Drying Canned Fruit

Have you ever discovered you missed some old fruit in your rotation? And now you have some old dark fruit from the past that is still good to eat. It just looks less than appetizing like the jar on the right.

                                             New jar of fruit.................Old jar of fruit

I found a dozen jars of old fruit when I rotated my new jars of nectarines. So instead of just tossing them I decided to make one of my families favorite treats. Candied fruit.

It is very easy to do with canned fruit. 

First put a strainer aver a pitcher or bowel.

Then dump the juice off the fruit.

Followed by the fruit.

Place your fruit on the racks of your fruit dryer.

When the fruit is about as flexible as leather and dry to the touch it is finished. It will be a lot smaller.

Then place them in a plastic bag with a good seal. Put the kind of fruit and the date they were dried on the bag.

Let them sit for a day or two before you put them away. 

Look for any mold or moisture in the bag. If they get moldy toss them in the trash.

 If there is moisture check for bugs. If there are bugs toss them in the garbage. 

If there is just moisture put them back in the dryer and finish drying them. 

With the high sugar content of the canned fruit it is unlikely to get mold or spoil.

Remember the juice you drained off the fruit and saved?

You can use it to make drinks like sweet tea or add to powdered drink mix to boost the nutrition. I would not dump it down the drain. It is very sweet and tasty.

DO your best to rotate your fruit. You can also use this same process on fresher canned fruit. It is more colorful and taste great.