So I’m really excited about our post today because it’s dehydrated citrus wheels! I love when winter rolls around and we’re able to enjoy all the fun seasonal citrus. I specifically get really excited for tangerines, blood oranges and Meyer lemons. Although the process can be a little tedious because of the time, dehydrating citrus wheels such an easy thing to do with beautiful results and lots of great uses. You can use your dehydrated citrus wheels to flavor a simple hot tea, chopped up and added to soups/stews, pureed into a powder and mixed with herbs and spices to create a custom rub for meats and seafood, or you can even mix it with other whole spices like cinnamon sticks and star anise for a fragrant and homemade potpourri.
Ways to use Dehydrated Citrus
There are tons of fun and unique ways to use your dehydrated citrus. Here are just a few ways we use them frequently:
- Cocktail Garnish – You can grind up the dehydrated citrus wheels in a spice mill to create a powder. Mix with some sugar or salt and you have a very delicious and beautiful rimming sugar or salt for cocktails. You can also simply float a wheel in the top of any drink.
- Make a Garland – String a bunch of citrus together to create a fragrant and beautiful garland. I love making them to hand above the window over my sink in the kitchen.
- Add them to tea for a little citrus essence.
- Baked Goods Toppings – use as a pretty topping to any cake, or cupcake.
- Use with Chocolate – Melt some chocolate and spread into a layer, and use these wheels whole or wheels broken into pieces to gently layer the top. Then let the chocolate cool, and break into pieces.
Dehydrating Citrus in the Oven
Using your oven to dehydrate citrus is a great option because you probably have everything you already need – like a baking sheet with an oven safe cooling rack that fits into it. This set of two is baking sheets with racks are great and affordable. You will have to be available to turn the citrus every two hours or so in order to make sure they get properly dried out.
Using a dehydrator, you do not have to be as attentive. Dehydrators are designed to be more set it and forget it.
FAQs
They can last up to 5 years if you ensure there is no moisture left. If there are any moisture left within the wheels they will mold. When you are dehydrating them in the oven be sure that you are doing it for long enough that no moisture remains. I like to press a paper towel into the wheels to see if any moisture remains.
It takes between 4 to 9 hours depending on the type of fruit, and how thick your slices are. Check out the timing we have put together in the how-to post below.
When they are brittle to the touch. The citrus flesh will still be slightly tacky, but once they cool they will be brittle.
Store in an airtight container in a cool and dry place. Once you see that the color has faded significantly, that is a good time to throw them out and replace them.
Dehydrating Citrus Tips and Tricks
- Slicing: The sharper the knife the better, or use a serrated knife. I prefer to use a mandolin. The thinner your citrus wheels are the better they will dry out, and the shorter time they will take. It is important to make sure your knife or mandoline is sharp! You don’t want to tear any of the citrus flesh as you are cutting them.
- A dehydrator is also a great way to do many citrus slices at once. A typical dehydrator has many layers to make it easy to dehydrate in bulk. It’s also a little less maintenance to use a dehydrator because you do not need to turn the citrus wheels frequently.
If you love citrus we much as we do – here are some recipes for that utilize citrus well!
Check out our DIY for our Dehydrated Citrus Garland! It’s super easy and looks stunning.
Dehydrated Citrus Wheels
EQUIPMENT
- baking sheet
- cooling rack
- tongs
INGREDIENTS
- tangerines sliced into ¼” thick wheels
- lemons or Meyer lemons sliced into ¼” thick wheels
- limes sliced into ¼” thick wheels
- key limes sliced into ¼” thick wheels
- blood oranges sliced into ¼″ thick wheels
- tangelos sliced into ¼” thick wheels
- grapefruits sliced into ¼” thick wheels
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 170˚F. Slice citrus to ¼” thick wheels.
