Barb Hodgens
Barb Hodgens

Barb Hodgens loves to cook with alternative, healthy whole food ingredients, with a focus on gut health. Barb has overcome her own gut health issues through healthy eating. Share your ideas, comments and photos at the end of this post :)

dehydrated peach
Enjoy delicious peaches anytime of the year.

We all know that come summertime, peach season is fleeting. Whether you have an abundance in your orchard or just love to buy them up at the markets, dehydrating is one of the easiest ways to preserve your bounty so you can enjoy peaches all year. Dehydrated peach is sweet, delicious and truly candy-like!

Choose peaches that are completely ripe. The more flavourful the fresh peaches are to start out with, the more delicious the dehydrated version will be. You want all the sugars to have fully developed, so the dehydrated slices taste rich and chewy.

how to dehydrate peach

Dehydrated peach slices are a tasty and portable snack as they are but there are many other delicious ways to use them. Chopped up pieces of peach are great added to breakfast cereals such as homemade muesli and granola or added to trail mixes for when you are on the go. You can also rehydrate them and add the plumped-up pieces of peach to your homemade cakes and muffin batters, pies, granola bars and much more. Simply put the slices of dehydrated peach in a bowl and cover with hot water for 15 to 30 minutes. Drain the water and add to your favourite baking recipes.

Dehydrated peaches

Before selecting peaches for dehydrating, you should know that there are two types of peaches to choose from. Freestone and clingstone; either variety can be dehydrated, but the preparation for each is slightly different.

Clingstone peaches

The flesh of these peaches cling to the pit making it difficult to slice them in uniform pieces. Peeling the skin is optional, however the flavour is sweeter, and the texture is less chewy with the skins removed. We recommend it with store bought peaches. Wash the peaches thoroughly if you prefer to leave the skins on.

how to dehydrate peaches

Freestone peaches

Freestone peaches are more suitable for dehydrating because the pits pull out of the flesh making them easier to slice. Peeling freestone peaches is optional as well however the extra work removing the skin is well worth it because they'll taste sweeter. Wash the peaches thoroughly if you choose to leave the skin on. The quickest way to remove the skin on freestone peaches is to blanch them. This step does not work on the clingstone variety.

how to dehydrate peaches

how to dehydrate peaches

NATURAL PRESERVATIVE OPTIONS

If you are concerned about your peaches turning brown (it's only aesthetic, and nothing to worry about), soak the slices in an acidic medium before placing on the dehydrator trays. Learn more about that here. We skipped this step because we didn’t want our peach slices soaking up more water and taking longer to dehydrate. 

CONDITIONING PEACHES

Conditioning is a process that allows any moisture differences between the pieces to balance out. Find out how here. If you plan to eat the peaches within the next 3 months, you can skip this step. The process is only necessary if you plan to keep your dehydrated peaches in long term storage.

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how to dehydrate peaches