How To Make Citrus Ornaments

  in Blog

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

  1. Slice oranges, lemons, Meyer lemons, limes, tangerines, blood oranges, and/or grapefruits into 1/4 inch thick slices. Carefully remove the seeds.
  2. Place citrus fruit wheels on a dehydrator mesh sheets.
  3. 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

  1. Preheat oven to 170°F.
  2. Slice citrus fruit into 1/4 inch thick slices and remove the seeds.
  3. 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.
  4. When done they should be completely dry. Let cool completely.