Dehydrating

[Shadowgirlau]

Just wondering how many people are interested in dehydrating?

Do any of you dehydrate?

[Glyn]

Hi Kathleen
I bought a dehydrator last year and dried a lot of fruit after a trip to Stanthorp. I found it took longer to dry than I'd thought and I ended up storing most of the dried fruit in the freezer anyway. Dried frozen fruit thrown in with homemade yogurt works well as it firms up the yogurt and as it re-hydrates the fruit it flavors the yogurt .Dried and under oil worked for tomatoes but not for lemon peel, biltong was great and very fast. Mostly it seems too expensive to run for things like grapes so I would make a solar dryer for that. Herbs and onions great. I got the canner shortly afterward and have been bitten by that bug now. Will get back to the dryer once the canning 'honeymoon' is over.
Glyn

[Heidi]

I used my dehydrator for doing things that the kids will take to school, such as apples and roll ups.I do lots of apple sauce over our wood stove in the winter, then preserve in FV jars, then use the sauce throughout the year to make roll ups. I also add all my failed jams to the rollup mix for variations. (I have a lot of failed jams). I did do bananas slices once (a lot of them) and kept them to use in cakes, which worked well, however, now I just mash the bananas and store them in our deep freezer.
I have yet to make jerky, but will get to it eventually I hope.
H.

[minnie]

Hi Kathleen,

I went through a phase of drying and did zucchini and herbs and garlic... but other than the herbs it took a lot longer than I thought I think the humidity here in summer when I was trying.

I'll use it again but a bit like Gly, would rather can or freeze...

Mind you it's all immaterial at the moment for me, as it's packed away.

Vicki

[Shadowgirlau]

ind you it's all immaterial at the moment for me, as it's packed away.

Same here for me too although I do not have a dehydrator myself. Used to borrow my mothers one.
I liked to do herbs and also quite liked drying capsicums, tomatoes, and I know there was something else but can't remember what right now. Would grind the tomatoes (seeds as well) and the capsicums etc into a fine powder which I added to soups and stews to give it a tomato kick in winter. Tasted fresh from the garden not like the usual bought tasteless tomatoes did. With the bought tomatoes which i would put in the dish, you could see there was tomatoe in there but there was no taste. Now you can't see tomatoe but you can taste it. I have very little dried tomatoe and capsicum powder left so will have to ask Mum to bring her dehydrator over with her next summer when she comes to visit. For now, no more tomatoes left here

There is so much one can do with dried foods but I too have found that dehydrating takes a long time to do and so can be tedious for someone like me who likes to get "get on with it"

Kathleen

[Heidi]

Hi,
I had the same issue as Vicki with drying times.. when the humidity kicked in, the drying times started getting much longer. Currently when I use it, I do it overnight to reduce energy costs.
H