Arrange the plums on drying trays – Remove the plums from the pre-treatment solution and drain thoroughly.This solution can be made by mixing equal parts of lemon juice and water. Pre-treat plums to retain color – Soak whole or pitted, halved plums in a pretreatment solution for 3-5 minutes.Cool the fruit quickly by submerging in ice water, then continue with the following instructions for how to dry prunes: In order for whole plums to dehydrate properly, the skins must be cracked by dipping the plums in boiling water for 1-2 minutes. Small plums can be dried whole, but the resulting prunes will contain pits. For the best results, start with freshly-harvested, mature plums in good condition (no mold, bruising or decay). Learning how to dry prunes safely is not difficult. European plums also contain more natural sugars, which makes for sweeter-tasting prunes.

For gardeners with limited space, this means growing plums for prunes can be accomplished with a single tree.Įuropean plum varieties tend to bloom later in the season, which means they are much hardier and more reliable fruit producers than Japanese types. Many European plum varieties and cultivars are self-fertile or are grafted with two compatible varieties on the same root stock. Commercial prune growers generally opt for European plum varieties over Japanese or indigenous American species of plums.įor the home gardener, European plums offer an additional advantage. Growing Prunes in the Home Gardenīefore jumping in and learning how to make prunes, first consider whether or not you have a suitable type of plum for drying. Follow the simple instructions below and your family will be enjoying dried plums all winter long. If you’ve never tried making prunes, don’t fret. But what happens when your backyard tree produces more fresh plums than your family can consume? One solution is drying plums in the oven or a food dehydrator to make prunes.

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