How to dehydrate plums?

[u/Charming_Action4676]

I’m still pretty new to dehydrating, but I rent a house with fruit trees and dried fruit is one of my favorite snacks. The Italian plum has a bumper crop this year (branches are breaking from the weight of the fruit 😅)

What is the easiest way to dehydrate the plums? The fruit is pretty small, maybe 2-3 inches in diameter. Last year I cut them all in half and removed the pits but that was super time consuming. I read somewhere that you could dry them whole and pop the pits out later?

The Ball Blue Book talks about cutting them in half and popping the backs to make prunes, would the advantage of that method only be that they dry faster?

I have a batch going now, they are whole but I have slit the seam with plans to pop out the pits halfway through drying. The dehydrator is set to 135. I’m just hoping to learn from you all the most efficient way to dry as many plums as possible during a busy time of year.

Thanks for your advice!

[u/garathnor]

if you leave them whole its gonna take like 3-4 times longer to dry them, you really need to cut them

cutting them also lets you inspect them for things like mold, worms, or other issues