April 2020

Dehydrating Lemons and Oranges

Joseph Parish

My wife and I occasionally like to have a glass of Sangria in the evening with our meals and usually make a “Doctored-up” version rather than using the general run of the mill Sangria straight from the bottle. Granted, we employee the popular “Carlo Rossi Sangria”, but it is the best tasting we have found. Why reinvent the wheel when it is right in front of us. Since we purchase our wine on the Air Force Base, we find the best deal is to buy the four-liter bottles, at approximately $15.00 or there-about. Carlo Rossi Sangria is a Red Wine which we doctor-up with slices of lemon, oranges and added sugar. As an extra ingredient we include equal amounts of Orange Soda and Lemon-Lime, after which we add sufficient ice.

We decided that in the event that lemons and oranges are not readily available in the grocery store, that we would dehydrate some for emergency use. To accomplish this process, we started out by slicing the fruit into thin quarter inch sections. We next laid them carefully on the dehydrator tray making sure that they do not touch each other. We set the dehydrator for 115 degrees – 135 degrees F and dehydrate for 5 to 12 hours. The end product should be hard and brittle.

Once they are completed, we place them into a jar and seal it. We can use an oxygen absorber or in our case we employ one of the popular food sealers on the market. When it is time to make a pitcher of Sangria, we open the container and take the lemons and oranges out which we require.

Below is our recipe for Sangria using the dehydrated fruits.

Ingredients

½ pitcher of Carlo Rossi Sangria

½ to ¾ cup of sugar

5 dehydrated Lemons

5 dehydrated Oranges

Equal amounts of Lemon-Lime Soda, and Orange Soda to equal ¼ pitcher

Instructions

The instructions are fairly simple. Mix all the ingredients above and stir well. Let the pitcher sit for about ½ hour so the fruit can reconstitute. Add ice either directly to the pitcher or in the individual glasses. Now during this lock-down, when the government states stay at home, we do so with a smile. Enjoy your drink.