You can preserve your mulberry harvest by making dried mulberries, all you need is a dehydrator and your fresh mulberries to work with. Dried mulberries can be used in trail mix, as a snack, in baking and cooking, and in any other place you would use dried fruit.
One of the most efficient ways of preserving your fruit and garden harvest is through dehydrating. Many different fruits can be dehydrated including strawberries, apples, pears, peaches, watermelon, cantaloupe, mango, pineapple, and many, many, more. Mulberries are an interesting fruit to dry, as they do have many small seeds, however, they are included in many commercial dried fruit mixes. If you want more ideas for using small fruits (that aren’t jam and jelly) check out this post too.
Other uses of small tree fruit include making jam, jelly, or using them as an ingredient in fruit leather. You can also consume berries and small tree fruit fresh. Mulberries are a small, soft, tree fruit and won’t store for long periods of time, or hold up for transporting. This means the main source of mulberries for dehydrating will be your own trees, or neighborhood trees that you get permission to harvest from.
If you don’t have mulberry trees available to harvest from this year, you can start mulberries from seed or grow them from cuttings from established trees. If you have access to established trees, take cuttings from trees with sweet and good-sized fruit. If you’re in North America, the American Red Mulberry is one of the two native species, and if you’re in it’s range, can be a good tree to focus on growing. White mulberry is an introduced species that will cross breed with the native species. Red mulberry is also hardier, so if you’re in zone 3, like me, it’s a better bet for winter hardiness too.
Fun fact, one of the most well known uses of the mulberry tree is as food for silkworms. However, red and purple mulberry fruit are an antioxidant powerhouse, and great to include in your menu.
Why Preserve Mulberries:
Mulberries are a small, berry sized, soft tree fruit. They won’t keep fresh for long, so preserving them will let you enjoy the fruits of your trees and garden for longer. Jams, jellies, and other fruit preserves are very common ways of preserving small fruits. Including small fruits in fruit leather is another way to get more anti-oxidants and color into your winter preserves. However, mulberries can be dried whole, and dried mulberries are useful for snacking, baking, an including in cookies, bars, trail mixes, and dried fruit mixes.
If you have allergies in your family, or dietary restrictions like needing to be gluten-free, making your own dried fruits avoids the question of what cross contact could exist. Same if you’re worried about cross contact with soy, tree nuts, or peanuts.
Dehydrating Mulberries:
Make your own dried mulberries with freshly harvested, and rinsed, mulberries, and your dehydrator. If you don’t have enough ripe mulberries in one picking to fill your dehydrator, store them in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Mulberry fruits ripen over-time, so you can harvest some each day. Or, just run a partial dehydrator load, or run a load with mulberries and strawberries or other in-season fruits.
Pick your mulberries in the cool of the morning, before the heat of the sun hits your trees or harvest areas. This helps avoid squishing the ripe fruit while picking them.
Rinse the mulberries in cool water, with a splash of vinegar, then again in plain water. Remove stems. Extra large mulberries can also be cut in half to reduce dry time.
Place berries on your dehydrator trays in a single layer. If you use reusable parchment to line your trays, make sure it’s clean and the berries can be touching, just do not overlap them.
Set your dehydrator to 140F for 20-24 hours. Berries are dried when they snap crisply in half. They should also reduce in size by at least 50%. They may develop a chewy texture in storage, or as you start eating them, which is normal. Dried fruit is nature’s candy, and many dried fruits become more chewy as they are stored, or eaten.
Let berries cool, re-dry or immediately eat, any dried berries that feel damp and cool to the touch or squishy once dry. When berries are cool, bag in mylar bags or in glass wide mouthed jars and seal. If you will be storing the berries for longer than a year, you can also add an oxygen absorber to the bag before you seal it. Use your sealed bag up in 3-6 weeks after opening.
Avoid storing dried foods in direct sunlight. Dehydrated mulberries are stable at room temperature.
You can also freeze dry mulberries,if you have a freeze dryer.
Using Dried Mulberries:
Dried white mulberries are often included in commercial dried fruit mixes. Red mulberries, like our North American native red mulberry are higher in antioxidants than white mulberries. The flavor of mulberry has a unique sweetness, with usually no bitterness or tartness to it. Red mulberries can have a slightly more tart flavor if they are not yet fully ripe. Mulberries are a source of vitamin C, are high in anthocyanins, and fiber.
Antioxidants, and high antioxidant foods are considered beneficial against heart disease, and beneficial for the immune system. Fruits may affect blood sugar, even though fruit is good for you in small quantities.
Like currents, mulberries can also be used in tea. Add berries as part of a green tea blend, or herbal tea blend to add sweetness that stays till the bottom of the cup.
They are a fun way to get a boost of nutrition in muffins, and to add a hint of sweetness to granola, or garnish yogurt. They are a treat for your taste buds and the natural flavor is both unique and delicious. They can also be used in salads, fresh or dried.
My favorite way of using dried mulberries is as an ingredient in homemade trail mix and in homemade granola. This way I get to enjoy good recipes and their flavor, while not using them all up on straight snacking. Including homemade dried fruit in oatmeal bars, granola, or other mixed recipes is a great way to gift your harvest abundance, in an easily enjoyable format.
Other Ways to Use Mulberries:
If you prefer to freeze small fruits, frozen mulberries can be used in smoothies, as a topping for yogurt and granola, and as an ingredient in crumble or pie. If blending mulberries, they blend well with raspberry flavors, as well as strawberry and blueberry.
The berries may also be used in mead or wine.
What ways have you used mulberries? Leave a comment!
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