My friend buys whole dried strawberries at a store, and they are PERFECT to add to scones and such. I have tried to dry my own with my food dehydrator, but they don't come out anywhere near how they look from the store. They are whole berries, and look like the ones on this website: http://www.nutsonline.com/driedfruit/strawberries/dried-strawberries.html

Can anyone give me an idea as to how these were dried? Apparently, no sugar or anything was added, but they are so plump and juicy ~ not at all like the dried strawberries that are coming out of my dehydrator. Thanks for helping!!!

Sorry to tell you, but the second ingredient is sugar. The nutrition info is on the left side of the screen.

They do look yummy. When I first saw them I immediately thought they have sugar. I bet they put them in a sugar syrup before dehydrating them. They remind me of the candied oranges I make for my dad.

Thanks for your quick response! The ones my friend gets, the only ingredients are strawberries and sulfur dioxide ~ but they look just like the ones pictured on the website. Do you think cooking them in a simple syrup and then dehydrating them would do the trick?

Hmm, are they crunchy/crisp or chewy?

If they are crunchy/crisp, then they are freeze-dried. You cannot do that at home unless you have liquid nitrogen.

If chewy, then I am not sure. I cannot find any online without sugar or corn syrup.

You could try to do that but probably need to be careful how long you simmer them. Strawberries are sort of fragile.

Here are freeze dried strawberries.
http://www.nutsonline.com/driedfruit/strawberries/freeze-dried.html

Oh, and I just looked it up. I made a mistake. You don't use liquid nitrogen to freeze dry. It is a process. If you're interested, here's a link.

http://www.freezedryguy.com/

http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/fresh-ideas/dinner-food-facts/freeze-drying.htm


Ok, I just found a link that claims you can do it at home. I'm not so sure how good the quality would be though.
http://www.i4at.org/surv/freeze.htm

If you try it, please let us know.[/i]

Suggestion- Just order them from Nuts online. Their stuff is excellent and arrives promptly. I particularly like their strawberries and other fruits. They are chewy and much better than most dried fruits.