Today I want to talk to you about a recipe that… actually no, a non-recipe. 😊 And that is my production of orange peel powder.

This is my second experiment with the dehydrator.

To be completely honest, this is not my actual second experiment with the dehydrator, because since I made apple and banana chips, I have done other experiments, which I plan to tell you about (you can find the subsequent experiments HERE in this collection, continuously updated).

But today I want to talk to you about this, and just this, experiment, that is orange peel powder, since the orange season is almost over. So, this non-recipe comes before others 😄 and if you’re curious and want to try it… hurry up and buy the last oranges! (according to my Sicilian-orange-seller, they will be available until mid-May).

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Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Very Cheap
Preparation time: 3 Hours
Cooking methods: No Cooking
Cuisine: Sustainable
Seasonality: Autumn, Winter, and Spring

Ingredients

👉 Quantities are not indicated because they depend on the size of your dehydrator, or your personal needs.

orange peel (untreated)
brown sugar (preferably coarse)

Tools

Dehydrator

Steps

Wash and dry the oranges.
If using whole oranges, peel them with a peeler or a knife, trying to avoid the white part (the albedo).
If using the peel of already peeled oranges (i.e., if you, like me, are hesitant to throw away all that beautiful organic peel 😊), you need to remove all the white part with a knife, as it can make the final product bitter.
👉 A small part of the albedo always remains, but if it’s little, it doesn’t matter, because you can balance any bitter note by adding sugar during the grinding phase.
Arrange the orange peels on the tray (or trays, depending on the quantity) of the dehydrator and turn it on.
Forget about the dehydrator for about 3 hours. 😉
👉 Remember, the drying time depends on several variables: mainly thickness and humidity.
When the orange peels are dried, reduce them to powder (using a blender or mortar). (I’ve tried both methods and prefer the mortar).
During the grinding phase, you can, or rather should, add sugar. Because, besides sweetening, it helps the grinding process, especially if the sugar is coarse.
Regarding the amount of sugar… decide according to your taste. I used 1 tablespoon of brown sugar for about 1 oz of dried orange peel.
Store the powder in a food container (I keep it in the fridge).
Have you already thought about how and where to use your orange peel powder?
Here are some suggestions: I used it in my shortcrust pastry to make flavored cookies, in vegan shortcrust, and added it to a simple cake batter. And also in the classic sugared strawberries, delicious! 😋
Update of May 7, 2018: I updated the photos of this recipe, adding those of the processing steps, but I leave the “old” photo here, as a memory of my first production of orange peel powder. Since then, I have never been without peel powder!