus fruits will lose their characteristic shape.
Drying on the heater
If you dry the tangerines on the radiator, the fruits spread a very pleasant aroma that permeates the entire apartment. However, with this method you need a little more time until the slices are completely dry. Make sure that air can circulate well around the citrus fruits so that they do not start to mold and turn them daily.
Drying in microwave or oven
The fruits dried in this way are also suitable for consumption. Because the water has been removed, they have a significantly more intense aroma than fresh tangerines.
- Line the oven rack with baking paper.
- Spread the mandarins, the slices should not touch each other.
- Insert at medium level.
- Since the citrus fruits lose a lot of moisture, place a drip pan lined with aluminum foil underneath.
- Switch the tube to 50 to a maximum of 70 degrees and dry the tropical fruits for five to six hours.
- Turn every hour so that the fruit dries evenly.
- When the tangerines are completely dry, remove them and let them cool. Store the dried fruit in tightly sealed containers for consumption.
If you want to dry in the microwave, place the slices on a plate and dry them at 900 watts for 2.5 minutes. Then turn and dry again at the same settings.
Tip
If you chop up the dried fruits, you can put them in scented sachets and use them as a closet perfume. The scent of citrus fruits keeps moths away.
