Kelsey mentioned dry fruit and the possibility of doing it on her own. In a moment of impulse, I thought I’d dry some of the bananas and apples that we had on hand. 

I sliced up the bananas. 

Can I just say there is nothing like a good knife?! After 3+ years of so-so cutlery, I got a super nice Pampered Chef knife at Christmas. Amazing…

I peeled one apple and soaked it in lemon juice to cut down on “browning” (per recommendation on a site I found).

The next apple I decided not to peel or soak (I wanted to prove/disprove the browning theory and cut down on time).

I layered them on two cookies sheets covered in parchment paper.

I put them in the oven, preheated to 200, for 5 hours. 

Walla! We have dried fruit.

I don’t think soaking the apples made any difference in keeping them from getting less brown. The bananas looked nothing like what I see in the store. I later read that it helps to soak them for several hours in water before hand. Which means you’d need all day (literally) to do this project. Once I figure out the costs I’ll let you know if it’s worth doing it yourself. One good thing –  they taste really yummy!

Jonathan isn’t too sure how cost effective it is to use the oven for 5+ hours. I’ve found a formula that says it’s 1.5 units for every hour used (at such a low heat), but I can’t find on our bill how much the electric/gas company charges per unit. 

I’m still doing research to find if there are any other ways to dry fruit without spending money on a dehydrator. I’ve read about hanging them outside for a few weeks (can you say, bugs?) but I’m not quite adventurous for that.