Food drying - Dehydrators (merged)

Ken68

Hi LP...quarter inch slices, until crisp in the drier, then store in big jars. Also chop some up for the freezer. Fry them or for soup. They have been cheaper.
Pineapples seem inexpensive now, were 99p in Lidl,, then 74p now 69p most places. Maybe the seasonal price coming in.
Also mushrooms when half price Lidl 42p, though the market might be cheaper. Don't know about aubergines, maybe like courgettes, very thin slices.

Not tried greens otherwise. Banana chips very more;ish

Living_proof

I went to Lidl to see if the onions were in stock here and they were. However, although they are certainly a good buy I reckon they would only save 30p kilo to buy in bulk, so £1.50. I decided the dubious pleasure of peeling all these darlings and then the stink of them drying inside wasn't really justified. If they have another offer when the weather is good and can prepare outside and dry in the garage, I will give it a go. What I will try is the mashed sweet potato as it's a good price in Aldi at present.

Ken68

Would the sweet potato need some sort of binding, like something that wouldn't dry out ?

[Deleted User]

LP, I found loads of shredded carrot in my stores and it will all eventually disappear into soups and maybe carrot cake, although I think juicy sweet fresh carrot would be better. Ok, soups then for me and I have enough for two years. Re caulie, I hated it, I hated the dehydrating too, it absolutely stunk the house out and it ends up brown as well. I will never do caulie again. Maybe a puree would be better but you`ll have to experiment and post results here

Dried apple used today, I never took care with oxidation so they were brown and I made lovely brown apple sauce, Get the cheap onions btw, they dry beautifully and are always ready to use without weeping eyes. I just halve and slice and spread out

Mushrooms, yes lovely, the flavour intensifies beautifully

All in all, I know for a fact that I could get by on soups made from my dehydrated stores, that and some lentils and miso or stock and whizzed so will be ok this winter, even if snowed in for another 6 weeks

LP I just saw your last post. It isn`t just about the cost but also the convenience afterwards

Living_proof

Well my solar panels have generated 16kw and it's only 3pm. Now all the washing is done I will have to start chopping and make the best of the next couple of days' sunshine and run the dehydrator non-stop. I have mainly fruit but will also microwave and mash the sweet potato, roll it out between two greaseproof sheets and then dump it on to the mesh and dry it in thin sheets. I saw that tip on the Deydrate2Store video and it produced crisp-like sheets which you can just add boiling water to when required and re-heat. Although sweet potato is easy enough to do, I often have a diabetic guest at short-notice and he doesn't eat potato so rather than rush out and buy a bag, I will have a steady stock just in case. Strawberries will be next!

Ken68

Impressed LP...free energy and good humidity over the next few days. I suppose really thin rolled would be crisps.


Have bought some sweet potato, in a rush so mashed and froze them, new veg to me.
Have dried the 5kg onions (outside) but took ages due to damp.

Living_proof

Ken - when you use the sweet potatoes try mashing with a little lime juice (and butter if you are at all indulgent!). I am also wondering whether microwaving swede, which I only ever use in small quantity and occasionally as a side-veg rather than in a casserole, could be mashed and dried in the same way. Maybe mashed with carrot which is one of my favourites. 22kW now but I can't think of anything else to switch on, and the telly is rubbish!

Ken68

My efforts at swede drying not good, in slices, hard as nails.
Will try mashed and flat next time.
Talking of Swede ....Wallander was watchable.

Living_proof

I read somewhere that you can microwave the swede whole, unpeeled and then scoop out and mash. That would save a huge amount of time and effort. Sometimes you need a machete to get through a swede.

I was disappointed to find that the two 69p pineapples were rotten through when I came to
use them. Next time I buy one I will use it immediately. I used the peelings and cores from the apples to attempt apple cider vinegar. I made it before I moved but it hasn't yet turned up in the unpacking!

Living_proof

An update on the sweet potato experiment. I bought two packs of the 69p sweet potatoes from Aldi and that totalled 12. I microwaved for 12 minutes in two batches of 6 having pierced them several times. Having cooled them, I deskinned and mashed with a little lime juice and rolled out to uniform thin-ness and plonked on the mesh sheets. Seven hours later the resultant dessicated crisp was broken up loosely to fit a small kilner jar. It took three excalibur trays. Next time I would put it like hamburgers on the paraflex sheets and dry it that way as it was difficult to peel off the mesh. I estimate there will be 8 portions when dehydrated.

It's the swede next.