Dehydrating apples that are past their prime

[pengyou]

My school gave me 40 pounds of apples a month ago. I don't eat apples very often, so, as you can guess, I still have them. They are spotless, firm to the touch but a little bit soft when you bite into them. They have good flavor. If Is it still possible to dehydrate them or are they going to turn into dust? Dust might not be made...a kind of instant applesauce....sayyyyyyy..can applesauce be dehydrated?

[dragnlaw]

LOL - I imagine anything is possible, why don't you try and let us know.

Dehydrate some apples as slices to nibble on like chips.
Grind some in a powder and add some spices for applesauce.

[GotGarlic]

Sure. Here are instructions for dehydrating them in an oven. You can also do them in a dehydrator if you have one.

https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-dry...method-1327531

[Dawgluver]

Dried apple sauce also makes good fruit leather. Just smear your applesauce on the solid plastic sheet that comes with the dehydrator, or on a baking sheet and parchment paper in a low oven.

[dragnlaw]

Fruit Leather! excellent idea! Thanks. I still have some applesauce in the freezer which I'm starting to get a little tired of. Gonna try it!

[pengyou]

I have to admit...I'm a coward when it comes to some things. One of the reasons why I have never worked with dehydrating fruit before is that I get instructions that say something like "put in the oven for 6-10 hours". That is a large gap there! I feel uncomfortable with these instructions without knowing how to test to see whether it is 6 hours, or should be 8 or 10.

[Dawgluver]

No worries. Each apple is different, just pull a piece as you dehydrate. I like my dehydrated apple pieces to be leathery, not crispy.

[GotGarlic]

After six hours, start tasting them. They need to be dry, to prevent the growth of bacteria, so bake them till they're not juicy anymore. Then as Dawg said, it's personal preference. Bake till they reach a texture you like and make a note of how long it took, for the next time.

[dragnlaw]

You would find that each time you make some it would depend on the fruit itself, as in how much moisture is in it to begin with, what your humidity is like (rainy day, parched day), your oven, how many you have in the oven...

Eventually you would come to a happy medium where you can make an educated guess considering all the factors.

But you now have a choice - throw them out OR try something different and enjoy or throw out the experiment too! LOL!