How To Dehydrate Lemon Slices: Uses, Tips, and Video Guide
Learn how to dehydrate lemon slices with a complete guide, video tutorial, and over a dozen dried lemon uses!
When life gives you lemons, preserve them!
Hear me out—I love filling my studio, A.K.A. my hub for creating, photographing, and filming, with supplies to spur my creativity. All the colors and textures lining the glass shelves keep the ideas flowing.
While I may have more than my fair share of natural waxes, clays, and salts, my favorite ingredients to create with are things I preserved!
Be it lavender and rosemary straight from my herb garden, or flower bouquets dried or pressed. Citrus is no exception.
It adds a vibrant touch and bright aroma to anything I create! Pair it with spring florals, summer herbs, autumn spices, or winter evergreens. It’s an ingredient you can draw on every season.
But nothing SCREAMS summertime more than lemon. Fresh squeezed, zested, or dried – it always feels like a splash of summer fun!
So, bring a BURST of zesty sunshine to your projects with my tips to preserve the best of summer. Then check out the fun list of ideas for what to do with dehydrated lemon slices!
Watch the full video tutorial and follow along step by step with instructions you can print below. Or tap the little heart icon on the right to pin or bookmark for later.
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What’s The Best Way To Dry Lemon Slices?
Dried lemon slices offer so many uses. I’ve found dehydrating lemon slices is the best way to preserve all the citrus goodness.
Why dehydrate lemons? In the oven, lemons tend to curl up and turn brown. When lemon slices are dehydrated, they maintain their intense flavor and can actually be easily rehydrated in liquid. Weird right?
Not only that, but dehydrating lemons only fades their yellow color to a softer shade – versus other methods that turn slices brown.
Another benefit I was happy to learn is that when you dehydrate lemon slices, you retain almost all of their vitamins and minerals.
And unlike some fruits, ahem – APPLES, lemons, do not require any special pre-treatment before dehydrating. They also have a tough outer surface that’s not prone to bruising like other fruits.
Plus, like oranges and grapefruit, they have a pretty long shelf life. So, it’s easy to find quality lemons.
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How long do dehydrated lemons last?
When stored in an airtight container away from direct sunlight and heat, dehydrated lemons will last for a year on average. After that, they will begin to lose their potency.
So, What Can You Do With Dehydrated Lemon Slices?
Lemons aren’t just for summer cocktails and cleaning remedies. They are SUPER CUTE and incredibly fun to use in DIY projects.
You can celebrate the fresh, zesty flavor and distinctive yellow color of lemon with these uses for dehydrated lemon slices:
So Many Dried Lemon Uses To Love
That’s just over a dozen ideas to use dehydrated lemon slices! Want more? Check out these crafty ideas for lemon uses!
Pro Tips To Dehydrate Lemons
Dehydrating lemons isn’t hard, however, there are a few things I’ve learned that make a difference.
1. Uniformity
The most important tip to crafting perfect dehydrated lemon slices is uniformity. I know, I know, it’s ideal to be unique and authentic, but that’s not the case when it comes to dehydrating citrus.
Thin, uniform slices are best because when each slice is the same thickness each will dry more evenly. This also greatly reduces the risk of scorching slices that are thinner than others.
After many attempts, I’ve found using a mandolin is the best method for achieving uniform thickness. I shared in this video, the 2nd setting is ideal at 2.5 mm thick. It’s beautifully thin and stretches the use of each lemon. However, if you prefer thicker slices you can use the 3rd setting for 4mm.
What I also love about using a handheld mandoline slicer is the fact that it has a grip on the bottom to hold the device in place and a hand/finger guard.
2. Airflow
The biggest and easiest mistake to avoid is inadequate airflow. Don’t, I repeat DO NOT, cram your dehydrator.
Lay lemon slices in a single layer. Do not stack or overlap slices. Space slices apart so they are not touching. This allows for the air to flow and evenly dehydrate each lemon slice.
3. Timing
You know what they say, “timing is everything”.
