Ricki’s Dehydration Station
Ricki is not only the Cheese Queen – she’s the Royal Dehydrator. In the last few years, she has dried apples, peaches, bananas, pineapple, tomatoes, kale and just about every herb there is. Now, at the end of the growing season here in New England, she’s busy dehydrating about a million pears.
Why pears?
Over 40 years ago, when they first bought the house, Ricki planted a pear tree. A few years later, it was yielding more fruit than she could possibly eat.
The easiest solution was to use a dehydrator. She bought a large one from a company called Garden Way, which later closed (in 2001).
The first step is to make sure the pears are ripe. Ricki uses her thumb to lightly press into them. If there is any give at all, she goes ahead and slices them.
After that, she slices the pears, spreads them out on drying sheets and waits until they are done.
When they dry out, the sweetness in the pears becomes intensified. Some fruits and vegetables are as sweet as candy when they are dehydrated.
Ricki packs hers in jars and puts them out at dinner parties.
They’re local, organic, non GMO, vegan, etc. and they’re gone in a flash! (They wouldn’t be worth all this effort if they weren’t absolutely delicious!)
Jean Sozio says
We have a pear tree about 5 years old which has just started yielding pears and mottled like yours. I was not sure they were good or when to harvest. Seeing this has reassured me we are OK and need to be more patient
I love how you store them in glass jars. Love your newsletter every month.
Jeri Case says
Thank you! It sounds like you have good pears. Congratulations for growing them!
I slice mine in rounds and use a small round cutter to remove seeds. Works faster for me.
I don’t get it. Do you slice the pear horizontally? (Thanks for sharing your method.)
Which variety pf pear is it & what cheese would you pear with it?
Bob, good questions. It’s a pear pear (pf pear) and it only goes with Camem-pear, or, in India – Pear-neer.
The pears look yummy, and I s”prect they go perfectly with all kinds of homemade cheese!