Dehydrated Foods

[Lady TS]

I have been experimenting with dehydrating veggies/fruit this fall.

Here's what I have done so far this year:

~Apples (rings)--these are a success- I did them last year and dh requested them a week or so ago to bring to work and snack on. I've done about 8 pounds of apple rings...which breaks down to about a gallon and a half of dried apple rings.

~Onion - these did not dry as crisp as they did when we lived in CO. I had them in the Excalibur for 24 hours and I don't imagine leaving them in any longer will make them any crispier. :shrug Must have to do with the humidity in OH.

~Beets - I was hoping these would turn out crispy, sort of like the Terra chips...but they are more like fruit leather. I cooked them, then ran them through my food processor to slice about 1/8" thick...let them go 24 hours...still leathery. Not sure they are going to go over well with the kids...have yet to see how I like the rehydrated version.

Maybe if I didn't cook them, they would be crispier? But then I don't think my food processor could handle slicing hard beets. :think

~Summer Squash- the yellow ones I sliced in the food processor in rounds, and the zucchini I had to half lengthwise and run through the food processor. These are leathery as well.



I still have kale in the garden, a tiny bit of chard, more beets, and green beans. As well as some herbs (mainly basil, if it's not too late to harvest--the plants have already flowered) and possibly elderberries just for the heck of it. And maybe rose hips if it's not too late.

I really want to do dried mushrooms, but am waiting for a good sale before I do that again. The last time I did that, they added great flavor to soups and stews!

Also, I want to do some dried meat (jerky w/o MSG, and basic meats such as ground beef and chicken) to add to soups/stews.

I would love some recipes to assemble these dried foods into jarred/bagged mixes to quickly make in the wintertime.

[RiverRock]

We just bought our own dehydrater. Previously I had been borrowing my il's every time I wanted to dry apples or make fruit leather.

So far I've only dehydrated long slices of zucchini. I want to try them out instead of noodles for a gluten-free lasagna.

I might try drying blueberries, or a blueberry/apple fruit leather this week. Ohh, and next week peaches. :yum I buy them from TJs so regularly that I should try drying my own.

[charla]

:popcorn

[Rea T]

I just finished my 2nd load of tomatoes yesterday. (Borrowed my IL's 5 rack Excalibur) I hadn't really though about trying anything else. Well, I did some mulberries earlier in the summer...too much work for a little tiny bagful at the end.

Don't have much in the way of recipes, but I will say that dried tomatoes whirred in the blender with some balsamic vinegar, olive oil and water makes a yummy dressing!

[Lady TS]

We just bought our own dehydrater. Previously I had been borrowing my il's every time I wanted to dry apples or make fruit leather.

So far I've only dehydrated long slices of zucchini. I want to try them out instead of noodles for a gluten-free lasagna.

I might try drying blueberries, or a blueberry/apple fruit leather this week. Ohh, and next week peaches. :yum I buy them from TJs so regularly that I should try drying my own.

Excellent idea! (I wonder if I should try yellow squash that way...don't have big zucchini...)


A have some corn on the cob from a relative cooking a bit on the stove and am going to cool it and try drying it for soups and such.

Dh just came and showed me a few ears of our own sweet corn. :woohoo

[JustMandy]

subbing

[Lady TS]

I've posted on my blog what I have done so far. (see siggy below)

[abbiroads]

Subbing. I don't have a dehydrator but I know some people who do :shifty and I what to get all the use I can out of whatever produce is given to me.

[poleidopy]

Dude, you totally need a spiralizer. You could make zucchini "noodles" and dehydrate them like thin spaghetti. That would be cool! and a spiralizer can slice hard beets and root veggies a bunch of different ways. :yes

ETA- you can also dehydrate tomatoes, then grind them into powder & use for all kinds of stuff.

[JustMandy]

What can you use tomato powder for?

I just got a dehydrator from a thrift store two days ago. I intended to make vegetable "chips". I'm disappointed to hear they ware more like leathers. Anyone know if I can make crispy chips?
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[hbmamma]

:popcorn

[poleidopy]

What can you use tomato powder for?

