How to Dehydrate Cranberries and DIY Craisins

This post may contain affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you purchase via our links. See the disclosure page for more info.

Dehydrate cranberries to make your Craisins or just cranberry bits for baking and snacks! It’s an easy and tasty way to preserve cranberries for long-term storage. And the cranberry powder is incredible, too!

How to Dehydrate Cranberries

Quick Instructions: Break the skin, dry at 135°F/57°C until brittle.

Like any other berry, cranberries need to have the skin broken for the most effective drying time. This is for regular cranberries. See below for a Make Your Own Craisins recipe.

Pick one method:

• Slice with a knife
• Poke with a tool
• Rough chop with a food processor, vegetable chopper, or knife
• Blanch
• Freeze (this needs preparation ahead of time because you want a good hard freeze, not just 2 hours in the freezer).

Pro Tip: If you are looking for cranberries to toss into bread, oatmeal, muffins, etc., the rough chop is really the fastest way to do this. A minute or two in the food processor, and you have bits of cranberry perfect to add to any project.

1. Prepare by breaking the skin or chopping the cranberries
2. Place on dehydrator trays
3. Dry at 135F / 57C for up to 18 hours for bits, 24+ hours for whole
4. Condition
5. Store in airtight containers
6. DIY Craisins

Tips for Frozen Cranberries

Another way to break the skin on cranberries is to pre-freeze them (or purchase them already frozen).

Upon drying, simply place onto parchment paper lined (or fruit leather sheets, but they can stain), and dry just as above.

However, you’ll want to check a few hours into the process to see if the skins are breaking naturally. If not, give them a little push of pressure to help make that happen.

Make Your Own Craisins

Storebought dried cranberries are usually softened with oils and sugars to give those sweet, soft treats we love so much. While we can’t wholly replicate that at home, we can come close with this treatment.

1. Blanch whole craisins in a simple syrup solution (1 part water, 1 part sugar) or a juice solution (1 part water:1 part juice – typically orange, but you can use any you’d like). 5 minutes
2. Drain
3. Place on dehydrator trays
4. Dry at 135F / 57C for 24-36 hours
5. Condition
6. Store in airtight containers

Tips:

• Sugar Ratio: you can make this ratio anything you’d like. While a simple syrup is 1:1, you can do 1 Cup Sugar to 1 Cup Water or flip that for less sweet craisins.
• Drying time: If you are drying them to snackon, you don’t have to get these to a raisin consistency. They can be softer, though you’ll want to store them in the fridge for best results. Dry a little longer to get a storage option.
• Storing: Cranberries pulled early for a softer texture will need to be stored in the fridge if not eaten in a few days.

Storage:

Dried cranberries, stored in an airtight container, can last a year or more.

Oven Directions

• Preheat oven to the lowest possible temp (below 200F/93C) is preferred. Even lower is better.
• Place cranberry pieces onto a silicone sheet (these silicone baking sheets are perfect), or parchment/baking paper. TIP: Place this on a cooling rack on top of your cookie sheet to keep the cranberries from being on a hot solid surface
• Dry for 4-8 hours, stir occasionally, checking often for dryness so as not to burn them.
• Condition
• Store in an airtight container

How to Make Cranberry Powder

Cranberry powder can flavor teas, muffins, cakes, and more without adding the bulk of the dried fruit.

1. Use completely dried cranberries that have not had the sugar-blanching process done to them.
2. Place into a bullet blender or a coffee grinder
3. Pulse often until the bulk has been broken up
4. Grind for 20-30 second intervals until complete powder is formed
5. Condition the powder by placing it onto lined cookie sheets in a warmed oven that is off or by placing it into coffee filters or covered bowls in your dehydrator at a low temp.
6. Store in an airtight container with a moisture absorber for best results.

You can find even more uses for cranberry powder here.

Rehydrating:

Soak in orange juice or water until rehydrated to your preferred texture before baking.

Troubleshooting Tips

My cranberries are hard.

If your cranberry pieces are very hard, that is a great thing for storage. Dry cranberries reduce the risk of mold formation in long-term storage.

To soften cranberries, you can allow them to sit in a baggie with a damp paper towel to reabsorb some moisture or simmer them in a little water to reabsorb.

Cranberries are taking too long.

If the cranberries weren’t broken, they will take much longer to dry. Or give them longer. Dehydrating times are general, and are affected by your machine, how you prepped your cranberries, your home’s humidity, and so much more. Give them time!

How to Use Leftover Cranberry Liquid

That delicious sweet liquid leftover after soaking the cranberries is gold – don’t throw it away! Here are some great uses for it:

• Store in the fridge for up to a week and sweeten your iced tea or cold tea;
• Freeze into small ice cubes to put into drinks. This is a great way to spiffy up a clear soda!
• Reduce in the saucepan to make a cranberry syrup drizzle for pancakes, waffles or ice cream.
• Add to vodka for an adult beverage!
• Add to some plain gelatin to make cranberry gelatin.
• Add with other warm spices to marinate pork or as a ham glaze.
• Drink it – it’s not quite like cranberry juice – but more like the cranberry juice cocktail.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Fruit Dehydrating Tips