Blueberry Fruit Leather(Logistics)

[Durgan]

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?KSWVC 20 July 2012 Blueberry Fruit Leather(Logistics)
Fruit leather in general is not a cheap item to produce.Each large sheet in the photographs requires about two pound of berries, which presently cost 3.00 per pound. If the sheet is cut into typical serving size of 20 from a sheet. The cost per piece is about thirty cents just for the ingredients. Other issues are storage and softness of the finished product.To store at room temperature the product must be thoroughly dehydrated until hard, which is not conducive to casual eating.But is ideal for camping and the like lifestyles.For casual eating the product must be relatively soft and palatable. This means moisture is present and the product must be refrigerated or it will mold in a few days.Vacuum packing extends shelf life at room temperature considerably and is ideal for freezing. I envision this product along with other dehydrated fruits as a healthy, nutritional snack food replacing the typical supermarket junk food.The product presented is only blueberries with nothing added.Annotated photographs depict the process.

[boboff]

Looks good and tasty!

[Zech]

This means moisture is present and the product must be refrigerated or it will mold in a few days.

I've had better luck with storage than you. I boil my fruit for quite a long time to drive off quite a lot of the water, then dry in a "cool" oven to a chewy consistency. There's definitely still some moisture in there, but not very much. I also add a little sugar or honey, but nowhere near as much as you'd put in jam, so I don't think I'm getting the sugar concentration high enough to inhibit mould. These have stored in old-fashioned tins (not even completely airtight) at room temperature (usually 15-18 deg C) for eight or nine months without signs of mould.