Food drying - Dehydrators (merged)

D&DD

I use some of the veg eg peppers(sliced) onions(chopped)tomatoes(powdered for puree) and mushrooms (sliced) to make a pizza.I reconstitute in a little boiling water and they come up just like fresh but obviously soft like they're cooked.This doesn't matter as they're cooked on the pizza.
Dried courgettes/mushrooms etc are added on top of/into a quiche as they are then reconstitute as they are baked.

I chuck a handful of dried toms in with a chicken breast,basil(fresh or dried),garlic and blitz to a paste and make chicken sausage rolls

umm,mushrooms I make mushroom leather which is great added to soups and stews,nectarines and kiwi are lovely used in HughFW's banana bread instead of the apricots..

Hash browns from shredded dried onions and potatoes,carrot chips for the dog,carrot julliened for the boys dinners.

Sweet potato and red pepper leather is gorgeous and very moorish as are any fruit ones..

Ken68

Sloes are good for balancing out oversweet fruit, for example,blackberries.
And like elderberries, free and abundant.
Havn't yet dried them but would use a cherry stoner and re-hydrate them overnight.

Seakay

Thanks for all the tips, really helpful!
Inspired by all your industry and hearing it was due to rain today, I picked and dried some woodruff (lovely for herb tea) last night which was really quick and successful to dry and as a bonus filled the whole house with perfume, and also did a tray of blackberries - interesting but in future I think probably better to stick to drying blobs or sheets of puree. Perhaps raspberries are the same?

D&DD

I love doing herbs in mine too as it makes the house smell gorgeous
I have tried berries but prefer how they freeze or bottle,if I do dry them I do it as a leather Seakay I dont really like pips

sb44

Toxic_Lemon wrote: »

Is there such a thing as too many tomatoes? I'd do what you're doing plus I'd make up tomato-based sauces (same as passata or Dolmio) and freeze, so they can be added to soups, casseroles, pizza bases....anything really. Cook with onions and add either basil or oregano.

Here's the ketchup recipe:

1 large onion chopped
650g very red tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
75ml white wine vinegar
75g golden castor sugar
2 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp ground all spice
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
pepper

Cook in a saucepan and allow to soften - 30 mins. Blitz with stick blender or food processor and strain through a sieve. Cook again until the mixture becomes a thick pure! (about 20 mins). Will keep for 2 months in preserving jar.

I was just searching for a forum about food dehydrators and came across this recipe at the same time (posted 6 years ago!). It sounds great, I must give it a try.

Regarding food dehydrators, can anyone rec a decent one for under £40 please.

I don't (can't really afford) to spend more than that, plus it may end up sitting in a cupboard.

Ta.

Ken68

Hi sb..other than Ebay or boot sales , not seem them so cheap. Never seen any on Freecycle or Freegle.
Have just bought a slicer, Kittie from Lidl. 3 blades plus a Julien which I take to be the hooks that come up.
2 or 3 Thickness. Just done some leeks for the freezer, slow and precise seems the safest option. Not a tool to rush.
Just had a session, onions and chillies, and celery from the market.
Of own stuff, just the pears to dry.

metherer

Evening all.

Quick question. I bought myself a dehydrator off ebay, and while it has a booklet with it, it doesn't say anything about what temperature to set it to. It goes from 35c to 70c in 5c stages.

I'd like to dry some pineapple chunks, and some pepper slices, and wondered how long/what temp you would do them at?

Thanks

Ken68

Hi Meth..Fruit 57c/135f and veg at 52c/125f. Pineapples until pliable 10 to 18hrs. Peppers until leathery 4 to 8hrs.
Welcome to the world of de=hydratorists.
Fruit rolls 4 to 6 hrs.

D&DD

*dribbles* I love pineapple must get some..it never makes it into the stores tho

I have chocolate peppers,more tomatoes and courgettes and a few dodgy looking bananas on in mine today.

Yesterday I did apple peelings (for powder) strawberry ends,more tomatoes lol and some kiwis.:D

metherer

Thanks Ken.

And D&DD, I know, going to be hard not to eat it all at once.