Sliced, dried citrus rounds make beautiful, natural holiday ornaments and are relatively easy to make. They are especially lovely when the light shines through them. When they’re done, simply poke a small hole into them and thread some twine or string through the hole, tie it off, and you’re done. Here’s how to make them using a dehydrator or your oven.
In the dehydrator
- Slice oranges, lemons, Meyer lemons, limes, tangerines, blood oranges, and/or grapefruits into 1/4 inch thick slices. Carefully remove the seeds.
- Place citrus fruit wheels on a dehydrator mesh sheets.
- Dry at 135°F for 4-8 hours until crisp. You want the slices to be firm and dry to touch without any stickiness. You may have to dry longer if the fruit has a higher moisture content. Check periodically for dryness. Let cool completely.
In the oven
- Preheat oven to 170°F.
- Slice citrus fruit into 1/4 inch thick slices and remove the seeds.
- Lay slices onto cooling racks and place each cooling rack onto a baking sheet. Smaller fruits like lemons will take less time than grapefruit slices. Lemons and limes may take 4-5 hours. Oranges and tangerines may take 6 hours, and grapefruit slices may take 8 or more hours. Flipping them every so often will help them dry more quickly. Check slices after 3 hours.
- When done they should be completely dry. Let cool completely.
