Drying Figs

Q: I have an electric dehydrator, which has about 5 trays. The instruction book did not list figs, so I went by the recipe for grapes, which was to do a hot water bath to break down the skin, then half them and dry with skin side down. It must have worked because they are really good! Do I need to freeze them?

A: Good that you have a dehydrator. My mother does a similar thing to you. She pours boiling water over them in a pan and lets them soak for five minutes. Then she removes them and pats them dry. She halves them and puts them on the drying racks skin side down. She notes that spraying the rack beforehand with cooking spray keeps the figs from sticking. She dries them until they are pliable but not hard. She stores them in sterile glass jars under no refrigeration and enjoys her crop well through winter.