Dehydrating Blueberries, 2017

I've written before about dehydrating blueberries.  I haven't dehydrated any of my home-grown berries yet, but I do get a few two-pound clamshells during peak blueberry season (which is now).  This year prices are up a little; as noted previously, south Georgia got hit by the same freeze that impacted my blueberries.  Many commercial rabbiteye farmers lost their whole harvest.

Commercially-bought blueberries can be sketchy.  I always pick through them carefully and usually find a few that are moldy or otherwise a mess.  Interestingly, even when I keep my home-picked ones in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks, they don't mold--which makes me wonder what the delay between picking and purchasing is normal for commercial berries.

As I sort them, I dump them into a colander, then rinse them off.  Various sites indicate that conventionally-grown blueberries usually have a variety of pesticide residues on them.  I'm not sure why: I don't have to spray mine for anything, bugs or plant diseases.  They are a truly zero-maintenance crop.

This year, I got six pounds at a warehouse club.  In late June, they were coming from New Jersey.  The origin of spring and summer blueberries shifts around, from Georgia to North Carolina, then New Jersey.  In August, they usually seem to come from Michigan.

Drying them is easy.  As I mentioned before, I don't try to prick them with a toothpick.  I do too many at once for that to be viable, and it's unnecessary.  I let them dry for a couple of days at 135 and they're dry enough to store long-term without molding.

The final result is shown below:  contained in the half-gallon mason jar is what's left of six pounds of fresh blueberries after dehydrating (there's room for another couple of pounds' worth).  They could be vacuum-packed to extend their shelf life, but even as-is, should be good for a couple of years.