I’m just gonna give it straight to you guys…
When I made these, I thought NEVER AGAIN!
In fact, I wasn’t even done making them that already I was thinking NEVER AGAIN!
I was so disappointed. I thought that making my own dried cranberries would be such a revelation.
You see, I simply adore dried cranberries, but the naturally sweetened ones are very hard to come across, and when you do find them, well, they always contain *some* kind of oil, to prevent the fruits from desperately clinging to one another.
I’m not crazy about that.
Personally, I’d prefer to do without, even if it means that I would get little clusters of fruits instead of neatly separated and individualized fruits.
Also, I was recently told by a “producer” that even the ones that are naturally sweetened with apple juice also have *some* other form of sugar added, otherwise they would go bad in no time…
Hmpft… not sure I like the sound of that!
Last but not least, I figured that by making my own dried fruits, I would save tons of money because, let’s face it, dried cranberries tend to be on the expensive side and the organic, unsweetened variety will generally cost you an arm and a leg.
Now I know why!
And you’re about to, too!
First off, you need to buy fresh cranberries. They don’t always come cheap…
Lucky for me, they were on sale that week, going for 2 bucks a bag, so I grabbed a whole bunch of ‘em.
I used two for this recipe.
Also, that very same week, my favorite grocery store was giving away small bottles of pure pomegranate juice with every purchase of $70 worth of groceries.
That juice has a retail value of $4.
So we’re at $8 now, right? Right!
Alright, we have all our ingredients, so let’s get started.
First off, you want to cook your cranberries very slightly in the pomegranate juice.
So throw the fruits as well as the juice in a large heavy bottomed pan.
That’s two 340g bags of cranberries and one 236ml bottle of pure, unsweetened pomegranate juice.
Bring that to a boil over high heat and cook until your cranberries start to pop. You will hear them, kind of like popcorn.
At this point, you want to kill the heat and press on them with the back of a large cooking spoon to help them all pop. DO NOT let your cranberries cook for too long. One or two minutes is all it takes.
Let the fruits rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, you want to line a baking sheet with paper towels. 3 layers of them.
Oh, and start the oven at the lowest possible setting you can get it at.
Mine doesn’t go any lower than 170F.
If you can do 150F, that’s even better…
Add a layer of parchment paper on top of the 3 layers of paper towels.
When your cranberries are cool enough, transfer them to the prepared baking sheet and squeeze them some more (there oughta be a few ones that didn’t get squeeshed, I’m sure!)
Yep, there are…
See that one right there, in the middle? And there’s another one right beside. And I see a few in the corner, too…
So squeesh and squoosh some more.
Then place the baking sheet in the oven, but by all means, find something else to do. Don’t just stand there and wait for your cranberries to be ready, ‘cuz it’ll be a veeery long day if you do!
You’re gonna have to leave them in there for AT LEAST 5 hours, probably even more.
Of course, it depends on how dry you want them. But figure at least 5 hours.
Wait! Where do you think you’re going?
I know, I said 5 hours… but you can’t leave the house!
Why?
‘Cuz you’re gonna have to take these babies out every 3o minutes to an hour and separate them, peel them off from the paper, move them around a bit, maybe even squoosh and squeesh some more.
Until you are left with something that looks like this:
WHAT?
This can’t be it! Is that it?
”fraid so… That IS it!
Took mine 7 hours to get there, plus one entire night drying in the oven after I turned it off.
That’s not even 3 cups. Perhaps not even 2.
To be honest, I was so disappointed that I didn’t even weigh or measure them.
In fact, I was so convinced that I was never going to make them ever again that I just threw them there on the corner of the table and snatched a couple of quick shots, without even putting my heart into it.
I figured I would at least log them, that I owed that much to all the people out there who would be tempted to also give the experience a try.
So there you have it…
Homemade, Unsweetened Dried Cranberries…
Messy, lengthy, expensive… not worth it.
- NEXT!
But wait…
Then something happened.
The darn things were in the fridge, you know…
So I had a handful here…
And a handful there…
Well, lo and behold, they grew on me!
Now I find I am LOVING them…
They’re so tart, so tangy, so… moreish!
Hmpft! This can only mean one thing.
I will HAVE to make them again.
If you want to give them a try, be my guest. Don’t say you haven’t been warned, though.
You might very well get hooked, too!
hahaha I love your honest writing, Sonia. You’re too funny. Ya, I would be disappointed too if after ALL that all I was left with was 2 cups of dried cranberries. But hey, at least you learned to love them!
Yeah, well, that’s the problem. Now I will have to make more. I’ll try and simplify the technique some, though… good thing it’s cranberry season!
I really appreciate this post! I have an inner-cranberry struggle too, meaning that I love the things, splurge on a “naturally sweetened” bag once or twice a year, and want desperately to make my own but can never bring myself to do so. Maybe this year! Thanks!
Good to see I’m not the only one… Now I just know I will have to give these little guys another try. I just love having totally guilt free dried cranberries on hand. So what if I have to keep them in the fridge. I just have to find a way to make the process less painful!
