Dehydrating Apples for Cinnamon Apple Chips, My Husband LOVES These!

These are ready to be stored away or served as they are, tart, sweet, and crisp!

Since I have gotten home from visiting our twin Grandsons and found my husband under the weather I have started preparing one of his favorite treats.  He bought me a dehydrator several years ago and these are by far his favorite treat derived for it's use!  Dehydrating apples can also be done in your home oven.

Last November was my first time fixing apples cored and sliced and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.  Here is the posting foe complete directions should you wish to try this too:    thehiddenpantry.blogspot.com/2012/11/crispy-cinnamon-apple-chips.html

Washed and cored apples in ascorbic acid bath.

There are several things I have done to make it an easy operation as it is a start and stop project.  It takes 6-7 hours in the dehydrator after initially preparing the apples and giving them a soak in a mixture of water and ascorbic acid.

Supplies needed to make Cinnamon Apple Chips, my way:

Apples (I go to a local orchard and get fresh local grown fruit.)
1/2 pint regular mouth jelly jar
top from an empty Parmesan cheese shaker jar
sugar
cinnamon
apple corer
ascorbic acid
water
gallon size zipper plastic bag
3-5 pounds of apples
dehydrator or oven (if using the oven you also need metal cooling racks and a pan on which to hold them.)

I prepare a bath of ascorbic acid  using 6-8 cups of water and a teaspoon of ascorbic acid for each cup of water in a large pan or bowl.  Next wash and core all of the apples you have selected and drop each one into the ascorbic acid.  I use a mandolin to slice the apples into thin slices but you could use a paring knife and slice by hand or a food processor.  Again I return the slices to the ascorbic bath.  They need to stay submerged in this bath for at least 5 minutes to help prevent discoloration.

Slices of Johnathon apples as they drain.

Next I put 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon in the jelly jar and fit it with the shaker top of the cheese shaker.   Mix well.

Try not to have the slices touching.

Drain the apples into a large colander and layer them a rack at a time sprinkling with the cinnamon and sugar mixture.  I only sprinkle the top side of the apple slices.  At this point I place all of the remaining apples waiting to be processed into a gallon sized plastic bag and stow them away in the refrigerator until it is time to load them into the dehydrator.

For extra crunch add very fine bread crumbs or ground nuts to the cinnamon sugar mixture before sprinkling the apples.

After the racks are full either set the dehydrator at the fruit setting or your oven at it's lowest setting.  (Usually 175 - 200 degrees.)  Check after 3-4 hours.  The time depends on the amount of moisture, the variety of apple, and the humidity as well an the equipment you are using.  They should be dry and a bit crisp but not so dry the shatter.  Store in an airtight container.

I consulted the Ball Blue book last year before my first attempt and there is additional information in the above provided link.

NOTE;  FOR ADDITIONAL CRUNCH OR FLAVOR ADD FINELY GROUND BREADCRUMBS OR FINELY GROUND NUTS TO PLAIN SUGAR OR THE CINNAMON SUGAR MIXTURE BEFORE YOU SHAKE IT ONTO THE APPLES.