Homemade Raisins from the Homegrown Seedless Grapes

 Made another good use of the Dehydrator and sun... 

The grapes grew great this year - seedless green Thompson.  Just enough to enjoy them without becoming overwhelmed with them.

After a good washing with Salted water and several good rinse to assure all natural residents were moved out.  Removed the end stem from each and every single grape and placed on the dehydrator tray.  The initial dehydration started around 10 pm.  2 days it ran at 350'F.  During the weekday's peak hours, I shut it down to save energy and to keep the room cool.  Then, turn it back on close to midnight.   The whole process took about 3 days plus natural air dry.   I also had a 2nd crop from a different grape vine that produced red grapes, but it has seeds.  I sun dried the red grapes under the sun for a few hours twice.  The outside temperature were around 106'F, so why not.  Then, I used the Dehydrator to do the rest of the drying.

Result - Seedless grapes turned out to be a great raisins.  I sprinkled some Fruit-Fresh ascorbic acid to mix with raisin in a jar. 

After 4+ weeks(?), it started to turn translucent/ripe.

When they started to show translucency and birds started to eat them, it's time to bag them.

After waiting patiently for them to reach the sweetness - about 2+ months?

Time to Spray wash. Then, dunk wash in salted water to get rid of the hiding residents.

Not bad looking bunch.

 

 

The only greatest thing about homemade raisin - no sulfur that makes me itchy.

But sure took many hours to dehydrate.  I will try drying the next time by leaving them hanging until they turn or look shriveled a bit before picking to dry them in the dehydrator?  but then, they won't be clean unless I wash them as they hang on the vine. 

These are the red with seeds.  They did not grow in a uniform bunch ways as the green grapes did.  They grew erratically here and there.  Interesting.  It just grew here and there in a single or twosies - not as a bunch.  This is the only one that look like a bunch.  The raisins turned out crunchy!  LOL.