Instructions

1. A ripe mango yields to a thumb near the stem and smells of mango there. Colour proves nothing, since plenty of varieties stay green when they are ready to eat.
2. Stand the fruit on end and cut down either side of the flat stone. The stone runs lengthways and is wider than it looks, so start your cut further out than seems right.
3. Peel the cheeks after cutting, never before. A peeled whole mango is too slippery to hold safely against a blade.
4. Choose the cut by the use: wedges for chewy snacking, thin even slices for chips, small cubes for baking and smoothies. Keep one shape per tray so that tray finishes as a unit.
5. Mist the cut faces with lemon juice or an ascorbic acid solution. Mango browns at the edges as it dries, and the acid holds the orange without touching the taste.
6. Spread the pieces cut side up with no overlap anywhere. Mango is sticky, and two slices that overlap come off the tray as one slice.
7. Dehydrate at 52 °C for 11 hours. Wedges want to end up pliable and easy to tear, while chips need to keep going until a slice breaks cleanly between your fingers.
8. Test only after the pieces have cooled, because mango is soft while warm and firms noticeably as the heat leaves it. A piece still tacky when cold belongs back on the tray.
9. Condition the finished fruit in a loosely closed jar for a week, shaking it each day. Condensation on the glass means one piece was wetter than the others and would have taken the jar down with it; once it stays clear, seal it and it keeps nine months in the dark.