Like lighting a candle, or simmering potpourri, be prepared to be around for a minimum of four hours. Dehydrating lemons takes time, but luckily, it doesn’t require much ACTIVE time.
You, see once you have your lemon slices in the dehydrator all it takes is a quick check once an hour!
How long does it take to dehydrate lemon slices? The thickness of your lemon slices will equate to the amount of time needed to dry.
For 2.5 mm slices dehydrate lemons at 135°F degrees for one hour. Then lower the temperature to 125°F degrees to dehydrate for approximately 3 more hours.
If you’re drying 4mm thick slices add one to two more hours and for 6 to 6.5 mm slices be prepared to dehydrate for six to eight hours total.
You see, the less thick they are the faster they’ll dry.
Make each slice count with these PRO tips to successfully dehydrate lemons!
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Other things to note,
pro Tips
- Drying times can vary depending on the humidity of the room.
- Opt for a stackable food dehydrator that allows you to rotate and remove trays as they finish to speed up the drying time. As I shared in this video, I’ve been using my dehydrator for more than five years. It comes with four trays, but you can buy additional trays to stack up to a dozen trays in it at one time.
- Do not add new lemon slices to the dehydrator once you’ve begun the process. This can cause partially dried fruit to absorb moisture from the fresh slices, slowing down the process.
With these tips, in hand, you’ll be ready to give dehydrating lemons a go. So, let’s get started!
Let’s Dehydrate Lemons
It’s easy to dry lemons for decoration, gift wrap, candle making, handmade soaps, and more! Dried slices are easy to store in airtight containers and make a great homemade gift themselves.
Not only that, there’s one thing I didn’t mention… from start to finish, through the process of dehydrating lemons, your house will smell like a lemon tree orchard!
Read along and watch the video tutorial below. Or print the instructions I’ve also shared below and watch the tutorial on YouTube.
Supplies You’ll Need:
How To Dehydrate Lemon Slices – Step By Step
Before you begin, give each lemon a good shine! Gently wash and pat dry the lemons with a clean towel.
Step 1: Use a handheld mandoline slicer to slice lemon rounds to 2.5 mm thickness.
Step 2: Place lemon slices in a single layer, spaced apart, on a dehydrator tray. Do not overlap; fill as many trays as needed.
Step 3: Stack the lemon-lined dehydrator trays in the dehydrator. Remove all other trays.
Step 4: Plug the dehydrator in and dehydrate lemons at 135°F degrees for one hour. Then lower the temperature to 125°F degrees to dehydrate for approximately 3 more hours.
I’ve included this above, but I’ll share it here as well for reference:
- 2.5 mm slices = 4 hours
- 4 mm slices = 5 to 6 hours
- 6 to 6.5mm = 6 to 8 hours
How do you know when the lemons are done dehydrating? As a general rule of thumb, lemon slices should be dry, almost brittle, and not sticky.
Step 5: After the lemon slices are fully dry, store them in an airtight glass container until use.
How To Dehydrate Lemon Slices
Want crisp, beautiful dried lemons? Follow this how-to guide with a video and slicing tips!
Materials
- 1 bag of lemons
Tools
- handheld mandoline slicer
- cutting board
- stackable food dehydrator
- additional trays as needed
Instructions
- Before you begin, give each lemon a good shine! Gently wash and pat dry the lemons with a clean towel.
- Use a handheld mandoline slicer to slice lemon rounds to 2.5 mm thickness.
- Place lemon slices in a single layer, spaced apart, on a dehydrator tray. Do not overlap; fill as many trays as needed.
- Stack the lemon-lined dehydrator trays in the dehydrator. Remove all other trays.
- Plug the dehydrator in and dehydrate lemons at 135°F degrees for one hour. Then lower the temperature to 125°F degrees to dehydrate for approximately 3 more hours.
Notes
How do you know when the lemons are done dehydrating? As a general rule of thumb, lemon slices should be dry, almost brittle, and not sticky. After they are fully dry, store them in an airtight glass container until use.
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