Berry Powder (aka Berry Power); where have you been all my life? As I am in the possession of a dehydrator I ask myself why did I wait so long? Could it be that easy to make berry powder? The answer is yes, yes it is. While at a local market I spied some raspberry powder and I instantly thought “If they can make it, so can I!”
I dried red raspberries, blueberries and black raspberries (also known as black caps). I figured if the dehydrator is going to run for 36 to 48 hours I might as well make a variety. Just think of the goodness of berry flavored whipped cream or meringue (yes, raspberry meringue pie is coming soon).
Place the berries on parchment, wax paper, or plastic wrap and dehydrate for 36 to 48 hours. Three (3) cups of berries will reduce down to about 1 cup of dried berries.
Pulse the berries in a blender or food processor. I used a knock-off version of a Magic Bullet; results were stupendous! To get the seeds out of the raspberries place the powder in a fine sieve and tap the sides to shake out the powder separating the seeds.
Once the seeds are removed you will have about 7 tablespoons of raspberry powder and about 9 tablespoons of blueberry powder.
The removed seeds are pictured above in the smaller saucers. Besides feeding the seeds to my chickens I don’t know what else to do with them. Suggestions anyone?
To store your berry powders, place in an airtight container (thank you Snapware) with a teabag or piece of cotton fabric with a couple tablespoons of rice. This keeps any possible moisture clumping up the tangy berry powder you worked so hard on.
Berry Powder
Tangy berries in powder form for some intense berry-flavored whipped cream, meringue, and a myriad of other goodies where berry powder (power?) is a must!
10
minutes48
hours1
cupKeep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
3 cups raspberries, black raspberries, blackberries or blueberries (frozen berries are fine, just add an extra hour to drying time)
Parchment paper, wax paper, or plastic wrap
Directions
- Place paper of choice onto rack/shelf of dehydrator.
- Spread out berries in a single layer.
- Dry in dehydrator for 36 to 48 hours.
- Let cool (about 30 minutes) at room temp.
- Place berries in a high powered blender, food processor, or magic bullet-type blender.
- Blend at high for about 15 to 20 seconds. If there are still some larger pieces, blend a few seconds more.
- For raspberries and blackberries, shake/tap powder through a fine sieve to remove most of the seeds.
- Store berry powders in an airtight container with a small fabric bag or tea bag of rice to keep moisture from clumping the powder.
- 3 cups of fresh/frozen berries = 1 cup dried = 7 to 9 tablespoons of berry powder.
Notes
- After 4 to 6 weeks, the berry powder may lose some of its natural color if kept at room temp.
You can store extra powder in freezer and use it from a frozen state, as there should not be any moisture. However, if clumpy after frozen, place on parchment in oven at 175 F for 15 minutes or place back in dehydrator for 1 hour to dry it again.
Can you think of an alternative to the dehydrator? I’m trying to convince my boss to buy one but in the mean time.. do you think I could put them in an over at low temp? Like 150*F or 250*F maybe for a couple hours. Thank you so much! I can’t wait to try all the citrus fruits we have
Sorry I missed this (productive chaos here). I checked the temp of my dehydrator and it runs at about 125 degrees. Parchment lined baking sheets at 125 to 150 would be perfect. You may have to stir them a bit and I would plan on a couple of extra hours. At a low temp they will not burn, and drier is better.
Is the powder liquid soluble?
It’s pure dried berries, so yes it is liquid soluble, but as with any fresh fruit there will be tiny bits of dried fiber that may not dissolve completely, but very little.
At what temperature do you dehydrate them? Either I missed or it wasn’t in the directions. Thank you!
My dehydrator is old and does not have a temperature, but I can assure you it’s very, very low. I will put an oven thermometer in it today and check. Regardless, you really cannot “over dry” the berries. They need to be very dry so they can be turned into powder!
Hey, friend – did you use frozen berries? Straight from frozen onto the parchment, or thaw a bit first? Sounds promising (for next year when I return home!)
I used straight up frozen berries, no thawing needed. Who knew this was so easy?