How to Dehydrate Frozen Peaches | Great for Snacking!

Whether you’re new to dehydrating, short on time, or simply got a good deal on frozen fruit, dehydrating frozen fruit is a great way to add more fruit to your prepper pantry. In this article, I’ll show you how to dehydrate frozen peaches.

But first, let’s talk about some of the benefits of dehydrating frozen peaches instead of fresh.

The biggest benefit is that it’s easy. When you dehydrate frozen peaches, there’s no need to blanch them, skin them, remove the pits, or slice them. You can also purchase them and store them in your freezer until you have time to dehydrate them. Finally, you don’t have to worry about seasonality, since frozen peaches are typically available year-round.

How to Dehydrate Frozen Peaches

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Now let’s get into the step-by-step process of dehydrating frozen peaches.

Step 1: Break Apart Large Clumps of Frozen Peaches

One problem that you may encounter when it comes to dehydrating frozen peaches is that when you open the package, you may find that some of the peaches are frozen together in clumps. This happens when the fruit slightly thaws and then re-freezes.

Since you don’t want to put large clumps of fruit in the dehydrator, be sure to break apart the clumps. Thankfully, this is typically easy to do.

If the clumps of frozen peaches don’t break apart easily there are two things you can do. The first is to give them a good whack on the counter or cutting board. That generally assists in breaking apart the pieces that are frozen together.

If even that fails, pop the frozen peaches into the microwave for about 30 seconds or so and then break them apart.

Step 2: Cut Larger Slices of Frozen Peaches

The next step is to cut large slices of the frozen peaches into half or even fourths. Th reason for this is that if the slices are too large, they won’t dehydrate properly. I generally shoot for pieces that are no more than 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick at the very most.

In this particular package of peaches, the slices were pretty large, so I cut them into fourths.

Step 3: Place the Peach Slices on Dehydrator Trays

As you cut the frozen peach slices, spread them out onto your dehydrator trays. You don’t need a ton of space between them, but as much as possible, avoid overlapping any of the peaches.

Pro tip: If you have so many peaches that you must overlap them a bit, plan to spread the peaches out as they shrink during the dehydration process.

Step 4: Dehydrate Frozen Peaches at 145 Degrees for 1 Hour

When dehydrating frozen fruit, I like to set the temperature on my dehydrator to 145 degrees Fahrenheit for the first hour.

The higher temperature will thaw the peaches which helps to speed up the dehydrating process.

However, it’s important to note that dehydrating the peaches at 145 degrees for too long may result in case hardening. Case hardening is when the outside of the fruit dries to such a degree that it inhibits the inside of the fruit from dehydrating completely. Trust me, you don’t want that to happen!

If you experience case hardening, no matter how long you run the dehydrator, the inside of the fruit never dehydrates completely, and ends up going bad.

Pro Tip: You definitely do not need a dehydrator with a timer. But if you want precise temperatures and a timer, then I recommend the dehydrator I used in this article, the Cosori. You can check it out here, on Amazon. The timer does come in handy when you want to use a higher temperature for a short period of time. If your dehydrator doesn’t have a timer, set a timer on your phone to remind you to turn the temperature down.

Some people recommend dehydrating frozen fruit such as peaches at 145 degrees Fahrenheit for the first two hours, but I’m more comfortable with using the higher temperature for only an hour.

Frozen Peaches after 1 Hour in the Dehydrator at 145 Degrees

Above is what the peaches looked like after one hour in the dehydrator at 145 degrees Fahrenheit.

At this point, the previously frozen peaches were completely thawed, and just beginning to dehydrate. There was a very thin dry layer on the surface of the peaches.

Step 5: Lower Dehydrator Temperature to 125 Degrees

After one hour in the dehydrator at 145 degrees, reduce the temperature to 125 degrees Fahrenheit.

I set the time on my dehydrator for three additional hours. I had no expectation that they’d be dehydrated in the next three hours, but I wanted to be able to document the process so you can see how the previously frozen peaches look after four hours in the dehydrator.

