Food drying - Dehydrators (merged)

Living_proof

Ken68 wrote: »

LOL...Courgette,know what you mean, but had a bumper harvest so gotta eat 'em.

How are they rehydrated in a casserole or soup? Even with one or two plants there are far too many to eat fresh.

Frugalsod

I am looking through the uses that you are all using and I am still not really finding much more that I would be using them for. My dehydrated meals and crisp breads and bran flakes might be all that I think that I might use mine for. So am still looking to find more uses that would appeal to me. Though the tips on using during the summer is useful.

moments_of_sanity

Frugalsod wrote: »

I am looking through the uses that you are all using and I am still not really finding much more that I would be using them for. My dehydrated meals and crisp breads and bran flakes might be all that I think that I might use mine for. So am still looking to find more uses that would appeal to me. Though the tips on using during the summer is useful.

I know it seems like we are only doing basic everyday items but to be honest, I don't want to waste any money on expensive food to dehydrate until I have got the hang of it and temp/timings. The sweet potato, parsnip and beet root crisps certainly won't go to waste as they are edible and the courgettes will be put in a stew or stir fry so even they won't go to waste.

Once I get the hang of it, I want to use it for fruit leathers, dog treats with liver, beef jerky etc so once I am confident using it I will be experimenting further.

Frugalsod

moments_of_sanity wrote: »

I know it seems like we are only doing basic everyday items but to be honest, I don't want to waste any money on expensive food to dehydrate until I have got the hang of it and temp/timings. The sweet potato, parsnip and beet root crisps certainly won't go to waste as they are edible and the courgettes will be put in a stew or stir fry so even they won't go to waste.

Once I get the hang of it, I want to use it for fruit leathers, dog treats with liver, beef jerky etc so once I am confident using it I will be experimenting further.

I understand your reasoning. That was why I have not opted to get one just yet. I think I will need the metal trays and someway for me to dry out thick soups. What I have decided on so far could do that. Though for me right now the making dehydrated meals is going to be the best use for me and I do not need that feature right now. I am not a crisp eater so even that is not going to be a useful. I will be looking for a better cornflake and bran flake recipe as that is something that I could use. The other traditional uses are not viable though if I get a dog then dog biscuits would be a good use.

Ken68

I use my de-hydrator to use up surplus from the garden, or bargains from the supermarket.
Mostly apples and plums, and greens before they get old. In fact anything so as not to waste. If buying it has to be the right price.
Though the freezer is best for some things. Dried veg soaked overnight and used mainly for stews and maybe blitzed down for thick soup.Now coming to an end with the cooked frozen apple pulp so will go over to the apple rings. Main breakfast these days is apple from the freezer plus dried plums and elderberries and oats stood overnight.
Drying is best in the summer.

moments_of_sanity

Ken68, could I dehydrate curly kale and Brussels tops? If so, how do you store them?

Living_proof

Another good tip is to start saving all your jars now and the smaller the better so you don't have to keep opening a big one continually to take out a few of the contents, and thus exposing the remainder to moisture in the air. I always snap up diddy kilner jars at car boots and CS as well.

Don't get disheartened if the first attempt is a bit of a failure. I haven't used lemon on anything yet and would prefer to have a normal taste even if a darker colour. I think sometimes the colour improves when rehydrated anyway. I had huge success with YS strawberries cut with an egg slice so a uniform size. The smell when they were drying was just amazing and they are a good snack and would be great added to a yogurt or rice pudding, or fresh fruit salad, as would kiwi fruit. Mushrooms were brill and had a firmer texture when added to a spag. and the various coloured peppers were used up quickly and were a really good saving in the long run.

I will start in earnest this summer and a lot of the time I will be trying a multi fold MS exercise of not wasting own produce, taking advantage of really good buys in Aldi/Lidl etc. and also using surplus free electricity generated by solar panels. From May through to September I will struggle to use even a quarter of what I expect to have. It's striking a balance though between what you can sensibly use within a year or so and I think reading between the lines some contributors on this forum have cut back on their drying activities because they simply ended up with too much produce. I am really looking forward to a productive year and hope to gather a lot of tips from you guys on here.

moments_of_sanity

Thank you, Living Proof for that great post. I got some curly kale and Brussels tops at the market on Thursday, I don't normally buy veg from markets but it's the only place I have seen these two items.

I have got more than I can reasonably use before it goes off so I have a full tray of curly kale and 3 trays of Brussels tops dehydrating as I couldn't bear to throw them in the compost bin when there was nothing wrong with them, hopefully they will turn out well.

Unfortunately I don't have solar panels so won't be able to use any energy from them so hoping the dehydrator won't be running up a huge bill for me otherwise the whole process is worthless.

Living proof, how did you prepare the kiwi's for dehydrating?

Ken68

moments_of_sanity wrote: »

Ken68, could I dehydrate curly kale and Brussels tops? If so, how do you store them?

Dry Brussells tops whole same as Broccoli, not a great result so probably best for the freezer.
Have just started a slow cooker with mainly dried veg, including carrots, swede, mushrooms (Jamie just been using dried mush. on TV programme, says they add meatiness) plus dried beans and dried onions. Will wait for them to swell a bit before switching on.
Then cook overnight and add whatever for taste in the morning, then freeze up into small tubs. This fills an empty space in the freezer.

moments_of_sanity

Ken68 wrote: »

Dry Brussells tops whole same as Broccoli, not a great result so probably best for the freezer.
Have just started a slow cooker with mainly dried veg, including carrots, swede, mushrooms (Jamie just been using dried mush. on TV programme, says they add meatiness) plus dried beans and dried onions. Will wait for them to swell a bit before switching on.
Then cook overnight and add whatever for taste in the morning, then freeze up into small tubs. This fills an empty space in the freezer.

I like the sound of the soup with all dehydrated veg, DD and I were only saying today that Friday nights should be soup and break night as I can never be bothered to cook on Fridays (not sure why)!