How to Dehydrate Apples

Well it is that time of year, when there is plenty of food to be had, more than plenty in  my case and some of it needs to be preserved. My family has been canning, freezing, and dehydrating lots of food. Today I'm focusing on dehydrating apples, because I keep getting them by the bushel from the apple trees out back.

I use a food dehydrator to dehydrate my apples, my grandfather still uses the sunlight and screen method. Kinda like this one from Blindguru.com:

I just feel like using the dehydrator is a little quicker and I don't have to rely on sunny weather. So if you are interested in dehydrating your apples, here is the method I use:

I peeled, cored, and sliced my apples (no thicker than 1/4", but I try to do them as thin as I can)
I soaked my apples in a mixture of 1/4 cup pineapple juice and 1 cup water.
I then placed my apples in the dehydrator being sure not to overlap them.  
Dry them 6 to 12 hours until they are pliable.

Now, for those of you who are new at dehydrating, here are a few tips on storing your dehydrated foods:

Wait for your dried food to be completely cool to the touch before you store it.
With apples, they will need to be conditioned before you can store them, as with other fruits. To do this you will need to put your apples into a jar, being sure they are very loosely packed. Shake once a day for 7 to 10 days to be sure that remaining moisture is evenly distributed. If you see any condensation on the jar then your fruit needs to be returned to the dehydrator.
Once the conditioning period is up and your apples are ready to go, then you can store them air tight containers or freezer bags.
I prefer to store them in small pint size canning jars, storing in small batches also helps to maximize freshness and keep down cross contamination.

Hope all this info helps you out in your dehydrating endeavors!