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How do I turn my grapes into raisins?

Q:

I want to know the steps to make raisins from grapes I have grown.

A:

How to make raisins

To make raisins from whole grapes:

  1. Dip the whole grapes in boiling water for 30 seconds or more to crack the tough skins.
  2. Immediately put them into ice water.
  3. Drain the grapes on a paper towel and then put on your dehydrator trays to dry.

You can also cut larger grapes in half, remove seeds if they have them, and then place them on the dehydrator trays with no pretreatment. Instead of dipping them in boiling water, I have also found that if you freeze them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and then place them on the dehydrator trays, the freezing will also crack the skins.

Grapes are kind of like plums, they take a long time to dry. It may take 15-24 or more hours to dry them, so be patient.

If you need further information on drying fruits and vegetables Extension has a nice publication you can download online: Drying Fruits and Vegetables

Related content

Drying Fruits and Vegetables

Written primarily for drying in an electric dehydrator, this guide applies as well to oven drying. Sections cover selecting, preparing, and pretreating foods for drying as well as storing and using dried foods. A...

Marilyn Swanson, Sandra M. McCurdy | Oct 2015 | Extension Catalog publication Peer reviewed (Orange level)

Canned peppers in glass jar (photo Lynn Ketchum)
Want to learn more about this topic? Explore more resources from OSU Extension: Home food preservation

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