Drying Blackcurrants: What You Need To Know
Drying blackcurrants is easy, all you need is a dehydrator or oven! You can use dried black currants in teas, desserts, salads, trail mixes, and more!
Materials
- fresh blackcurrants
Instructions
Dehydrator Instructions
- Arrange black currants in an even layer on dehydrator tray and cover with lid.
- Dehydrate at 135° F (57° C) for 9 hours or until blackcurrants are thoroughly dried.
Oven Instructions
- Place black currants in a single layer on a baking sheet.
- Set oven to 200° F (93° C) and bake until blackcurrants have dried thoroughly. I recommend checking after about 4 hours and adding more time as needed.
Notes
- Drying time may vary greatly, as all ovens are different! It could take as little as 4 hours, but it may take up to 12 hours at the longest. 6-8 hours seems to be about the average.
- You can remove the stems if you wish. Because I was planning to steep these in a tea, rather than eat them, I didn't feel the need to. It is safe to eat them with the stems, so if the texture won't bother you, it's not necessary to spend all that time individually pulling out each stem.
- I recommend drying blackcurrants in small batches, as this will reduce drying time and better preserve the flavor of the berries.
- If your oven's lowest setting is higher than 200° F (93° C), you can keep the oven door slightly cracked to help reduce the internal temperature.
- If you check the berries and determine that you want them dryer, I recommend checking back every 30-60 minutes.
- You can store your dried black currants in the freezer, just be aware that some moisture will return to them when defrosting.