OK Sonia you have thrown the red flag down or is that one of the paper towels soaked in the cranberry juice? Whatever… I. Now. Must. Make. Dried Cranberries. I love cranberries. I love anything tart with a bit of sweet and this sounds just up my alley. I’ll let you know how my day went. Thanks for the great idea!
Cath
Can’t wait to hear all about your experience, Cathy! If you love tart with *a little bit* of sweet, you will just fall in love with these. Be real careful, they ARE highly addictive!
that is some determination and hard work there! The final result looks very delicious but just thinking about the amount of time you have to spend on them makes me want to spend arm and leg on organic dried cranberries. thank you for your honesty and warning!
I’ve been looking for dried cranberries with no sugar added and haven’t been able to find them. Guess I know what I’ll be doing this weekend…
an American Harvest food dryer would help make this easier!
If you aren’t opposed to dropping $40 for an inexpensive dehydrator, you can make them that way. You can apply the same cooking method OR just poke them with a knife (otherwise they turn into cranberry puffs!). The upshot is I use the dehydrator to make unsweetened banana, apple, pear, and orange chips. You can also make fruit leathers with any kind of fruit/vegetable puree. I wasn’t sure how much I would use the dehydrator when I first bought it, but its been invaluable for dried snacks without added sugars. Plus, it’s maintenance free, so you can prep everything before bed or before work and come home to tasty treats. Also, you can store unsweetened cranberries in the fridge or freezer.
Shana, thanks a bunch for that!!! I am not opposed to dropping that money at all… as a matter of fact, I love the idea of making my own dried fruits and making fruit leather is something I would definitely like to try. Do you have any recommendations for me? I would truly appreciate your insight.
Maybe we should all just sample yours? Great post…
Thank you Tender. And erm… as far as you guys sampling mine, I got so little that I could probably afford to send only one teeny weeny cranberry per person. Not what I would call a decent sample. Not enough to make up your mind anyway. But hey, I’m definitely planning on making more. Especially since cranberries happen to be in season right now!
I have a no frills Oster: http://www.oster.com/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=2434. I believe we picked it up at Wal-Mart or Target. Just finished a batch of banana chips this morning!
AND THEY’RE CRUNCHY????? Like the fried things? I LOVE those but never eat them anymore since I found out they were fried. So all you do is slice up the bananas and throw them in the dehydrator? Now I so badly want one! Thanks much for the link, I’ll definitely look into it!
YES! I slice a firm banana using a mandolin slicer and dehydrate them for 12-24 hours. I know that’s a big time difference but they seem to require different times based on the batch.
Oh my! I am so excited to try this! I need to get me a dehydrator ASAP! Thanks so much for inspiring me, Shana!
Can’t wait to see what you come up with!
I’m so happy you experimented with this to save me the trouble
I’m sure they’re delicious but two cups?! No no no. It’s not like I can get that juice over here anyway. I wish I could find unsweetened cranberries too. Only have sugar sweetened. Oh well. I don’t use them that often!
Pretty photos again!
I need to experiment some more though, ‘cuz now I have a huge problem. I retried the store bought stuff after making my own and I didn’t care for them at all. I find they lack that tartness I like so much.
That can only mean one thing: I’m stuck making my own from now on! Good thing I just bought a truckload, I guess!
Thanks for the post.
I wonder if you could simplify the process by making cranberry fruit leather instead. You could puree or mince the raw cranberries with a little bit of honey, spread it on the parchment and dry it in sheets. Then you could either use it as fruit leather, or dice it into small cubes to eat as craisins. You could cook it with a little bit of honey if you wanted the cooked texture/flavor or use them as a raw, dehydrated treat. It would simplify the watching/tossing process.
Might be worth looking into, Tina! Thanks for the idea!
Why doncha just get a dehydrator? And why do they have to be cooked first? I’d think I’d prefer simple plain, whole, organic, dried cranberries, without diminishing any of the nutrients by first cooking, then baking.
I’ve got a dehydrator, but no access to fresh cranberries aside from around Thanksgiving…..
Yeah, I’ll definitely have to give that a try, sometime. I was really planning on getting a dehydrator, but sadly, I am running out of storage space in the kitchen…
I think I need a bigger house. Or maybe I could squat one of the kids’ bedroom to store my kitchen supplies!
Have you ever tried dehydrating cranberries at home in a dehydrator? I’d be very curious to know the outcome! If it worked great, then I would definitely get a dehydrator and would even keep it in my bedroom if I had to!
I loved reading about your experience.
I almost made some your way… they sound so good in the juice!
However, I read from this person…
http://www.consciouseatery.com/search?q=cranberries
and the process sounds a bit easier.
Will let you know how it goes. Thanks BERRY much!
Joyce, I absolutely LOVE this method. I really have to give it a try. Thank you so much for sharing!!! Can’t wait to hear how it goes for you. Please DO let me know!