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Just took the mint out (basement smells like mint now) and put in sliced yellow squash and patty pan squash.
dehydrating
- Thread starter marlas1too
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I did 4 bags of corn and got 3 pint jars. Tomorrow we are going to pick apricots so will be back at it. I'm excited. They are my favorite. @Amish Heart mice don't like mint so it will help keep mice out of the basement 
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I know. There's no way to get into that new basement anyway for mice. It's more of a bunker.
I currently have 4! dehydrators going full of apricots & flats of not quite ripe apricots waiting their turn. It was sweet. The folks who let us go pick were just glad not to have all the fruit falling where they walk (not judging but blue hair, didn't speak very well, loud TV, but nice.) They had 2 gorgeous children that were probably 3 & 6 and could hardly speak. When we were finished, I knocked on the door and said Thank you and handed the gal a 20 and said take the munchkins to icecream. She was genuinely shocked and thanked me back. Then I felt like I should have given more
Lucky! Fresh apricots are VERY expensive here
Although it seems like a lot of stuff is more expensive here in the mountains lol
Apples and peaches we have covered but anything else look out
Although it seems like a lot of stuff is more expensive here in the mountains lol
Apples and peaches we have covered but anything else look out
It seems like every year they say "There was a freeze here in the valley." My thinking "I was here - when?" I am very grateful for the apricots. They are my favorite. We too have apples covered.
Working on dehydrating 100 lbs of onions
That's a lot of onions! Bet it smells good
The last of the apricots are on the dehydrator.
That's a lot of onions! Bet it smells good
Better then a wet dog. I have two nine tray dehydrators and a dodad for chopping them so not too bad.
When you dehydrate apricots do you do anything special to treat them?
Nope, just cut them in half to remove the pit. If trees are clean and we pick, I don't wash them but just wipe them with a damp hand towel. If someone else has handled them, I fill the sink with water so they get washed first. Then it's on the tray they go.
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One dehydrator is full of patty pan squash, the other full of cherry tomato halves. I have way to many cherry tomatoes at the moment.
Been meaning to add to this thread but between helping with the steel building, everyday cooking, cleaning and gardening it slipped my mind.
After I dried the sweet cherries ( 2 quarts total )
I started on some of the herbs.
I now have 2 half gallon jars of dried basil (!!) I don't think I'll need to grow as much next year lol maybe a couple for fresh usage. I'm doing that as much as I can now. I chop it up and put it in almost everything.
2 quart jars of dried sage
2 quart jars of dried oregano
1 quart jar of dried lemon balm
1 quart jar of dried parsley
1 quart jar each of dried onion chives and garlic chives
All the dried herbs are really stuffed in there so its not like they're all fluffy and whole. Mashed would be a good word
Also dried a half gallon jar of tomatoes ( had a huge batch and now they're tapering off)
And today I have trays of frozen shredded hashbrowns going
I may get more hashbrowns and I want to get some frozen veggies to dry. Maybe even get some frozen fruits to dry.
I plan on drying hubby some pineapple too here directly
After I dried the sweet cherries ( 2 quarts total )
I started on some of the herbs.
I now have 2 half gallon jars of dried basil (!!) I don't think I'll need to grow as much next year lol maybe a couple for fresh usage. I'm doing that as much as I can now. I chop it up and put it in almost everything.
2 quart jars of dried sage
2 quart jars of dried oregano
1 quart jar of dried lemon balm
1 quart jar of dried parsley
1 quart jar each of dried onion chives and garlic chives
All the dried herbs are really stuffed in there so its not like they're all fluffy and whole. Mashed would be a good word
Also dried a half gallon jar of tomatoes ( had a huge batch and now they're tapering off)
And today I have trays of frozen shredded hashbrowns going
I may get more hashbrowns and I want to get some frozen veggies to dry. Maybe even get some frozen fruits to dry.
I plan on drying hubby some pineapple too here directly
@WVDragonlady, do you have any tricks to dehydrating basil? Mine always gets blotchy.
