My parents have a couple crabapple trees that have beautiful red fruit. I like to eat the tart fruit plain but I wanted to experiment putting them up to see if I could find other ways to store them for later use. Seeing that I already have a large supply of jam, jelly & other sweets my mind went to non-sweetened options.
Aren't they pretty!
With the first large bucket I made a batch of fermented crabapples and dried the rest. I’ll keep you posted on how I like the fermented ones after they are done doing their thing! All I did was cover them in filtered water and let them sit at room temperature. Each morning I’d skim the top of mold/scum and top it off with more water. They are starting to smell less “yeasty” so I need to sample one and then store them in the fridge.
Crabapples ready to ferment.
After seeing how great the first batch dried I went and picked the other tree and dried the rest! I sliced the crabapples into ~4 slices and put them in a bowl of salt water to keep them from turning brown. In Montana the humidity is pretty nonexistent so I air dry the fruit on screens but you could easily use a dehydrator to speed up the process.
Laid out and ready to dry.
It only took about 3 days for them to be completely dry and they stayed a beautiful, bright color. So far we’ve been enjoying them plain as a snack, in oatmeal, on a cake and in lentil soup… next I want to try making them into a spiced snack mix!
Dried Crabapples
Just found your wonderful blog! Very wonderful:) Have a beautiful weekend, I am sure I will be visiting often xxx
We have a crabapple tree, however, the fruit doesn’t look as red as in your pics..Perhaps I should be feeding the tree during the summer. They are very tart, but I like the idea of using the fruit. I need to do more investigating (lol) which is something I enjoy and then take the plunge.
REally enjoy your blog.