Looking for the Best Dried Blueberry

May 27, 2009 9:09 AM

Kirkland Dried Blueberries are far larger and plumper than any other dried blueberries I've ever seen, akin to a ball bearings, but they're sweetened. Can I find get an unsweetened dried blueberry like that, or is the process that makes them sickly sweet also what makes them so much larger than usual?
posted by boombot to Food & Drink (3 answers total)

Best answer: It is the sugar that makes them larger/softer. In the case of pretreating with a sugar syrup, this is called syrup blanching, and it's common in lots of dried fruits. I don't think you'll be able to find unsweetened ones that have the same texture. You might try drying your own, to see if you can stop the drying process at a point where they are still somewhat chewy. If you do this, you should probably store them in the refrigerator since they would still be fairly moist.
posted by cabingirl at 10:21 AM on May 27, 2009

When fruits are dried, they tend to be sweeter, because the sugar in them is now concentrated. Or maybe I should ask, does the package say they're sweetened? As for the size, they may be a large variety. I've seen very small ones as well as large ones.
posted by Taurid at 10:26 AM on May 27, 2009

I'm diabetic and really like the no-sugar-added dried fruits from justtomatoes.com. I put 8 or 10 of their cranberries on cereal and they flavor the whole bowl.

The cranberries are crispy and crumbly, so the blueberries should be the same. As cabingirl says, you can't get them soft (like raisins) without adding sugar.
posted by KRS at 12:28 PM on May 27, 2009 [1 favorite]