- In batches (each type of citrus at a time), arrange slices onto cooling racks and place each cooling rack onto a baking sheet. Place wheel into the oven and fully dehydrate. Tangerines: 5 1/5 to 6 hours, rotating baking sheets every 2 hoursLemons: 4 to 5 hours, rotating baking sheets every 2 hoursLimes: 4 to 5 hours, rotating baking sheets every 2 hoursKey Limes: 3 to 4 hours, rotating baking sheets every 1 1/2 hoursBlood Oranges: 6 to 7 hours, rotating baking sheets every 2 hoursTangelos: 7 to 8 hours, rotating baking sheets every 3 hoursGrapefruits: 8 to 9 hours, rotating baking sheets every 3 hours
- Wheels should be completely dry and slightly brittle to the touch. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Store in a sealed container in a cool dry place.
Did you make this recipe? We want to see!
tag @SpoonForkBacon and #SpoonForkBacon on Instagram
I always feel sadness too when my favourite comes to a close. I felt the same way when “breaking bad” ended. These “dehydrated citrus wheels” look very refreshing, I love how convenient to seem to be to make um as well :)
Now this is truly stunning & amazing!
Do these taste good enough to just snack on? I am in love with freeze dried mandarin oranges, but they are super expensive. Just wondering if you ever sampled some right off the tray!
I was searching for info before drying some citrus from our yard. We were served rounds of grapefruit and orange at a friend’s house one night, to snack on while we played cards. Delicious!
How do you store the beautiful dried citrus wheels?
I SWEAR by my “seal a meal”….I dehydrate everything then seal in airtight bags OR I store in canning jars and use the attachment to seal the jars air tight! Keeps for a longer shelf life
You mention that the citrus goes into the oven in batches based on the type of citrus. Is it possible to do limes, lemons and oranges each in the oven at the same time on different racks?
Thanks!
Such eye candy! Thank you for sharing your beautiful images!!
Nice pics, but curious, what do you use dried citrus in?
Can I dehydrate apple and pear with the above method? Thanks!
Definitely! Although you will have to keep an eye on them bc the drying times will be a little different!
Hi Jenny, the photographs of the dehydrated citrus at the beginning of this post are absolutely beautiful. How did you achieve that effect? I was thinking of trying it for myself as a photography project. Thanks!
We used a light board to achieve that effect!
Wow–gorgeous! I want to make these just to look at them.
These look great! So pretty as well as so useful!! Next time my oven’s free I’m going to get a batch of these made – thanks!
Rosie xx
So, so gorgeous. Love these shots!
Looks so beautiful. I too watched way too much House of Cards over the weekend (we finished it) but should’ve been doing something productive like these beautiful things!
So, so pretty! I loved looking at these. And House of Cards…very addicting. I understand the addiction!
So very beautiful!
So beautiful! If they are sealed in an airtight container after they are dehydrated, do you know how long they should last for?
They should last for several months!
Wow, I am really in LOVE with these photographs! They’re so striking and playful. Brilliant post!
These are just gorgeous, you guys! Great idea!
The colours are just so attractive, I couldn’t help but read this post. What a pretty, pretty thing to do with citrus. Reminds me of Christmas decorations. They’re like mini stained-glass windows. Would be great for all year round decorations too, hung at a window with the sunshine streaming through!
So very pretty, I didn’t think you could make blood oranges any prettier!
FoodNerd x
http://www.foodnerd4life.com
This is just the prettiest thing. Love the array of colour and styling of this!
A simple and pretty idea! I wonder if I could do this in my food dehydrator. I’ve dried other fruits in it (mostly apples, peaches, pears, pineapple, bananas and once strawberries) but I haven’t tried citrus. Nice post!
You totally can. I usually set my dehydrator to 130-135 degrees F, when dehydrating citrus wheels…the drying time will increase, so I would just watch out for that!
I am into House of Cards and I have no idea why. But maybe it’s a good thing ;) Great pictures.
I absolutely love the pictures you took of these dehydrated citrus wheels…so beautiful! I did the same exact thing with House of Cards with my boyfriend this past weekend. I mean, how can’t you just binge when they release a whole season like that?!
xXo, Lexi of http://www.prettyandfresh.com/
This is quite literally the prettiest blog post I have seen all day, but I expect nothing less from you guys!