If you have a dehydrator, I have questions!

[MomOfOneFunOne]

Do you really use it a lot?

 

If you don't make jerky, do you still use it a lot?

 

If you dry fruits and veggies, how do you use them later?

 

For the most part, I prefer to freeze fruits but I would like to make pomegranate leather for tea. It seems like a lot of money just to make that though.

 

I'm just not sure what I'd use it for and when I look around online, most ppl seem to use them for jerky. We wouldn't.

 

So, do you use yours a lot and if you do, for what? I'm particularly interested in how you use the dried food later.

 

Thanks, guys!

[Peela]

I have one, I love it, I am glad I have it- but I use it sporadically.

Usually when I use it for one thing I whip up a few things to fill it up.

 

I tend to do things like dehydrating soaked nuts (makes them more easily digested), making raw crackers and cookies and making raw granola. I bought mine because I got into raw foods and dehydrating is a great way to make foods seem cooked, but which are still raw and retaining their full nutrition. I make raw corn chips. Yum.

 

I have not particularly got into dehydrating fruits- it all goes when its fresh around here. I have a friend who just dehydrated a batch of tomatoes because he had so many growing in his garden- he said they turned out very well- but the rats ate my tomatoes!

I suppose I should buy bulk fruit or tomatoes when I see it on special but I haven't done it yet.

[merry gardens]

Do you really use it a lot?

 

If you don't make jerky, do you still use it a lot?

 

If you dry fruits and veggies, how do you use them later?

 

For the most part, I prefer to freeze fruits but I would like to make pomegranate leather for tea. It seems like a lot of money just to make that though.

 

I'm just not sure what I'd use it for and when I look around online, most ppl seem to use them for jerky. We wouldn't.

 

So, do you use yours a lot and if you do, for what? I'm particularly interested in how you use the dried food later.

 

Thanks, guys!

dh got one to make jerky. It's been used twice since Christmas of 2009.

[FaithManor]

I have a large one and a small one. The small one is out and plugged in waiting for use for most of the gardening season so that when I have little amounts of veggies, I only run the one that pulls a tiny bit of electricity. My large one comes out the end of August when I get an absolute flood of ripe fruits and veggies all at once and it stays out through apple season.

 

I buy a bushel of apples, core and peel (I have a counter top mount apple corer/peeler which helps the work go much more quickly), then allow to soak in a gallon of water that has been mixed with a couple tablespoons of ascorbic acid (powdered vitamin c), pat dry with paper towels, and fill the dehydrator. Those are our apple chip snacks during the winter.

 

Usually in August, organic celery (I don't grow my own yet) goes on sale cheap, I dice and dehydrate. It's wonderful to have all winter long. I also start getting red peppers, same drill. I dehydrate a lot of grape tomatoes...these I slice in half, lay flat, and dehydrate. These are our winter salad and taco tomatoes. I never buy a tomato in the winter.

 

Here is the full list of what I did last year:

 

mushrooms (organic baby ports were getting near expiration date and were 75 cents a package - I bought a ten packages - just so you know mushrooms dehydrate down so small that all then packages, once done, fit in one quart and one pint jar! Celery does the same thing)

 

celery

 

carrots - my carrots have not been turning out in the garden, so when the Earth Bound organic baby carrots went on sale for $1.00 a pound, I bought a bunch - they came out great (I finely diced them and they turned into the itty, bittiest little specs) and I have added them to soups, stir fries, etc. all winter.

 

leeks

onions

grape tomatoes

red pepper

 

This year I will be trying my hand at dehydrating some green beans. I can about 75 pints of green beans each year. But, we have a doctor friend living overseas operating a free medical clinic, and food variety is, well, somewhat non-existence. His diet is not great and he's had health problems because of it. He loves green beans so I'm going to try dehydrating them and vacuum packing with my food saver. We'll see how they turn out.

 

I do not make jerky. My husband does and his recipe is ATROCIOUSLY MESSY. I REFUSE to let him use my dehydrator because I shudder to think of cleaning my screens. So, he does it in the oven on pans lined with foil or parchment paper and lines the bottom of the oven with foil to catch the drippings.

 

I have recipes for fruit leather that I haven't tried, but I will be also attempting dried strawberries, blueberries, and cherries.

