Food drying - Dehydrators (merged)

[Deleted User]

I made a most gorgeous casserole today, using chicken breast, hm wine and lots of dehydrated home grown veg and herbs. It was really lovely and much much nicer than I anticipated. This has got to be the first real use of the dehydrated veggies this year and has made me so determined to carry on next summer. Dehydrated parsnips were lovely, not too sweet as they hadn`t been frosted and the sliced charlotte potatoes were hugely successful, remaining waxy ad not breaking up. I had a production line going last year as I have quite a big steamer (cuisinart) so I steamed to blanch and didn`t cool as they were going into the dehydrator straight away. The dehydrated runner beans were also surprisingly nice. The dehydrated veggies absorbed the white wine and it all added to the overall taste. We had the casserole with hm marrow and apple chutney and I must say that there was a real feelgood factor today. Makes it all very worth while

Ken68

Yes Kittie nice to use your own stuff. Did runners, toms, peppers and grabbed a mushroom bargain.
And apples rings, plums (all gone) and looking forward this year to cherry time.

Sunnyday

Kittie - nice to hear that everything has been a big success, i`ve been making regular use of my slowcooker with lots of the dehydrated garden produce from last year and its been lovely.

SD

mardatha

Question for you dehydrators I always wanted one but I dont get whoopsies - don't hit the shops at the right time for them, so thought there was no point. But I might ask for one for a (very very early lol) xmas or birthday...
I wanted to ask if the flavour is good with DH veg ? I was thinking I could buy cheap basics carrots and onion - dry them and use in soups all winter.
When we get cut off with bad weather thats the only thing we run out of really is fresh veg for soup -and we like soup.Do you think it would be good in soups ?

katieowl_2

I would have thought that it would be perfect for soup Mardatha?

After all those packet soups are all dried veg!

Kate

mardatha

Yea Owl, and your own home made would be so much better than bought stuff. I will look into this. I can tell the RV that you lot nagged me to get it...
Yud be surprised what I blame you lot for !

thriftwizard

Mardatha, sometimes dehydrating actually intensifies the flavour, like it does with herbs. It's a really good investment IMHO; you can deal with garden gluts or take advantage of really good deals & keep them for times when you really need them.

ernie-money

Hi all,
I've read this thread with interest, as I'm thinking about buying a dehydrator. Unfortunately I can't quite stretch to an Excalibur, but was instead looking at a slightly more economical Stockli one.
Is there anything in particular I should consider? Do you have any advice or opinions please? For instance, I noticed mentioning of the paraflex sheets for the Excalibur, but they don't seem to be available for the Stockli - do I need them? (I would want to make fruit leathers)
Would really appreciate your input, many thanks!

Angelina-M

ernie-money wrote: »

Hi all,
I've read this thread with interest, as I'm thinking about buying a dehydrator. Unfortunately I can't quite stretch to an Excalibur, but was instead looking at a slightly more economical Stockli one.
Is there anything in particular I should consider? Do you have any advice or opinions please? For instance, I noticed mentioning of the paraflex sheets for the Excalibur, but they don't seem to be available for the Stockli - do I need them? (I would want to make fruit leathers)
Would really appreciate your input, many thanks!

I just wanted to say that I started off with a cheap round type dehydrator but never got results like they show on the youtube vids. I then saved and purchased an Excalibur and the difference is like night and day.
If I had to do it again, I would have not bought the cheaper one and just waited until I could get the Excalibur. It is brilliant!

budgetboo

Woo hoo! I got a dehydrator at the weekend from the flea market for a fiver after YEARS of popping one unsuccessfully on my birthday/Xmas wishlists.

Have found the online manual so am now good to go :j

So happy I just had to "share" with others who would appreciate my joy.

Any hints, tips etc to aid my initial experiments gratefully accepted. I'm gonna be drying summer surplus fruit and veg this year, as a change from chutneys etc. I'll also be making snacks for my lad's lunchboxes to start with methinks.

Would love to hear of other's experiences in the world of dehydrated foods.