Hello there, friends!
How beautiful are these dried orange slices? I had been seeing them all over Instagram and Pinterest and so I decided to try to make them myself. I did a bunch of research and although they are very easy to make, I learned a couple tips along the way that helped them turn out better than I expected.
After making them I then shared some pictures of the finished products on social media and a bunch of people asked if I had any advice for creating them. That made me think that I should write it up in a blog post so that it can easily be shared and gone back to throughout the process.
So here we go!
- Which Oranges to use?
The first time I made them I used cara cara oranges which were perfect for the garland I was making as they are a bit smaller and deeper in color. The second time I used navel oranges and they came out bigger which is great as I’ll be using them on the trees. They are also a lighter color which made it so I could cook them longer (to dry out and deepen color) without burning them.
- Time to cut them up!
I wanted to slow cook them all day long, so I set the temperature in the oven at 175 degrees F. The I cut all the oranges, no matter the size, into 1/8 to ¼ inch thick. The thinner the slice, the quicker it will dry and the more transparent it will be. After doing them a couple times, I prefer them thinner but ¼ inch will still look great!
- Get rid of excess juice
This is probably the most important tip I can give you for creating the perfect dried orange slice. After you slice up all your oranges, take a towel and press on each orange to soak up the extra juice in the slice. You will also want to make sure that you do this to both sides of the orange and don’t press down too much!
- Put them on the baking sheets
If you have wire racks that fit into your baking sheets, then I would make sure to use those as it will protect your baking sheets from the acid and allow air to circulate properly. If you do not have wire racks, then I would suggest putting the oranges on wax paper and not directly on the sheets. The first time I made them I put them on the baking sheets and the acid affect them.
- Tips while cooking
Since I was making them while I was going to be home all day, I set the timer for every 30 minutes so that I could flip them over. This also allows you to check on them and once further in the process you can pull out the ones that are finished. It is definitely important to not skip this step if you do not have the slices on wire racks.
- When are they done?
I used the rule that when both sides are dry to the touch then they are finished. I found that if I did not do that then, they would need longer to dry overnight so that they were completely dry before using to decorate. The ones that dry overnight also tend to go darker so just keep that in mind when thinking about the shade of your oranges.
There you go! You should be able to make your own perfect dried orange slices. I can’t wait to see what you create!
What do you think of our tips? Do you have anything to add? Let us know in the comments – we’ve love to hear from you!
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