John Myers
Making your own raisins from delicious grapes is easy – all you need is a little patience until the berries are dehydrated. There are several options for drying. We tell you what to look out for.
How to make raisins yourself
In pastries, muesli, together with nuts in trail mix, coated in chocolate, marinated in rum or simply as a snack: raisins are a versatile treat. The aromatic dried fruit can be bought all year round, but you can also simply make raisins yourself. You don’t need an expensive device or complex instructions for this: If you make raisins yourself with the help of the sun, all you need is a dry place and time. Spread out the sorted, washed, and patted grapes on a clean towel placed over the oven rack or other grating. Put it in the sun and wait two to three days until the fruit has dried. This works wonderfully in midsummer, the rest of the year other methods are usually required.
Make raisins yourself in the oven or dehydrator
You can also make raisins yourself in the oven. To do this, place the cleaned and stemmed berries on a baking tray lined with baking paper and dry at around 50 degrees. If possible, leave the oven door ajar and check every hour whether the raisins are ready. You can shake the tray a little to dry the berries more evenly. Exactly how many hours the dehydration lasts depends on the size and juiciness of the berries. This also applies to the preparation in the dehydrator. At 55 to 60 degrees, you should plan an average of twelve hours if you make raisins yourself. You can use the finished raisins immediately and bake delicious raisin rolls.
Tips for grape selection and storage
For homemade raisins, use seedless grapes. Make sure that only completely intact berries with no brown spots or damage to the skin go into the heat. For longer storage, fill the completely cooled dried fruit into an airtight container and keep it in a cool place. The raisins will keep for months. If you would like to make rum raisins yourself, pour boiled rum over them in a mason jar, which you are welcome to refine with vanilla. For chocolate raisins, the dried berries simply go into a chocolate bath and spread out to harden. In this form, they pack a lot of calories. Raisins are healthy when eaten in moderation – whether on their own, with rum, or with chocolate.
