I first fell in love with the apple chip when I visited the famous Pike Place Market in Seattle with my college friends in 2008. Right in the middle of the market, across from the fish stand that throws fish, sits a stand that sells every type of dried apple chip imaginable: Fuji apple chips, Gala apple chips, Granny Smith, Red Delicious . . . if there's a Washington apple, there's an accompanying chip.
I loved these chips because they were not fried, but merely dried. My favorite was the Granny Smith one. First of all, I love tart apples. Moreover, I found that the green apple chips were always the crispiest. Certain ones, like the Red Delicious apple chips, always seemed to be just a tad leathery. However, the green apples ones were always crispy,which is why I would only buy those chips.
I was so obsessed with these chips, I even mail ordered them several times after my stash from Seattle ran out.
As time went by, it sort of became out of sight, out of mind. I forgot about these chips until this past Christmas, when Bryan gave me an Excalibur 9-tray Dehydrator (affiliate link!) for Christmas.
Now I could finally make my own chips!
The first time I made these, I sliced the apples by hand. It's doable, but pretty time consuming. If you are able to get your hands on a mandolin slicer {affiliate link!}, it will make the job a whole lot more pleasant.
Apples naturally oxidize and turn brown over time. Most recipes optionally call for the use of an ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) or a sulfite solution to prevent the fruit from turning brown. I didn't have any of those reagents on hand.
What I did have, however, was a lime.
I made a solution of water and the juice of half a lime and just soaked the apples in the solution for about 5 minutes. If you don't feel like soaking the apples, you can also brush or spray each slice with lime juice.
I then laid them out in my Excalibur and dehydrated at 140° F (60° C) for about 8 hours.
The results were thin, crispy, quite tart (with a bright lime note!), and delicious.
These were at least as good as the ones I got from Pike Place Market, if not better. They turned out super crispy and they are pretty addictive.
Hee hee, here's a heart shaped one. A green valentine?
These store pretty well, supposedly almost indefinitely. I can get several containers full from just 4-5 apples. A little goes a long way. They really do make great snacks for when you just need something that's a bit sweet.
Yum!
Happy Valentine's Day!
Dehydrator Apple Chips / Green Apple Chips
4-5 green apples, thinly sliced
juice of ½ lime
1. Slice apples, ideally with a mandolin. I didn't have an apple corer so I just sliced the entire apple. The seeds sort of fall out naturally and I just cut off the stems after the fact.
2. Submerge the sliced apples in a water/lime solution for about 5 minutes. Alternatively, you can make a lime + water spray solution and spray both sides of the apples. In a pinch, I have just sliced a lime in half and rubbed each apple slice with the lime juice. They all work fine.
3. Lay the apples out on a tray and dehydrate at 145 degrees Fahrenheit for about 8 hours. Please note, if you want these apple chips to be considered "raw", then dehydrate at 105 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-12 hours (or more).
4. Serve!
