Food drying - Dehydrators (merged)

Ken68

Guess ,P,M..that melon would be like pineapple, I slice across. Rings but with a large centre.
Lot of fruit there, worthy of a Excal. Arconite's Andrew James unit would be a lot cheaper to run, and handy for small gluts.

Gettingtherequickly

I am contemplating buying a food drier so fresh fruit can be dried while in season, however, how would I store it? I live in a bright flat and have no outside storage usage (would probably be nicked anyway!)

kittycat204

This should help, and keep you busy for a while.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/139707

[Deleted User]

I haven`t done a lot of dehydrating yet this year but have finished the herbs. It is such a bad growing season and blight is going to happen, so I have decided to start dehydrating potatoes as from next week. They were very very good preserved like this and I used them from january to may, which is when the first earlies kicked in. I wash and slice them and steam for a few minutes, then they go straight onto the preserving trays. When cooked they actually retained their lovely texture and kept very well indeed. It`s all about preserving what is in the ground before they get ruined

I have a lovely crop of santero onions that I was very much hoping to keep and dry but I have tried this with some of my shallots and used some yesterday, which already had some mould on them. Looks as though I will be dehydrating more onions then

I have to get my backside in gear re fruit as pineapples were on the cheap side last week. I may get several in next week and dry them, silly not to

edit: re tomatoes, I did an experimental drying last autumn and the result is still crispy and fragrant, so it works very well for tomatoes. I took out all the seeds and I might have skinned them but cannot remember. Excuse me if I am repeating myself but whatever I dry, I turn the excalibur to low overnight to finish anything off and everything done like that is remaining in good condition and I cool and pack in the morning

also all root veggies from the allotment dried brilliantly and were very useful in casseroles and soups, as were marrow slices and even green beans and sliced garlic cloves

Am growing a lot of celery this year and it is doing very well indeed. I intend to dry most of it.

Sunnyday

Purple Munchkin - When i dried the tomatoes i sliced them thinly - left the seeds in and the skin on and they were good, i think only halving them would make them too big to dehydrate quickly unless of course they are cherry toms

Arkonite Babe - When i was looking about dehydrators a couple of years ago i couldn't make my mind up at all and left it for months before i came back and decided on the excalibur. I didn't want to be bothered with rotating the trays as i just let the machine run overnight when i'm in bed and where things have to be sliced thinly not very much can fit into a smaller one at the same time so it would be on more using more electricity. In the end i waited until my pot had enough cash in and went for the excalibur and i do really think that i made the right decision.

HTH

SD

Ken68

My first glut this year coming up. Gooseberries, though say goosegogs. Not sure how they will do, maybe fully ripe, cut in half.
Always frozen them so far.
Otherwise not many cherries, less plums and apples this year at home so will have to forage.
Fortunate to have a 70acre reserve nearby, and some common land. Like your idea of drying taters Kittie.
Sort of crisps without the salt and fat.
Lidl are selling nectarines and peaches. £1.32 for 10 (1kg), so tempted.

[Deleted User]

needs must just now Ken, dreaded blight. I slice on the mandolin, thickest setting, steam for 4 mins and then straight into dehydrator. I couldn`t keep all my potatoes without it, they would rot. Also am dehydrating more onions right now

Dire locally for the crop growers

[Deleted User]

I am on my 4th day of non stop dehydrating. I should have had the 9 trays of onions on 145 degrees and only had them on 125, so they took longer. I did a full tray of beetroot, new to me, cooked, peeled and sliced and dehydrated for 12 hours at 125 plus, so far, 26 trays of potatoes, which will take 8 to 10 hours. Am managing to keep charlotte and kestrel separated as charlotte slices were lovely and waxy when re constituted. Am keeping the small window open as there is a lot of humidity due to potatoes being steamed for 5 mins prior to dehydrating. Thank goodness for my trusty 11 year old magimix steamer, its big, powerful and metal and just keeps going. 125 is standard for veg by the way, 145 is just for onions

I have had a tremendous crop of both potatoes, didn`t expect so many from only 2 4` x 8` beds and the spuds are 100% perfect condition. The beetroot slices will be a great nibble or in food, so will let my other beetroots grow larger

Next will be marrow as that was very good in casseroles. Two days should see my first good size marrow, which I will pick and store for a week or so as another will be ready then. Courgettes also, they were very good in lasagne and the like

I am buying carrots today as the home crop isn`t big enough. Didn`t dry them last year and missed them over winter. I still have 2 year old dehydrated porcini but will probably dry more brown mushrooms to add to dishes

Everything is keeping fantastically well in genuine lock and lock boxes and I have ordered some more. The cheapest I could find are from spices of India. I have ordered 1.6 l, 2.2l and 3.9l. They will all stack nicely on purpose built shelves under the stairs until I need them in the kitchen

Ken, dried fruit is tempting for winter, no additives either. I`ll be thinking about it when veg drying is not so manic

Ken68

Just got back from cherry hunting. Nowt.
Will make up this year with blackberries, sloes and elderberries.
I grow Charlotte, Kittie, lovely tater. Will give it a go.
I like the enhanced flavour from drying, and stuff like apple rings very snacky.
Leeks grow OK here, they freeze well, and I use them like onions,and they stay in the ground all winter.
No rain here for two whole days.

[Deleted User]

blimey the lock and lock boxes arrived this morning. Flipping good service

re cherries, I saw lots of birds very quickly strip a big cherry tree by us, they got in as soon as the fruit was rip and were at it for a few days. They never left one

agree re charlotte, such a lovely spud and gets quite big if left. I imagine that the dried potatoes would end up like snacking crisps if steamed longer

Tbh I feel very secure now that the onions and spuds are done for winter, we have enough to last a long time now. I have leeks in the ground but am not counting chickens as moth is rampant here, all under environmesh though. Rust was also a problem on site last year. I am hoping the celery keeps going as it will be such a useful dried food