Some people have lots of trees on the forum and this got me to wondering what they do with all their figs that they harvest. I know a lot of the trees bear at different times but a lot bear at the same time also. Since figs don't keep long in the fridge and one can only use so much jam and fig cake and cookies ect. What is done with the most of your crop for those that have bushels on hand.

  I plan when and if I get any fruit to dry the majority of mine as I'm the only one in my family that loves them. I mainly love the growing aspect of an fig orchard, something unusual and different from most peoples fruit trees around here anyway. I like the fig preserves. I got a jar from Kroger the other day made from Kadota figs it said on the jar, but I believe I would like the darker fig preserves. Can anybody tell me a good brand and where to get them. Lots of different kinds on Amazon some pricey some not.  I found some dried Mission fig at the Dollar Tree for a buck that had a web site and I looked at it in Calif. and on line they sell them for $3.99 for 4 oz bag. Big mark up on line I bought 16 packs Sat. Guess I'm a Fig Pig now! Calif. Fig Growers I believe who makes them. They are tasty but have a lot of added sugar. Somebody tell me how they dry their figs and if they add sugar and how long does they dry them and how. I looked on the net but was pretty generic I thought.

I have read that some growers make pickles from their unripened, end-of-season, green figs. 


Frank

You are in zone 6,so your climatic conditions are not ,ideal or proper to grow fig trees.
so in some years you have a lots of fruits ,from one cultivar(as an example),and other you only have a few fruits because the Summer was not long or not hot enough ,or it was raining and most fruits spoiled.
if you have a lot of cultivars, some early ripening some middle season, and some late ripening,then when one is damaged by climate others are ok ,because they were not at ripening stage when the rain and cold came so, you have a harvest every year.!
That is why in adverse climatic conditions, one have to grow a dozen of cultivars to insure harvest every year.

tnsigger,

If one year you find yourself with more figs than you can consume, dry them using a commercial dehydrator or an improvised sun dehydrator as i do (the air enters in the bottom of the structure, its heated by the sun because of the black plastic in the bottom and circulates through the trays of figs drying them).
No need to add anything to the figs. They dehydrate, concentrate sugars (that's why some very sweet varieties taste even sweeter) and can be kept on glass jars several months (even more than one year) without any problems. I have figs that where dried in 2013 and they are still good.

This year i had a good crop of my Figo Preto de Torres Novas and Moscatel Branco. About one week in the dehydrator and they are ok - they have to loose about 70-75% of their weight. Usually, by compression, you can feel if they have dried enough. The time taken to dry them varies with the sun intensity - the majority of commercial dehydrators can dry fruit in less than half a day.
Now, a couple of months since the last fig was on the tree, they taste even better.
And if you couple them with some walnuts they are very hard to beat. 

Some photos of the Dehydrator and of the drying process:
           

Any dehydrator will work.  I cut my figs in half which speeds the drying time.  You can also share extras with friends.

My favorite store bought fig preserve is Bonne Maman.  They have the best tasting one that has figs as the first ingredient.

Meg, in your zone all or almost all figs will do very well unless you're on the ocean and it's very cool.  Even then most figs will do fine.  Herman2 is talking about z7 and colder.

Hmmm.  It's going to take a LOT of figs for me to have extra but a lady friend of mine makes the most excellent fig sauce and is probably what I will learn to do some day. 

Please be sure to post the recipe.  You might even get a jar in gratitude from those who make it  :)

I don't know but I hope to find out!!!

For some reason the question of what to do with all those figs continually brings this video clip to mind.

The person that initiated this topic lives in West Tn Zone 6,so I was talking about this person,in zone 6 and ,how the climate is not ideal for growing figs every year.!
Of course I also live in zone 6,and not every cultivar is successful ,in ripening a lot of fruits every year,here.
If it was ,i wouldn't,have had, to grow and trial about ,over 100 cultivars (at least),till now to end up with about 20 that really can ripe here close to year after year.

Edit note:When I get a bountiful harvest(It did not happen the last 2 years),I make fig Jam from the fruits.
Otherwise in difficult years ,I do get fresh ripe fruits,all Summer but not in large quantities,so they are eaten fresh ,by my extended family,of 5.

>>Do you have a plan that you used to make your dehydrator? 

I'm not sure if you are asking tnsigger or me, but if you are asking for the plans of my dehydrator i followed a video i found in Youtube - it's in spanish, but it's very well illustrated and easy to follow
[video]

I sell them as tree 2 years later.  I sell figs to the resturants.  I make fig jam.  I make fig chutney.  Some of my customers order it by the case.  I also dehydrate a bunch.  When I dehydrate mine, I don't let them get completely dry and I don't add anything to them.  I just cut them in half and place them inside my dehydrator.  I like them half dry.  If I make a bunch, I will vaccum pack them and freeze them.

Thanks for the info, Dennis.

In the first years i did that mistake and i dried them too much. Now, i left them much more flexible and they seem to keep just as well. I also don't add nothing to them. I never tried to freeze them...
My wife does a wonderful fig jam using roughly half of the sugar quantities mentioned in the usual jam recipes.

Do you use a commercial dehydrator? If so, can you tell us the brand?

I make and sell fig jam. I use enough lemon juice to get pH 4.6, and you do need some sugar so that the preserves are safe (sugar reduces the "available water" -something that can be measured- for growth of contaminants). I use Brown Turkey and the preserves taste honeyed (but it's just the figs). I also make and sell fig tarts on pâté sucrée with marscapone cream. It's a good two weeks of tart making; I sell them for $15 each. You can wash and freeze figs destined for preserve-making; this helps you manage a bumper crop. Family loves fig pizza, and the club where my son was cook bought some just for that purpose.

Wow this all sounds so amazing.  It is interesting to hear of the abundance when you are just starting out with your little figgy orchard.  I have a favorite little cafe up Oak Creek Canyon here in AZ that makes the most amazing sandwich of fig jam, brie cheese, arugula and bacon melted on sourdough bread.  The ultimate bacon, brie and fig grilled cheese.  Happy figging all, Jodi

Wish list:
Anything that would do well in AZ zone 7.
Along with italian 258, figo preto and smith plants preferred.  ;-)