 

Faith

[Jules]

I have two dehydraters and I use them both. I have a small one that I usually bring out in the winter months. I do use it for deer jerky and nuts (as mentioned above). I also make fruit leather for the kids. I use my canned homemade applesauce. I just spread it out on the sheets and let it dry.

In the summer into fall time, I usually get out my larger one. I use it for an extra garden produce that I can't can or want a variety. I dry a big batch of onions to use throughout the year. This last summer I diced up yellow summer squash and zucchini and dried it. I have used it throughout the winter to add to soups, stews, or casseroles. It rehydrates just fine and you can't even tell its in the soups. My kids are eating it and don't know its in there. I also dry extra herbs that I have grown. I dry my extra jalepenos that I have grown, also. I slice them up and dry a big batch. I use them throughout the year in salsas or any mexican dishes. I also add some to the jeryky. If I use it for fruit, its usually just apples, bananas, or pears to dry. We usually try to eat the fruit fresh or I freeze for smoothies. Hmm.....I use it for more, just can't think of everything right now.

[sgr123]

Well, I types out a whole reply and lost it. Ugh. Either way, I use mine for herbs. I want to try fruit as well.

[KristinaBreece]

I have a large one and a small one. The small one is out and plugged in waiting for use for most of the gardening season so that when I have little amounts of veggies, I only run the one that pulls a tiny bit of electricity. My large one comes out the end of August when I get an absolute flood of ripe fruits and veggies all at once and it stays out through apple season.

 

I buy a bushel of apples, core and peel (I have a counter top mount apple corer/peeler which helps the work go much more quickly), then allow to soak in a gallon of water that has been mixed with a couple tablespoons of ascorbic acid (powdered vitamin c), pat dry with paper towels, and fill the dehydrator. Those are our apple chip snacks during the winter.

 

Usually in August, organic celery (I don't grow my own yet) goes on sale cheap, I dice and dehydrate. It's wonderful to have all winter long. I also start getting red peppers, same drill. I dehydrate a lot of grape tomatoes...these I slice in half, lay flat, and dehydrate. These are our winter salad and taco tomatoes. I never buy a tomato in the winter.

 

Here is the full list of what I did last year:

 

mushrooms (organic baby ports were getting near expiration date and were 75 cents a package - I bought a ten packages - just so you know mushrooms dehydrate down so small that all then packages, once done, fit in one quart and one pint jar! Celery does the same thing)

 

celery

 

carrots - my carrots have not been turning out in the garden, so when the Earth Bound organic baby carrots went on sale for $1.00 a pound, I bought a bunch - they came out great (I finely diced them and they turned into the itty, bittiest little specs) and I have added them to soups, stir fries, etc. all winter.

 

leeks

onions

grape tomatoes

red pepper

 

This year I will be trying my hand at dehydrating some green beans. I can about 75 pints of green beans each year. But, we have a doctor friend living overseas operating a free medical clinic, and food variety is, well, somewhat non-existence. His diet is not great and he's had health problems because of it. He loves green beans so I'm going to try dehydrating them and vacuum packing with my food saver. We'll see how they turn out.

 

I do not make jerky. My husband does and his recipe is ATROCIOUSLY MESSY. I REFUSE to let him use my dehydrator because I shudder to think of cleaning my screens. So, he does it in the oven on pans lined with foil or parchment paper and lines the bottom of the oven with foil to catch the drippings.

 

I have recipes for fruit leather that I haven't tried, but I will be also attempting dried strawberries, blueberries, and cherries.

 

Faith

 

All right. I have to ask. When you use your tomatoes/celery/whatever... do you rehydrate them first? How do you do that? I have a dehydrator that I inherited from my grandmother, but I've never used it for anything more than dried fruits/apple chips for the DC. They'll also eat dried bell peppers like they're potato chips, which makes me :D.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

All right. I have to ask. When you use your tomatoes/celery/whatever... do you rehydrate them first? How do you do that? I have a dehydrator that I inherited from my grandmother, but I've never used it for anything more than dried fruits/apple chips for the DC. They'll also eat dried bell peppers like they're potato chips, which makes me :D.

