Making dried oranges at home is very easy.
Explore the culinary art with dried oranges: perfect for cocktails, teas, and stunning decorations. Using a static or convection oven, a radiator or stove, a dehydrator, microwave, sun, or air fryer, discover the endless possibilities to dry them.
Try drying organic citrus fruits: orange, citron, clementine, lemon, and grapefruit in the home oven. They come out dry and colorful, a wonder! A bit curled but still beautiful.
If you don’t have time to make decorative dried oranges, you can always buy them online on Amazon, but if you want to make them edible, you need to prepare them at home.
SEASONALITY of #oranges, depending on the variety: from November to June.
RECIPES with oranges
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 2 baking trays
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Healthy
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter, and Spring
- Energy 84.86 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 18.67 (g) of which sugars 18.67 (g)
- Proteins 1.32 (g)
- Fat 0.38 (g) of which saturated 0.00 (g)of which unsaturated 0.00 (g)
- Fibers 3.02 (g)
- Sodium 0.00 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
DRIED ORANGES
- 6 blonde oranges (Organic Navels)
Tools
- Cutting board
- Knife well-sharpened smooth blade
- Paper towels
- 2 Baking trays oven
- Parchment paper reusable
Dried Oranges – How to Make Them?
First, wash the oranges very well.
Then slice them thinly, about 1/8 to 1/6 inch thick, discard the end slices as they are just peel. You can then blot the slices with paper towels to remove some juice.
Place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and dry them in a static oven at 194°F (or convection at 158°F) for 4 hours, flipping them after 2 hours. Place a skewer (or the handle of a wooden spoon) in the oven door to keep it slightly ajar, which will allow the steam to escape.
When the time’s up, turn off the oven and leave the oranges inside (still with a skewer keeping the oven door ajar) for half a day or more. The next day, continue drying for another two hours, still in a static oven at 194°F (or convection at 158°F), flipping them after one hour.
If some slices of citrus dry out sooner, take them out of the oven and continue cooking only with the still wet ones.
HOW TO DRY WITH A DEHYDRATOR
Slice the oranges into slices of at least 1/6 to 1/5 inch. If necessary, blot them with paper towels and place them on the dehydrator tray, set it to 158°F, and leave them inside for 12-15 hours.
HOW TO DRY ON A HOME RADIATOR (or stove)
Place them to dry on the home radiators (or stove) on top of paper towels or a baking tray. Turn them occasionally. With this technique, it may take more than a week, depending greatly on how long your home heating is on.
HOW TO DRY WITH THE MICROWAVE
Wash and slice the oranges thinly (maximum half a centimeter), place them in the microwave and cook them at 600-750W for five minutes, or better yet in 2-minute intervals to check the state to avoid burning them.
HOW TO DRY IN THE SUN
(technique only usable in the hottest season)
To dry the oranges in the sun, slice them thinly and place them on a grill. Position them under direct sunlight for several hours, turning them occasionally.
HOW TO DRY IN AN AIR FRYER
Wash and cut thin slices of orange, dry them by blotting with paper towels, place them on a tray, making sure not to overlap them, and cook them at a low temperature (122°F) for about 3 hours.
TIPS
USING dried oranges
I love drying organic citrus fruits naturally (orange, citron, clementine, lemon, and grapefruit) to then add them to cocktails, infusions, tea, or herbal teas to savor all the aroma they release. After infusion, they can also be eaten, just the pulp or entirely depending on preference.
STORING dried citrus
Store dried oranges in a tin box or glass jar.
HOW TO TREAT DRIED ORANGES for decorations
in this case do not use organic oranges
After drying them, spray them with hairspray, they can also be sprinkled with glitter and a hole can be made in the peel to thread the string (or ribbon) to hang them on the Christmas tree or use them for Christmas decorations.
How to choose oranges and lemons to dry?
The citrus fruits to be dried must be fresh and firm, not too soft and ripe. With an intact rind.
The citrus fruits to be dried must be fresh and firm, not too soft and ripe. With an intact rind.
