Our neighbor got us hooked on apple chips! He told us the most important secret for making deliciously sweet and crisp dehydrated apples – what kind of apple to use!

Always use Jonagold Apples for apple chips! The difference is amazing!!!

Finding an Orchard

We called ahead to find a good, local apple farm with Jonagold apples. We found a locally owned farm and took the kids to pick apples. Facebook was the best tool I found on locating a seasonal orchard nearby.

Tools of the Trade:

An AppleMate is key for dehydrating apples. It’s really worth the money because of the time you save. They’re not expensive – about $20.

We preferred to anchor a cutting board underneath the apple area. But newspaper would work too for mess.

Here is a short video to show you how the Applemate works:

Load the Apples in the Dehydrator

Be sure to leave some room, don’t overlap too much! Where you overlap won’t get as crispy. They will take about 24 hours on 75% heat. We turned our dehydrator all the way up for one batch and it was alright as long as we kept an eye on it.

I’d show you photos of the finished product, but they are eaten as fast as we make them! I can’t keep up!

The chickens really love eating the peels too!