Fresh pears, like apples, make for some excellent dehydrated snack-food eating. Especially when there is an over abundance of them. There are only so many I (ahem, you) can eat when they start to ripen up in droves.
It’s so easy to slice them up and throw them on a dehydrator for later enjoyment. I like to pack them in lunches, but they’re also great cut up and mixed into salads, or added into cakes and cookies.
1. Start by slicing your pears– using a mandolin slicer makes the job so much easier. You can peel and core them if you’d like- but I like having the skins on there, and the core doesn’t bother me. I slice off the top, to remove the long stem, before using the mandolin slicer. Then I remove the seeds (below) and am ready for the next pear!
2. Pear seeds are slightly more difficult to remove than apple seeds, as obviously they’re much smaller. I use the tip of a knife to flick seeds out of the slice and venture on to the next one.
3. (Optional) At this point you can do a few different things to “liven” up your pears. Try soaking them in pineapple juice or drizzle on a touch of honey for a bit of extra sweetness.
I personally like them plain- I’m not much of a sweets kind of girl and the drying process brings out some really fresh, sweet flavor.
4. Lay your pear slices out on a dehydrating rack (or pan if you’re doing this in the oven). Make sure to only do one layer of pears, as you don’t want any sticking together or not drying completely.
5. Set dehydrator temperature to 135° F. Add trays of pears and allow to dry for at least 14 hours, more depending on the humidity level of your zone. Leave them to dry until they are leathery with no moist spots.
6. Enjoy them now or save them for later.
For long-term storage: Store in your freezer.