The are some of my Celeste figs I am dehydrating.  It is a lot less trouble than canning and I enjoy the dried figs more than the canned ones.

Looks easy enough, do they stick to the tray? 

Charlie, they don't stick if you place them facing up.  I slice them in half and set the skin side on the tray

  ohhh Charley, how you will love these in winter,  if you dont eat them all now testing to see when they're dry .   

Charlie, how long does it usually take to get good results using your dehydrator?

Frank, I have been leaving them in for 16 hours at 135 degrees.  They come out pretty dry but still chewy.

That is exactly what I have been wanting to know. Now I can put it in production mode. Thanks Chapman.

You've got me drooling! I've been looking at canning recipes online and they all look great, but your post reminded me that I much prefer dried figs to canned ones.

I have been stalking dehydrators for several months now. There are soo many choices. I am right on the edge about pulling the trigger on a Nesco FD-80, square shaped one. But since my trees are still small I don't know if I would really use one this year. But looking at your pic reminds me that even if I only dry a few trays I would be happier than if I had canned those same figs considering all that syrup.

Gene, I was looking at buying another one.  It looks like some don't have adjustable temperatures which I think I need.  Mine is a Nesco American Harvest with temp settings.  It has 4 trays and I just ordered 2 more trays off Ebay to add on to it.  Hopefully it will still work good with 2 more trays added.

If you leave them whole, it becomes a pain, the weight from the tray above with squish them and they leak out honey making a mess, taste good though.

Looks like I have a new project.

These are the same figs after 12 hours at 135 degrees.

I have this same dehydrator.  When I wanted to expand I got a used one from ebay.  I got four extra trays and now have a spare bottom.  Works great and I have had mine for over twenty years.

Chapman - do you cook with your dried figs or just snack on them? I just dehydrated a bunch, too, but I don't have any cooking recipes. I guess may you could add them to a roast pork or something?

Fig bread is really good with goat or sheep cheese, it's not really a bread though, something you would spread or slice on bread.

Arne, I have been eating them as snacks, in salads and I like to put 7 or 8 in a bowl of oatmeal before I microwave it.  I'm sure you could do a lot of things with them.

I'm drying them too. I find that if I squeeze them a bit to flatten them a little before slicing them, they're a more uniform thickness and dry more evenly.

Ken, do you think they need a certain dryness to preserve them or does it mater how dry you get them?  I store mine in the fridge and freezer to avoid mold problems.

That's was what I wanted to know too - how do you all store them once they are dehydrated?

I dry a lot of fruit (peaches, apples, apricots, figs, cherries, nectarines ..) so I got myself an excalibur dehydrator.  It is a real workhorse with stainless steel trays.  Have had it for over 10 years.

My problem was getting them too dry since then they are tough to chew.  Still great in recipes though and they contain omega-3 when dried (although this may only be true of the Smyrna figs with seeds).

Now I also freeze a whole bunch.  I fill up my floor chest freezer with frozen figs and other frozen fruit and veggies.

I  just put the whole figs on a cookie tray, let them freeze overnight and then put in zip plastic bags and store in the freezer.
I find I eat more frozen figs then dry ones, use them in smoothies and recipes. 

If you make a simple syrup with ripe figs or frozen then roll them in crepes they are delicious.

Fig crepes sounds delicious!

Chapman, how many watts is your dehydrator?

Pino, do  your frozen figs get really watery when thawed? I freeze lots of berries, but when I tried figs last year they were not so good thawed. They were watery and some even molded within hours of thawing. Any suggestions on how you do yours would be appreciated.

Gene, I believe it is a Nesco FD-60 which shows 500 watts when I look it up on the internet.   Mine doesn't show the model or watts on it, but the FD-60 looks just like mine.