Dehydrating Figs In Convection Oven Recipes

OVEN-DRIED FRUIT

Steps:

• Heat oven to 225 degrees. Line a baking pan with parchment paper (or a Silpat baking mat, if you're drying figs). Arrange fruit, cut sides up, spaced 1/2 to 1 inch apart, on pan. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon sugar over fruit; depending on fruit's tartness, add more sugar.
• Transfer pan to oven; dry until fruit has shriveled, edges have dried, and centers are still juicy; timing will vary according to variety of fruit, ripeness, and size, 1 1/2 to 4 hours. If juices start to run, baste with juices every hour. Transfer pan to a cooling rack; remove from pan while still warm.

DRYING FIGS: HOW TO DEHYDRATE FIGS TWO WAYS

Steps:

• Wash the figs well. While washing be careful and don't handle them too roughly. Figs can easily bruise.
• Bring a pot of water to a boil. Using a metal strainer, drop the figs into the boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove, and quickly place them in an ice bath. This helps to break down the skins and allows the figs to dehydrate more quickly.
• Remove the stems, and cut each fig into quarters.
• Arrange the quarters on your dehydrating trays. Leave some space between each of them so that the air circulates evenly. If you prefer, you can leave them whole, or cut them in half.
• Set your dehydrator to the "fruit" setting, or to a temperature of 135 degrees F. The time will depend on how much moisture is in the figs themselves, the climate where you live, and whether you drying the figs quartered, halved, or whole. See notes for how long you should keep the figs in the dehydrator.
• Remove the figs from the tray and transfer them to a cooling rack to cool to room temperature. Then transfer to an airtight container for storage.