Nutrition
| Per 100 g | Per 1 oz (28 g) | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 289 kcal | 82 kcal |
| Protein | 5.2 g | 1.5 g |
| Fat | 2.4 g | 0.7 g |
| saturated | 0.1 g | 0 g |
| Carbohydrate | 55.4 g | 15.7 g |
| sugars | 42.6 g | 12.1 g |
| Fibre | 14.2 g | 4 g |
| Sodium | 14 mg | 4 mg |
Estimated from the ingredients, for the finished dried product. Actual values vary with the produce you use and how far you dry it.
Ingredients
- 2.5 kg Kiwi fruits (about 33 medium), washed
Instructions
- Pick kiwifruit that gives evenly when pressed at both ends. A hard one is astringent and drying concentrates that rather than sweetening it, while an overripe one turns to jelly under the knife.
- Peel with a paring knife rather than a vegetable peeler. The skin is thin and fuzzy, and a peeler skids across it taking either nothing at all or a third of the fruit.
- Cut rounds 6 mm thick straight across the core, so the pale centre and its ring of black seeds sits in the middle of every slice. That pattern is the only reason to dry kiwi in rounds at all.
- Spread the slices on a tray and chill them uncovered in the fridge overnight. The cold firms the flesh and dries the cut faces, which makes them far easier to lift without tearing.
- Lay them on mesh with clear space around each one. Kiwi is sticky enough to bond to a solid sheet and will leave half its underside behind.
- Dehydrate at 57 °C for 7 hours, turning the slices over once they release from the mesh without resistance.
- They are ready when a slice bends without a wet line opening across the fold. Kiwi stays faintly tacky on the surface even when it is finished, so do not chase a dry feel that is never going to arrive.
- Cool them in a single layer rather than a heap. Stacked warm, they glue into a column that has to be prised apart.
- Keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for three months. This fruit is high enough in both sugar and acid to stay pliable, and pliable fruit in a warm cupboard ferments rather than keeps.
