Food drying - Dehydrators (merged)

D&DD

dogstarheaven wrote: »

i'll try and find the books in the library first. atm, i've spent some of my wages already and my bills are yet to be paid!!

There are loads of free recipes online too to get started on they'll keep you busy lol.
You don't really need a book as normally the instructions are quite comprehensive I'm just a cookbook addict
If you search/ google for raw foods and backpacking/trail food it brings up quite a few as well.

I've done a full machine of tomatoes today which have been building up in the fridge,sighed with relief that they were finally done and when I went into the garden to finish off picking 'the last few' I've got double that to do again tomorrow :rotfl:

Ken68

Any air tight container will do. Sweet containers are mainly for bulk keeping. Of course I show visitors the expensive Kilners etc.:-))))
Pears are drying funny, still soft however thinly cut, and sugary. And they are not ripening off the tree at the same time and also they don't respond to the apple peeler machine.
Any thoughts from other readers on this?

D&DD

Ken the ones I've been doing on the peeler have been conference and a short fat variety (I have no idea what it is)from the common.If they are hard they go through better.
I tend to do my pears when still quite firm,and soak in a lemon juice solution.
Have you tried leathers yet? Might be an idea if yours are softer.Pear and blueberry is lovely

I also used my apple segmenter thingy when I bottled some and this did the slices reasonable thin due to the shape of them.

Today I have yet more tomatoes in my diddy one and a few peppers but think I'll need to do a third load tomorrow.

Sunnyday

dogstarheaven wrote: »

Sunnyday:

i've noticed that a lot of ppl are using the Mary Bell's book. Is that worth getting, I wonder? re. the cooking times, i shall use the stated times and see how they turn out. Got my email back from UKJuicers and they've confirmed that they're out of the black version and are awaiting another delivery next week. Grr! My apples that i've just foraged (5kg) will somehow have to keep till then!!

re. the uniformity of the food. I forgot about using my Magimix for that - doh!

This site has some recipes for using dehydrated food http://www.dehydrate2store.com/recipes/

There is also a chart here in case you mislay the book that comes with the excalibur http://www.excaliburdehydrator.com/article.php?action=view&article_id=23&return_url=YXJ0aWNsZS5waHA/X3JlcXVlc3Q9WVRvd09udDk=

Potato info and recipes are here http://www.realfood4realpeople.com/potatoes.html

On the excalibur website there are lots of ideas and recipes, i`ve never really considered buying a book tbh as there is so much info and lots of ideas on the web - that said i may buy in the future as i do like books

So far all the veg etc that i`ve dehydrated has been used afterwards in the slowcooker as its an ideal way to rehydrate it and cook it at the same time. Fruit has been things like berries added to yogurt, i often add this to hm yogurt the night before taking it to work and its lovely, apple slices i eat as they are - bit chewy but i like them

If anyone has any tried and tested recipes i`d be interested as i`m always up for new ideas.

HTH

SD

D&DD

Sunny this has some good suggestions for leather combinations *ohh that sounds a bit risque* :D
http://www.howtogardenadvice.com/harvesting/how_to_make_fruit_leather.html

Tomatoes have finished and I've pulled the onions I had interplanted in the front garden between the calendulas today so they'll be going in tomorrow,OH has a day off so he'll be pleased :rotfl:they are a bit stinky!

Need to make some more treats for Rosie as she's scoffed the last lot of chicken and sweet potato.

Dogstar any luck??

Sunnyday

D&#8517 wrote: »

Sunny this has some good suggestions for leather combinations *ohh that sounds a bit risque* :D
http://www.howtogardenadvice.com/harvesting/how_to_make_fruit_leather.html

:rotfl::rotfl: lol it does sound a bit "oo er mrs"

Thanks for posting that link i`ve just bookmarked it for later, i`ve had a quick peek and the leather recipes were making me feel hungry lol. i bought the paraflex sheet ages ago and i`ve never used it

When i`ve finally worked my way through all these tomatoes i`ll be trying some, thats providing i don`t wear the dehydrator out as its been working overtime lately and now that the pointy peppers and chillies are ripening there`s a lot more work ahead :eek:

SD

dogstarheaven

d&dd + sunnyday -

do you both use an apple peeling machine, if so, what's the best one to buy (and where?) will it do other shapes of fruit/veg like pears etc.,

ps. burnt the bottom of my jam pan and i've tried to dissolve it using bicarb in it in hot water twice, but it still isn't coming off. is there another way that i can try?

TeresaO

hope you don't mind me butting in.. have you tried vinegar or lemon juice and heat it gently?

re the peeler core-er we bought one from Lakeland a few years ago and it was a bit rubbish ended up ordering one off the net, it was heavier duty and still in action! Invaluable when dehydrating apples.

hope you find what ur looking for,

T

dogstarheaven

Hey teresaO
thanks for the tip about the vinegar/lemon treatment. I shall have to try that out.
Do you know the brand of peeler/corer that I check it out please?
thanks so much

D&DD

DS try soaking overnight with a bit of biological washing powder and warm water DS3 is always cremating stuff while doing his 'cheffing' and that usually works

Teresa did you get one from Ebay? Mine is from Lakelands but I've been lucky with it it seems really sturdy whereas my mum broke hers nearly straight away but her replacement (free of charge by lakeland) one has been fine,wonder if they are better ones??

I use mainly the peeler from lakeland but I sometimes use the corer/segmenter thingy depends how dodgy the apples are,perfect shapes and fresh are best on the machine dodgy ones are best on the segment thingy.

Don't forget to save the peelings and dry for use as flavouring powders

http://www.backpackingchef.com/food-dehydrator-recipes.html