How to Dehydrate Grapes for Homemade Raisins
Dehydrate grapes to make your own homemade raisins! It’s so easy to do, just takes a little prep work and some patience. And you’ll absolutely love the results!
Grapes are such a fun fruit to dehydrate. The process is easy, you just need to do a little prep work ahead of time!
How to Dehydrate Grapes
Step 1: Wash grapes
Step 2: Break the skin
Just as with blueberries, the skin on the grape needs to be broken in some fashion to allow the moisture to escape from the grape for efficient drying.
Drying a grape without doing so, especially at a high temperature, can lead to case hardening where the outside dries into a shell quickly, and doesn’t allow the moisture from the inside to escape. This can lead to molding problems down the line.
Options:
- Blanch. This process is used more for vegetables to prepare them for dehydrating, but works great on berries, as well.
- Boil pot of water
- Dunk grapes in for 30 seconds
- Remove and place into an ice bath to stop the cooking process
- Use a knife to slice open. Don’t cut all the way through if you want something more like raisins you purchase at the store.
- Cut grapes in half. I recommend this mostly for large raisins, not tiny ones.
- Pierce the skin to create holes. I use a sturdy metal hair pick to accomplish this quickly.
You can watch my video on how to blanch blueberries to learn how to do grapes, as well.
Feel free to subscribe to my Youtube channel to catch even more great dehydrating and food storage videos!
3. Place on dehydrator trays
I happen to use an Excalibur dehydrator, but any will do. If you need help finding a dehydrator that’s right for you, I’ve got a great resource for you to read.
4. Dry at 135°F / 57°C for 18-48 hours.
Yes, that seems like a crazy long time, but they can take a very long time to dry, especially if you haven’t cut them.
The time variance will depend on how you’ve prepared them, your machine, the humidity of your home, etc.
5. Test for dryness
Pull a few samples from your trays and allow them to cool. Grapes should be leathery to the touch, click when you drop them onto a countertop and have no moist center. They will be a little harder than storebought raisins which may have been treated to keep their softness.
6. Condition grapes
Condition grapes before putting away for storage. Place in a jar a little larger than necessary, and shake the jar once a day to loosen the grapes. This helps to ensure even humidity, and allows you to catch any moisture issues before mold begins to form. If you see moisture anywhere, put back into your dehydrator and continue to dry.
7. Store grapes
Grapes can be stored in airtight containers for up to two years (some may last longer). Use a mason jar with an airtight lid, vacuum seal bags, mylar or other airtight containers to store.
LEARN MORE: Proper way to store dehydrated foods.
My dried grapes are too hard!
Fully dried grapes are necessary for pantry storage. You can dry them softer, but you’ll need to store them in the refrigerator to ensure that they do not mold.
Ways to make grapes soft again:
- Allow dried grapes to sit out and absorb ambient moisture for a bit before serving.
- Place inside a zipper top bag with a damp paper towel to absorb moisture.
Best Grapes for DIY Raisins
Grape varieties have different flavor profiles. And while I say dehydrate whatever you can get your hands on, some grapes may be better for raisins than others.
However, play with your food. Dehydrate any kind and see what you think. You may prefer something with a less obvious sweet bend to it.
- Thompson seedless green grapes – these are traditionally what raisins in the US are made from.
- Red or Black – these are the darker variety that are generally found in the grocery store in the US.
- Cotton Candy – a super sweet variety
- Moon Drops – less sweet, fun shape, and large raisins
You can use ANY time of grape to make a dried grape for snacking.
Dehydrating Grapes Q&A
Breaking the skin in some way is an important factor in dehydrating grapes. If you don’t, you run the risk of case hardening, and your grapes can take days to fully dehydrate. If you prefer whole grapes, poking the skin several times is necessary.
Dehydrated grapes, properly dried, conditioned, and stored, will last safely up to two years in most cases. Over time, texture and quality may decline just as store-bought raisins do.
You can, but grapes are so high in sugar content that clumping can be a real problem. Dry your grapes to the rock stage, powder, condition, and use one of these methods to help reduce clumping in your grape powder. I do recommend doing this for immediate use and not for storage.
How to Dehydrate Grapes
Equipment
- Something to poke holes with
Ingredients
- Grapes
Instructions
- Wash Grapes
- Break the skin (See notes below)
- Place skin side down on dehydrator trays- skin side down
- Dry at 135°F/57°C for 18-48 hours
- Dryness Test: dry, leathery, and plink when you drop them on the table. See notes
- Condition Grapes in a jar by shaking once a day for a week to check for any signs of moisture (dry more if you find it)
- Store grapes in an airtight container for 1-2 years in a dark, cool, dry place.
Darcy’s Tips
- Blanch. This process is used more for vegetables to prepare them for dehydration, but works great on berries, as well.
- Boil pot of water
- Dunk grapes in for 30 seconds
- Remove and place into an ice bath to stop the cooking process
- Use a knife to slice open. Don’t cut all the way through if you want something more like raisins you purchase at the store.
- Cut grapes in half. I recommend this mostly for large raisins, not tiny ones.
- Pierce the skin to create holes. I use a sturdy metal hair pick to accomplish this quickly.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimation only. Nutrient information for dehydrated foods is based on fresh. Use 1/4 of the servicing size for the same nutrient information. Thus 1 Cup of fresh fruit has the same sugars as 1/4 dried.
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Out of interest, what yield do you get when the grapes are dried compared to the weight of the fresh fruit?
I don’t do those measurements since I’m not a hiker/backpacker.
Trying some of those ‘cotton candy’ grapes…I was so excited to find them I didn’t read your instructions first 😩
Guess I’ll just be patient and munch on some yummy Italian tomato chips and salt and vinegar cucumber chips while I wait 😜
Have you used concord grapes for drying just wondering what kinds of grapes to use? This is my first time trying this,
Any grape will work.
I dehydrated some tiny wild grapes and didn’t know to pierce them. Do you think they will be ok? They seem very dry.
It’s fine – piercing just helps them dry more efficiently. If you conditioned them after drying, you’ll likely have found any issue if there was one. If they are fully dry – they are fine.