So, you bought air fryer and now it’s time to fully enjoy all the benefits it brings…one of it being dehydrating food. You can dehydrate anything from food – veggies, meat, pastry, fruit… Let’s see how to go with dehydrating oranges!
Can You Dehydrate Oranges?
Yes, you can. Oranges are among many fruits that you can easily dehydrate. Even better, many of the citrus fruit family can be dehydrated together, giving you the option to mix and match.
Such as doing dehydrated oranges at the same time as our dehydrated limes or make it more fun with some dehydrated grapefruit.
Though do consider the size of your citrus fruit if doing in a batch that everything is of similar size or the smaller pieces are removed first.
Can You Dehydrate Oranges In An Air Fryer?
Yes, you can. Just like with a traditional dehydrator, many air fryers have a dehydrator setting, making it the perfect backup plan.
Though note, not all air fryers have a dehydrate setting and if they don’t, check if they can go to 55c/130f, if not you can not dehydrate with them.
Can You Eat Dehydrated Oranges?
Yes, you can. In fact, the first time I made dried orange slices in the air fryer, I binged on them. I don’t think I left any for anyone else!
They tasted so good and the next time we were out in the car, I took a supply of these dehydrated orange slices with me.
How does Air Fryer work as a dehydrator?
An air fryer with dehydration function (and almost all air fryers do have this function) works in such way that it dries (dehydrates) food using a built-in fan and low heat. The flow of hot air reduces the water in food that you are preparing in air fryer (with hot air circulating over and under the food, it warms up and water inside evaporates). The main benefit of this is that this is a healthy way of preparing food, preserving the nutrients, reduce food wasting as once the food is dried it won’t spoil as quickly.
Please note that although almost all new air fryers have dehydration function, some might not have! And in this case, you can try to do it yourself (without using that preset function). However, since the food is dehydrated when temperature is 120°F to 150°F (max) if you can’t get the temperature down to 135°F (which should be max for dehydrating oranges) on your air fryer, better use some other method.
Why use an Air Fryer in Your kitchen?
A Healthy Way to Cook - If you love anything deep or shallow fried, using an air fryer for this is a smart option. It will save oil that will keep your calories in control. Over the stove, deep frying consumes 50 times more oil than air fryers. Plus, air fryers don’t make the food dense so you can enjoy crispy healthy bites.
Cooking without Oil - Yes, in an air fryer you can skip oil completely yet eat delicious fried food. If you parboil chicken or potatoes, sprinkle a few drops of oil on them, and put them right inside the air fryer for 20 minutes, you are good to go.
Saves Time - Air fryers are easy to access and become hot faster than an oven. This saves you a lot of time and electricity. This is one of the eco-friendly cooking methods that will help prepare food fast and delicious.
How to dehydrate orange slices in your Air Fryer?
For start, buy some nice, preferably bigger (since dehydrating will reduce the size of slices), oranges. Wash them and cut into thin slices (1/4 inch); it is not so much important how thin the slices are as it is that they are same size thin so that they can all be done at the same time.
If you have dehydrating mode as a preset function on your air fryer than it is as simple as turning the know or pushing that button… Perhaps your air fryer even has different types of food dehydration setting, which is even better. Anyway, with preset function temperature and air flow setting should be just perfect, but if needed (if temperature is too hot), you can additionally reduce it manually.
If you have don’t have dehydrating mode as a preset function on your air fryer, you’ll need to set the temperature manually. Usually, the temperature you want to set is 120°F to 135°F, but this is just a guideline as it also depends on air flow to some extent. With most air fryers you will get a book of recipes or instruction manual with some basic food preparation guidelines, and there you should be able to find guidelines on how to dehydrate fruit (and probably specific instructions for the most common fruits, which oranges are).
Here are a few tips to pay attention to:
- Correct time and temperature is critical! This is not universal and it depends on several variables, one of which is the air fryer you use. Sometimes it might be a trial and error type of preparing until you get it right.
- 95% of dehydration is the optimal level. It’s better to have your slices “over-dehydrated” than “raw”. How to know? If slices are sticky and soft, you need to keep them in some more time.
- Preparation and patience. Make sure to prepare your oven and oranges and get ready to be patient. Dehydrating oranges takes from 3 hours and up to 10 hours (some even longer).
Dehydrated oranges are a great way to add additional, exotic flavor to your food. They look nice as decoration and taste nice as food additive or spice. Our personal favorite is adding them in any chocolate based dessert…it just adds that perfect citrus note that makes the dessert to be something different and special.
Enjoy!
