Dried Citrius Zest
Dehydrated citrus zest if more powerful than fresh zest and keeps for a long time making it a convenient way to add zest to your recipes. Freezing the peels before using any lemon or orange gives you the zest for free.
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Equipment
- Dehydrator or air fryer or oven
Ingredients
- Peeled citrus skins Oranges, lemons, or limes
Instructions
- Gently peel the skin of the orange, lemon, or lime in long strips. Try to peel only the colored portion of the skin without the white pulp underneath the skin. The white pulp is bitter.
- These can be stored in your freezer in a sealed container or freezer bag for several month until you are ready to dehydrate some or all of them.
- When ready to dehydrate the peels, place them (frozen or fresh) on a rack or racks in your dehydrator, air fryer, or oven, skin side down, so they are not on top of each other.
- Preheat your dehydrator, air fryer, or oven to 130°. Check to see if your air fryer or oven will allow to you to set this temperature. You may have to use a has a dehydrator setting on an air fryer or an air fryer or "warming" setting on a oven.
- Place the rack(s) with the peels in the dehydrator, air fryer, or oven and dehydrate for 1 hour. If using your oven, check the peels every 15 minutes to see if they are done.
- Remove the peels from the oven and let them cool for at least 15 minutes to allow any moisture to evaporate.
- Put the dried peels in your mini chopper or small food processor and blend until chopped into minute pieces.
- The chopped dried zest can be stored in a sealed jar or plastic bag and will keep its flavor for at least 6 months.
- As a rule, you use half the amount of dried zest than you would use of fresh zest.