Food drying - Dehydrators (merged)

ceridwen

Pitlanepiglet wrote: »

Thanks all, I've found loads of stuff on You Tube and I think I'm convinced.

I was going to get the 9 tray Excalibur, space isn't a huge issue for us and presumably the footprint is the same as the 5 tray, it's just taller?

Just need to wait to see what happens job wise in the next couple of days. If I'm going to be home then I'm definitely going to get one (I work away all week at the moment and don't have the energy to do too much when I'm home at weekends) but we'll need to be much more frugal if I have no job.

Hubby is pretty keen on the concept as well which is good news, we both hate the fact that we're running too many freezers but we can never find what we're looking for and struggle to use the gluts of food in season.

Can't help on the carrot cake Ceridwen, I'll have a look out on my surfing travels.

Cant recall the measurements now of the 5 tray and 9 tray respectively...

From memory - the 9 tray one is certainly taller. Hence one of the reasons I stuck to the 5 tray one - as the 9 tray one wouldnt fit on my worksurface underneath the wall cupboards.

Also the 9 tray one uses more electric.

I would say that the 5 tray one would suit the needs of all except the largest households and/or those with loads of allotment space (hence - vast amounts of produce). But actually who would want that vast an amount of produce? One CAN only eat SO much....as I have to keep reminding myself and checking on myself whether I have so much of something that I had better offload the surplus to a good home in someone else's kitchen..

In my mind - reasons I think its an advantage to store food in dry form (rather than in the freezer) is it takes up less space and it doesnt matter if there is a powercut (less freezer food that I am concerned might defrost).

I would say that its worth buying the accompanying dehydrator book as well - some firms throw the book in included in the price, some dont. Mine didnt and I bought it subsequently. Also worth buying those "sheets" one uses for wetter products - eg in making fruit leathers.

savvy

Pitlanepiglet wrote: »

I wondered how many people are still making good use of their dehydrators now and whether they would recommend one?

OOO yeah, this weekend I made raw ice cream cones/wafers in mine and a fruit leather (banana/apple/cinnamon) that tasted just like toffee apples, so I chopped it into tiny bits to have as sprinkles on my friends raw ice cream.......divine!

ceridwen wrote: »

Has anyone got a recipe for carrot cake using dried carrots please? (and in my case - I use other things than sugar for sweetening - so I'd need to be able to swop the sugar for honey or something else healthy...):)

Can't help with the carrots, but healthier alternative sweetners can be;

Agave Nectar
Lucuma Powder
Fruit eg. dates, apples, bananas, mango powder
Carrots
Vanilla
Mesquite Powder
Stevia
Yacon root
Brown rice syrup
Xylitol
Date syrup

Finefoot

I have given in to temptation, just ordered mine....

antsea

I'm sorry I don't have time to go through the whole thread, but if you don't know it's possible to make your own dehydrator very easily with a cardboard box and high watt bulb. Instructions here.

It's mostly for meat, but he describes how to use it for fruit, so might be a low cost way to get your toe in the water.

savvy

Finefoot wrote: »

I have given in to temptation, just ordered mine....

LMAO there was no fight there at all was there Have fun with it when it comes

mambury

savvy wrote: »

LMAO there was no fight there at all was there Have fun with it when it comes

haha... me too!! Only the cheapie one from Westfalia, but good reports from this thread!

THe kids LOVE dried fruit (as do I!) and plenty of produce from the garden..... I shall be popping back here for advice when it arrives...

Now, how do I hide it from the OH??? He just wouldn't understand....

ceridwen

Does anyone dry potatoes - and, if so, how?

I tried the method in a dehydrator cookbook of slicing thinly, a few minutes blanching in an electric steamer and then drying.

YUK!

Not very nice smell while they were doing - very earthy! and they've come out somewhat darkened and dont look very tempting somehow...

So - wondering what other peoples experiences are of drying potatoes - either cooked or uncooked in advance.

Pitlanepiglet

Ceridwen, did you solve your potato drying problem?

My Excalibur arrived today, I haven't managed to use it today but will find it a home and try dehydrating some apples tomorrow, possible with some lemons and then followed with some of the cheap Lidl onions I bought last week.

ceridwen

Pitlanepiglet wrote: »

Ceridwen, did you solve your potato drying problem?

My Excalibur arrived today, I haven't managed to use it today but will find it a home and try dehydrating some apples tomorrow, possible with some lemons and then followed with some of the cheap Lidl onions I bought last week.

Nope...I didnt. I suspect that potatoes are one thing I wont be trying to dry again somehow..

Oh well...got loads of dried apple bits and some fruit leathers I've been doing recently.

Planning on trying that carrot muffin recipe I was given above at some point soon - gave it a trial run with some fresh carrot I've got to use up and they were fine (and actually rose as well - which is more than I can say for some muffin recipes I've tried....). So - the dried carrot version is on the agenda soon..

Gather dehydrators are pretty good for drying mushrooms as well - so another experiment coming up there...

I havent tried drying lemons yet...I think next time I come across a large bag of limes going cheaply I must have an experiment with that. I believe one can blitz dried lemons or limes into a sorta "citrus dust" that is good for flavouring various things. As I'm very partial to citrusy flavours of all descriptions - then that will probably be a nice one for me.

Pitlanepiglet

Well ours is on and packed with apples, good job too as it's really windy here today and the apple tree is shedding apples like you've never seen - I think the dehydrator is going to be working overtime!

I wondered what others did to slice apples? We don't have a corer so we're cutting them into quarters to core them, it's going to take hours to slice them all by hand so we put the first lot through the slicer on the food processor, it slices a little more thinly than I'd have liked and the slices aren't pretty but hopefully they will do the job perfectly fine. I'd be interested in what others do?