I was at my best friend Jillian’s store, Maxwell Dog, when I came up with this idea. Instead of giving out dog biscuits to visiting “customers,” they give them dehydrated sweet potatoes to gnaw on. She gave one to Kenya and he spent a good hour teething on it. He loved it and I knew somehow it comforted him.
I do realize that most people don’t have dehydrators, so if you don’t you can try this on the lowest setting of your oven, but it won’t be exactly the same.
I put every fruit and vegetable I could find in it over night. It was like a science project. Let me tell you, though, avocados are down right nasty dehydrated. On the other hand kiwis and cucumbers were delicious. Below is a list of my favorite, but feel free to try different produce to see what your little angel will love.
I cut everything lengthwise so baby had a big piece to gnaw on for a long time.
Fruit and Vegetable Teethers
Ingredients
- bananas
- kiwis
- strawberries
- watermelon
- sweet potatoes
- cucumbers
Instructions
- Set dehydrator to 135 degrees.
- Slice fruit and vegetables into slices about 1/8 inch thick or smaller, lengthwise.
- Place on trays and put into dehydrator (cooking time will vary, so check the dehydrator every few hours).
- Serve.
I tried to dehydrate some really good home grown sweet potatoes and they tasted like cardboard. Do you cook yours first?
We have tried drying bananas before in our dehydrator but after DAYS in there they are still sticky and not entirely dry, but we did raisins and they turned to little stones. any ideas? Ours is pretty basic, you just plug it in, no temp settings or anything.
What should the texture be like when they are finished? mainly the bananas and kiwi… I did mine, and they are hard but still flexable.
What age would you suggest this for? My son is just 6 months… would this be okay for him? I love the idea! I’m always looking for safe teethers for him.