dehydrating

[WVDragonlady]

I've just always sliced ( or small cubes) then steamed a batch for 6 mins and then cooled in cold water, patted dry with a tea towel and then dehydrated. Came out great each time

and the commercially frozen potatoes I just dump on the trays and then they dry up perfect

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Beings I had all those potatoes.
I thought dehydrating would be the best bet, but not on lack of sleep right now.
Thank you all for all the wonderful information.
Will try again next week after Thanksgiving.
After I have more than a couple of hours here, couple hours there of sleep.

 

[LadyLocust]

Irish cream flavored "butter mints"

 

[Amish Heart]

Recipe please

 

[timmie]

anyone dehydrate avocados? i have 18 that were given to me. i know you can freeze them.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Instructions on dehydrating celery please and thank you.

 

[timmie]

i blanch for 3 minutes then drain and dehydrate

 

[MoBookworm1957]

i blanch for 3 minutes then drain and dehydrate

Thank you

 

[Amish Heart]

I don't blanch celery, just cut it small and dehydrate.
Never dehydrated avocados...let us know!

 

[Terri9630]

I've never blanched celery either. Just cut to the size I want and put them in.

 

[timmie]

got lemons on one , oranges on one ,and bananas on one.

 

[Amish Heart]

I should have a lot of zucchini on two, but had to put them away for now so I don't look like a weirdo. CPS coming over to give a class to us about children. Looking around to see what else is weird.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Cutting up extra celery for the dehydrator.
Then another shelf in the refrig will be empty.
Got another 10 pounds of potatoes in my CSA boxes.
Will be trying potatoes again.
Will be washing, dicing, blanching, dehydrating.
Hopefully will have better luck this time around.

 

[Amish Heart]

Mine's filled with pumpkin

 

[Just Cliff]

Cutting up extra celery for the dehydrator.
Then another shelf in the refrig will be empty.
Got another 10 pounds of potatoes in my CSA boxes.
Will be trying potatoes again.
Will be washing, dicing, blanching, dehydrating.
Hopefully will have better luck this time around.

I have a load of celery in too. Going to make celery powder.

 

[Meerkat]

We need to use ours again, cost too much to just sit in a box. Plus saves money buying on sale.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Got 4 trays of thinly sliced red potatoes, blanched in the dehydrator.
And the last tray of celery.
All the celery I have been dehydrating yielded 1 quart of celery powder.
1 pint of celery salt(I control the salt).
1-1/2 pint of the start of another pint of homemade version of Mrs. Dash seasoning.
Not bad, I think for as much celery I had.
Will be hitting the grocery stores for produce next month.
Will have to do something with 5 pounds of apples soon.
3 pounds of oranges, clementines,10 pounds of sweet potatoes.
I think I will be more careful when people ask me what I want for Christmas in 2020.
Got all this produce from the families I sew, mend,knit, crochet, quilt for.
Wasn't expecting all of this, but it will be canned, dehydrated,frozen for future use and weekly use.

 

[LadyLocust]

Recipe please

I just saw this - will find it and get it posted. They were easy.

Spaghetti squash on the dehydrator today. I can fit 3 in my oven at a time which is just about right for filling the dehydrator too.
Have 4 more yet to do.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Got 5 trays of broccoli, cauliflower and carrot coins in the dehydrator now.
Will have apples, oranges, grapes,mango, pineapple going in dehydrator later.
Got potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, turnips to do too.
I was blessed this afternoon.

 

[Peanut]

This spring there was a run on vacuum sealers. I found out in June mine had stopped working. Stores were sold out, slim pickens’ on what was available at on line stores. After waiting for seems like months for a vacuum sealer I got one, came a couple of weeks ago. It wasn’t what I wanted but it’ll have to do.

My cayenne peppers have been falling on the ground for a month. Today… finally I picked a nice mess. I’ll put them in the dehydrator tonight. When ready I’ll vacuum seal them in 1/2 pint jars. They’ll stay nice and fresh for a year.

I need a good pepper mill so I can have red pepper flakes on my pizza. I have a spice grinder but it doesn't flake, just grinds them into powder.

 

[BadgerLandHunter]

I'm new to dehydrating but am eyeing up some NESCO ones with top fan and 5 trays. One is 400 watts one is 600 watts and if I spend double they have ones that are like 1,000 or 1,200 watts. I was thinking mainly for jerky but also for fruits and veggies.
The worker said the higher the watts the quicker but more electricity you use. In your experience for jerky what is good? They both go up to 600°F but I don't want to wait forever for jerky.

 

[Peanut]

@BadgerLandHunter I've never made jerky. I use mine for dehydrating medicinal plants and a few veggies, done blue berries and figs a few times.

I bought a Nesco, round tray model and later won a square Excalibur in a contest. I use both of them, each has its advantages and disadvantages, usually related to the size of what I'm dehydrating.

I can take shelves out of the Excalibur and dry larger items.

 

[Bacpacker]

We've got that same Excaliber. On medium temp 18 hours would probably be good jerky.

 

[Amish Heart]

I've got the same Excalibur, too, and I'd say that's about right for jerky. Just depends how thick it is.
You know you can make jerky in the oven, too.

 

[BadgerLandHunter]

@BadgerLandHunter I've never made jerky. I use mine for dehydrating medicinal plants and a few veggies, done blue berries and figs a few times.

I bought a Nesco, round tray model and later won a square Excalibur in a contest. I use both of them, each has its advantages and disadvantages, usually related to the size of what I'm dehydrating.

I can take shelves out of the Excalibur and dry larger items.

View attachment 49785

Thanks. I love the idea of drying medicine plants also!

 

[BadgerLandHunter]

We've got that same Excaliber. On medium temp 18 hours would probably be good jerky.

Oh wow see I had no idea it took THAT long for jerky I was thinking over night. Shows how little I know about making jerky lol.

 

[BadgerLandHunter]

I've got the same Excalibur, too, and I'd say that's about right for jerky. Just depends how thick it is.
You know you can make jerky in the oven, too.

I should look into that for now really. I often like to try new projects then in a year move on to something else. Before investing in a nice quality dehydrator I could probably make a few in the oven and see. Thanks for the tip!

 

[DWinCO]

Ours came from MIL It's the round one (American or Nesco?) and we bought more trays. We use it lots. I prefer jerky made in the oven.

 

[DWinCO]

To Peanut...Did you dry those cayennes whole? I have pile on the table and was thinking I needed to seed them?

 

[Peanut]

@DWinCO I tossed them in whole, theory being they stay fresher longer (even though I'll vacum seal them in mason jars anyway).

I usually slice off the ends but leave the seeds in. Never tried to dry them whole. I'm going to check them in a few more hours. If they are drying properly I'll continue. If they are drying extremely slowly I'll take them out, slice off the ends and put them back in.

Big peppers like jalapeno's with thick skins take forever to dry whole. I'll never try that again. I just slice off the end with the stem and cut them in half length wise.