Food drying - Dehydrators (merged)

dogstarheaven

hey there. i'm starting on getting into dehydrating again (tho' did have lots of enthusiasm last year when i first bought the excalibur 9 tray with timer. used it for about 5 different fruit/veg for about 2weeks non-stop then lost steam afterwards).

5 days ago, i've been gifted 3lbs of quite mild victoria plums from a lotti friend, and i have about 2lbs of smallish damsons off my tree. does anyone have a good recipe for a plum leather? i tried apple leathers last year with cinnamon (not cooked) and they were super!

i know this isn't about dehydrating, does anyone know how to make a tomato salsa that can keep pls. i've about 3lbs worth - thanks!

how does runner beans taste once they've been hydrated? am v. curious about this as i get bagfuls of it every week from my lotti friend.

unfortunately, this year on the lotti is soosososo bad, that there isn't much to harvest and dehydrate. the damsons are quite pitiful and the above harvest is the first pickings.

[Deleted User]

D&#8517 wrote: »

*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

now why on earth didn`t I think of that, I have thrown loads on the compost heap

You have such good ideas DDD

[Deleted User]

dogstarheaven wrote: »

how does runner beans taste once they've been hydrated? am v. curious about this as i get bagfuls of it every week from my lotti friend.
.

welcome back. DSH. The runner beans get small and shrivelled. I use them in soups etc as I do a lot of wholesome soups in winter. My brined beans in jars from last year are good, just cut beans covered in brine and stored cool

I just treated myself to an apple peeler/corer/slicer from lakeland, it was on special offer at a £5 off.

Dehydrating is tapering off a bit now as harvesting is winding down, last thing I did was another 9 trays of courgettes. There will be lots of apples available locally soon

dogstarheaven

thanks for that kittie. do you have a method for the runner bean brine? guess that you prefer the brine than the dried beans for this, presumably the taste is better?

got my apple 3in1 slicer from ebay. it has a clamp that goes on the table, but not v. secure tho'... but it does the job ok. think i paid a tenner or something like that last year.

have you done well on your lottie/garden harvests then, kitte? if so, you're sososo lucky. this year has been too dire to mention...

sb44

I have been thinking of buying a dehydrator if only to have a go at making jerky!

I did find one which I bookmarked on my main pc, can't remember where it was from now.

It was a round one with 5 trays, with 3 stage heat fan, said it directed the heat down a central chimney to blow into individual trays, digital and timer to switch itself off.

Does that sound like a decent model for about £40?

D&DD

Sb sorry not got around to making jerky yet but would advise a cheap model definitely first until you decide wether or not it's for you,that way you can get your money back easily on eBay if you don't get on with it

sb44

D&DD wrote: »

Sb sorry not got around to making jerky yet but would advise a cheap model definitely first until you decide wether or not it's for you,that way you can get your money back easily on eBay if you don't get on with it

Cheap model first?

It will be the only one I can afford, I have seen the price of the Excalibur type ones and I couldn't justify paying that much even if I did have the spare cash (wish I haven't).

sb44

D&DD wrote: »

Sb sorry not got around to making jerky yet but would advise a cheap model definitely first until you decide wether or not it's for you,that way you can get your money back easily on eBay if you don't get on with it

There are some Jerky recipes here if that is of any use: http://ec1.images-amazon.com/media/i3d/01/A/man-migrate/MANUAL000035289.pdf .

D&DD

lol thats what I meant just buy a cheap one, they are perfectly good enough mine was £19 in tchibo approx 6 years ago its been brilliant thanks for the linky I might be brave and try some

sb44

D&DD wrote: »

lol thats what I meant just buy a cheap one, they are perfectly good enough mine was £19 in tchibo approx 6 years ago its been brilliant thanks for the linky I might be brave and try some

I bought a bag of bacon jerky from B&M's yesterday, that was quite nice, I may give that a go too.