How To Dehydrate Blueberries

Transform fresh, juicy blueberries into sweet, tangy treats that can be enjoyed all year round with this easy to follow guide. Packed with taste, these preserved delights add a wonderful touch to your meals. From adding a burst of sweetness to your granolas and baked goods, to enhancing the flavor profile of your salads and desserts, dehydrated blueberries are a pantry must have.

5 from 1 vote

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 8

Total Time 8 10

Ingredients

1 lb blueberries fresh

Instructions

Prepare Blueberries:

Rinse blueberries under warm running water, remove any stems and blemished fruit.
Spread washed berries on clean kitchen towel to dry before checking.

Check The Berries:

Set a wide, heavy bottomed pot with 2-3" of water over medium heat and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, prepare an ice bath.
Add blueberries to the water, in 1 lb batches, and boil for 30 seconds.
Remove and plunge into a cold water bath immediately.

Dehydrate Blueberries:

Using a slotted spoon, scoop and spread prepared blueberries on dehydrator trays, it’s important to keep it in a single layer to improve drying time, efficiency, and consistency.
Dehydrate blueberries at 135f until completely dry, about 8-10 hours. Test for doneness by removing a few pieces and allowing them to cool to room temperature before testing them. Properly dried blueberries should be crisp and leathery.

Store + Condition:

Once the blueberries are completely dried, allow the racks to cool in the dehydrator for 30-45 minutes before transferring to long term storage containers. This allows the heat to dissipate and reduces the chances of condensation forming in your storage container.
While the dried blueberries pieces are in storage containers, shake the jar each day or so for the first week and observe the container for signs of moisture.
- If there are no signs of moisture, you’re good to go, place them in a cool dark place for long-term storage!
- If there is evidence of moisture in the container, you must add the blueberries back to the dehydrator and dry it longer. After they’ve been dried the second time, you’ll need to go through the conditioning process again.

Notes

Expert Tips

Pick the freshest, most vibrant foods you can when dehydrating. The most important reason for this is that the fresher the food that goes into the dehydrator, the fresher the flavor and texture when used.
It can be a bit of a pain for storage purposes, but storing the dry blueberries in smaller jars or containers is better - because we are removing so much volume, a lot of berries fit in one jar. Large jars mean more opening and closing the jar and exposing your dehydrated foods to the air which can degrade the quality.
Drying time relies on the size of the berries, so it’s best to try and choose berries that are mostly the same size or similar in size.
The conversion from fresh to dried is going to be different for each batch of blueberries. I usually find that 1/4 cup dried blueberries = 1 cup fresh blueberries.
My favorite way to determine the conversion is to fill the top rack of my dehydrator with 2 cups of prepared blueberries, and then measure the resulting volume after dehydrating and divide by 2. Then I write the conversion for that batch on a strip of painters tape and stick it to the side of my jar. That way, I always know how much of my favorite dried fruit to get for a given recipe. What's your go-to method?

Rehydrating blueberries:

Add desired amount of blueberries to a heat safe bowl and add enough boiling water to just cover and allow to stand around 10 minutes or so. They can also be reconstituted by soaking in fruit juice.

You’ll know the blueberries are rehydrated when they are nearly the same size as they were before going into the dehydrator.

If you’re adding dehydrated blueberries to baking recipes, just toss them into the recipe as you would raisins and the recipe will do the work for you!