I just got a dehydrator from a thrift store two days ago. I intended to make vegetable "chips". I'm disappointed to hear they ware more like leathers. Anyone know if I can make crispy chips?
Posted via Mobile Device

mine always get crispy, just dehydrate them longer. :shifty

you can use tomato powder in broths, chili, soups, dips (mix w/sour cream and spices or cream cheese,) add to sauces, alfredo is awesome w/some tomato powder, spreads, mix with dry spices and use on your chips (you can do sweet or spicy chili flavored, pizza flavored, Italian flavored, etc by using spices, sweetener, nutritional yeast and such.) that's just off the top of my head, but you can probably find a ton if you google. :yes

ETA- you can also dehydrate eggplant. If you marinate it in the right stuff first, it kinda tastes like bacon. :)

[StumblinMama]

In one of the GAPS threads, the mamas were talking about veggie chips. From what I gathered, they came out crunchy like you'd expect from a potato chip. You might want to poke Jodi (Sonshinemama) or LisaM and have them come to this thread. I wish we still had a dehydrator.

[Lady TS]

I had my dehydrator at 125* and dehydrated for about 24 hours...though it was a few hours before I got to it to put away. Maybe it was crisp at the end, but with our humidity it softened them right up?

I notice that in my older dehydrating book it says to dry at a higher heat--I have a feeling that might play a part in whether/when things get crispy. I don't think it has anything to do with how thin they were, because I had some that were paper thin and even they weren't crispy.

And of the two books I've been looking at, they vary between them as to whether dried sliced beets should be "leathery" or "brittle". Same with the squash. :shrug3

With my problems(allergies/gut) with tomatoes, I am staying far, far away. Though I have read about making "bark" from potatoes, pumpkins, winter squash and using it to thicken soup and stews. It was somewhere on www.backpackingchef.com (http://www.backpackingchef.com) that I read that.

[Thankfulforgrace]

First, love your avi :heart

I've only done zucchini. I plan on doing tomato soon. I do want to branch out though so subbing!

[Lady TS]

First, love your avi :heart

I've only done zucchini. I plan on doing tomato soon. I do want to branch out though so subbing!
Thanks! That was taken in CO after a storm. Somewhere in South Park, iirc.


...so, were your zucchini leathery or like chips?

[RiverRock]

I intentionally left mine leathery and froze them in a ziploc bag. I wanted to make "lasagna" noodles.

For carrot, parsnip and beet chips I lightly oiled and salted them and dehydrated them at a low temperature in the oven. We eat them right away as a snack. If you let them sit too long they soften again. I've never stored them.

[Thankfulforgrace]

Thanks! That was taken in CO after a storm. Somewhere in South Park, iirc.


...so, were your zucchini leathery or like chips?

Mine are like chips. I love them with my fermented salsa :yum

I do some too that are dipped in coconut oil, chili powder and paprika via Pragmatist's recipe :heart

[charla]

Mine are like chips. I love them with my fermented salsa :yum

I do some too that are dipped in coconut oil, chili powder and paprika via Pragmatist's recipe :heart

Oh wow, that sounds good.

[Lady TS]

Mine are like chips. I love them with my fermented salsa :yum

I do some too that are dipped in coconut oil, chili powder and paprika via Pragmatist's recipe :heart


ooh--Recipe please!

What temp and how long did you dry yours?

[Thankfulforgrace]

ooh--Recipe please!

What temp and how long did you dry yours?

For the ones with oil? or just plain?

[Lady TS]

For the ones with oil? or just plain?


Recipe for the ones with the chili powder and paprika. :)


What temp and how long(and I suppose how thick did you slice) on the plain?

[Thankfulforgrace]

I just put a little coconut oil in a bowl and sprinkle on chili powder and paprika (use more of whatever you like...). I try to slice the zucchini about 1/8 thick (I'm horrible at that). then I dip it in the bowl on both sides and put on the tray.

For temp I did 125 b/c that's what it said for veggies but it did take forever. I at first had it on the paper so it didn't make a mess but it wasn't drying that way so put the paper on a tray below it to catch the liquid and then it was much faster. i don't know how long it took, I've only done it once in my nice dehydrator :wink