Frozen Peaches After 4 Hours in the Dehydrator

Above is what the peaches looked like after four hours in the dehydrator. At this point there was more dryness on the outside, but they were still very moist and plump.

I put the peaches back into the dehydrator for three additional hours at 125 degrees Fahrenheit.

Frozen Peaches After 7 Hours in the Dehydrator

At this point, the peaches had been in the dehydrator for a total of seven hours. The thicker pieces were still very, very moist.

Some of the thinner slices of peaches were almost dry, but even they were not anywhere near dry enough to consider them fully dehydrated.

At this point, I put the previously frozen peaches back into the dehydrator for an additional four hours. I decided on four hours this time instead of three simply because I wasn’t going to be around the check on the peaches three hours later. Since it’s best to keep the dehydrator running until the food is completely dehydrated, I added an extra hour.

Frozen Peaches after 11 Hours in the Dehydrator

In the above photo you can see what the peaches look like after being in the dehydrator for 11 hours. By this point, the thinner slices were completely dry. If you look closely at the photo, you can see that they are semi-transparent, and you can see the mesh through the peach.

While the thinner pieces were completely dry, the thicker pieces still had quite a bit of moisture. Since they were mostly dry, I set the timer for four additional hours, as I was sure they would be completely dry at that time.

Frozen Peaches After 15 Hours in the Dehydrator

After the final four hours (15 hours in total), the previously frozen peaches were completely dehydrated.

Note: If you’re wondering what the red blotches are, it’s strawberry juice. Since running a full dehydrator conserves electricity, and since I didn’t have enough frozen peaches to fill up the dehydrator, I also dehydrated a tray of frozen strawberries. Frozen strawberries tend to drip a lot of juice during the dehydration process, so I really should have put them on the bottom, but I didn’t. 🙂 Thankfully, other than the color, the strawberry juice didn’t impact the taste or any other aspect of the peaches.

Pro tip: Be sure to check out my article, How to Dehydrate Frozen Strawberries.

How to Dehydrate Frozen Peaches Faster

I love dehydrating food, and the only downside is how long it takes. And of course, frozen fruit takes even longer to dehydrate. If you want to speed up the process of dehydrating frozen peaches, here are a few tips on how to do it.

1. Thaw the peaches first. This adds to the overall time since you’ll need to thaw the peaches in the fridge, preferably overnight. But this time is passive and doesn’t require electricity.
2. Cut the pieces smaller. The smaller the frozen peach pieces are, the faster they’ll dehydrate.
3. Set the temperature on the dehydrator to 145 for two hours, rather than one. This is my least favorite recommendation, because there’s always the risk of case hardening if the dehydrator runs at too high of a temperature for too long. I would NOT combine tip #2 (smaller pieces) with a higher temperature, due to the case hardening risk.
4. Rotate your dehydrator trays. This tip is only really necessary if you’re dehydrating with a stackable dehydrator, like this Nesco (available here on Amazon, and here from Pleasant Hill Grain). Cabinet dehydrators, such as my Cosori (available here on Amazon) don’t require as much tray rotation.

How to Use Dehydrated Peaches

You can use dehydrated peaches in the same way that you would use just about any dehydrated fruit. I most often put peaches I’ve dehydrated into smoothies. Unless your blender is powerful, you may want to rehydrate them first.

I also really enjoy dehydrated peaches in baked goods such as muffins. For best results, rehydrate first.

They are also great in granola. If you make your own granola, add them to the granola after you finish baking it. Since you don’t want any moisture in granola, this is one time you definitely do NOT want to rehydrate them.

Finally, you can eat them straight as a delicious snack and healthy candy replacement.

Related Articles

I hope that you enjoyed this article. If you did, you’ll most likely also enjoy these related articles:

• Can You Dehydrate Frozen Fruit? | Yes, Here’s How!
• How to Dehydrate Frozen Strawberries