 

Oh, I was going to ask the same thing. :bigear:

[FaithManor]

No, I do not rehydrate. The red pepper and tomatoes are just a bit chewy and quite yummy on the salads as is. All of my other veggies are added to soups, stews, stir fries, and roast. So, they rehydrate on their own with the broth, saute fat, whatever moisture is in the pan. They rehydrate quickly and then cook, no issues.

 

I suppose that if I was using the celery, leeks, or mushrooms on salads, I'd probably need to rehydrate first. But my family doesn't use them this way.

 

The berries don't need to be rehydrated either. I haven't tried them yet, but we have purchased them dried through our Mennonite bulk food store. They are just divine snacks, a little chewy. I keep all of my dehydrated foods in glass jars with screw on caps.

 

One thing you do have to be absolutely sure of with the mushrooms, is that they will look brittle and done before they actually are. If you take them out before they are actually completely dry and then store in an air tight container, you will get mold or if you don't see mold you will smell the "musty" odor. So, you have to keep those shrooms in the dehydrator until they are about as brittle as you can imagine. Then they store well. But, I do know someone who puts her dehydrated shrooms in baggies and stores in the freezer just to make sure. It doesn't seem to affect the texture.

 

Faith

[MomOfOneFunOne]

I have one, I love it, I am glad I have it- but I use it sporadically.

Usually when I use it for one thing I whip up a few things to fill it up.

 

I tend to do things like dehydrating soaked nuts (makes them more easily digested), making raw crackers and cookies and making raw granola. I bought mine because I got into raw foods and dehydrating is a great way to make foods seem cooked, but which are still raw and retaining their full nutrition. I make raw corn chips. Yum.

 

I have not particularly got into dehydrating fruits- it all goes when its fresh around here. I have a friend who just dehydrated a batch of tomatoes because he had so many growing in his garden- he said they turned out very well- but the rats ate my tomatoes!

I suppose I should buy bulk fruit or tomatoes when I see it on special but I haven't done it yet.

 

BAD RATS!! Bad, bad, rats! Of all the things I'd hate to lose, it's tomatoes.

 

I've wanted to dabble in raw foods and am thinking about Raw Fridays for lent since I don't eat meat anyway. The thought of buying a dehydrator just for something I may not continue after lent made it seem too extravagant a purchase. I'd hate to spend the money on something I woulnd't stick with.

 

However, if I continued to use it for other stuff whether I stuck with a bit of raw or not, then it might be worth it.

 

I'm making note of the raw things you make! Thanks!

[MomOfOneFunOne]

Faith, thanks, indeed. That is helpful information and I"m taking note!

[MomOfOneFunOne]

dh got one to make jerky. It's been used twice since Christmas of 2009.

 

Yeah, that's what I'm trying to avoid. I don't want to buy something that I probably wont' use.

 

But, if you have a decent one and it's clean and will do fruits and veggies too AND you want to sell it, lmk.;)

[MomOfOneFunOne]

I have two dehydraters and I use them both. I have a small one that I usually bring out in the winter months. I do use it for deer jerky and nuts (as mentioned above). I also make fruit leather for the kids. I use my canned homemade applesauce. I just spread it out on the sheets and let it dry.

In the summer into fall time, I usually get out my larger one. I use it for an extra garden produce that I can't can or want a variety. I dry a big batch of onions to use throughout the year. This last summer I diced up yellow summer squash and zucchini and dried it. I have used it throughout the winter to add to soups, stews, or casseroles. It rehydrates just fine and you can't even tell its in the soups. My kids are eating it and don't know its in there. I also dry extra herbs that I have grown. I dry my extra jalepenos that I have grown, also. I slice them up and dry a big batch. I use them throughout the year in salsas or any mexican dishes. I also add some to the jeryky. If I use it for fruit, its usually just apples, bananas, or pears to dry. We usually try to eat the fruit fresh or I freeze for smoothies. Hmm.....I use it for more, just can't think of everything right now.

 

Well, b/t you and Faith, I'm convinced! Thank you!

 

Well, I types out a whole reply and lost it. Ugh. Either way, I use mine for herbs. I want to try fruit as well.

 

urg, I hate that! Sorry that happened to you but thanks for the reply! I hadn't thought of herbs and I do plan to grow basil this year. Thanks!

[jec3113]

You can make fruit roll ups that are healthy! Going to try that this year with ours. Mostly we dry fruit and add it to cereal or just snack on it.