Dried pineapple is just like candy - yum!
Dried pineapple is just like candy - yum!
Not really. I pick it then rinse it off well and run it through my salad spinner. Then I lay it on some paper towels and blot any extra water off then I dry it on a real low temp. 95 degrees
Mine comes out nice and dark green and fine.
I do that with all my herbs
I saw a pic of someone who did theirs in the oven and it looked burnt. All brown. yuk
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I just hang my basil to dry. I ran out last year and had to buy some cheap stuff to get me through.
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Ours is supposed to ship in 5 days. Pretty excited. Have wanted one for a very long time. Have months worth of stuff prepped and ready to freeze dry.
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THAT is so exciting! heck, i cant wait for you to get yours so you can tell us all about it, lol.
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I’ll try and be sure to post about it. Maybe start a thread on it. Would assume if it ships in 5 days it will be here in two weeks or so. Hopefully
Hey RR - good to see you! Thought maybe you were up to your eyeballs in canning
Hope all is well. I will be interested to hear about the freeze dryer also. I know my nieces loved freeze dried yogurt growing up. My SIL would get it to have on the shelf and they would get into it and the whole can would disappear.
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May I humbly request you get an idea/estimate o the power usage?
Get a basline idea by recording your power meter reading each day before the dehydrator arrives.
Do the same after you start using the new unit and keep track of the weight of what is processed.
With information we can work out what is the kilowatt-hours required per pound.
That information can help track the cost of running the dehydrator.
The Princess has a dehydrator on her wish list and if the numbers aren't roo bad we may pull the trigger and get hers.
Thank you
Ben
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Hey RR - good to see you! Thought maybe you were up to your eyeballs in canning
Hello
Things have been rough here. Thanks! Good to see you too
Definitely HAVE and still are up to my eyeballs in canning. Just finished tomato sauce. I’m going to have to go to canning rehab at the rate I’m going.
I’ll get a thread going on the freeze drier when the excitement starts if everyone wants. I’ve done so much research it’s mind boggling. Definitely going to be running it non stop. Yogurt starter as well as you bury treats are on the list. Hugs to you and the family
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If your asking about Freeze drier power usage check out Living traditions homestead and “retired at 40” on YouTube. They both have the power questions answered much better than I probably will be able to but I’ll see what I can do. Retired at 40 has weights on a ton of stuff he does from start to finish. Also covers rehydrating etc.
Not sure how I missed this one Ben - just saw it. I will try to do that next time. Are there certain things in particular that you are wanting to dehydrate? Some things take longer than others and it sorta depends upon your climate. Things dry petty quickly here but down south (gulf area) would take longer etc. Depending upon what your plans are for it (small batches or a whole kitten caboodle) might help determine which dehydrator to look into. I like my small (cheap) Nesco for smaller batches of things and 2 of these have been plenty in the past. This year, I got a Lem - larger square rack so I could do larger batches. It's not numbers, but I hope it helps a little.
Have the dehydrator filled with cinnamon apples.
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Thanks but it was the the freeze dryer power consumption I am curious about.
The Princess was talking about them last night. While she can still purchase the ready canned stuff the economies of scale are still an advantage.
Ben
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The vacuum pumps draw a lot of power for extended periods of time.Ah! I have no idea on those
When I finally get the solar and wind installed, she can get her freeze dryer to run off the free electricity. At least that is the goal.
Ben
On YouTube the guy at Retired at 40 does the math on a lot of the items he freeze-dries.
Someone gave me 10 boxes of damp matches. I put them in the dehydrator on low for a few hours and they are working just fine.
Yesterday, he who shall not be named, failed to empty his work pants pockets before tossing them in the washing machine. Fortunately, the phone and electronic measuring tape didn't make it to the dryer.
Nothing to lose, so I removed as many screws as I could, pried them partially open, and used litte screws to keep an opening.
Placed them in the dehydrator at 125° for two hours. They were getting too hot when I remembered to check but the condensation in the screen windows had cleared up. I reduced the temp to minimum and left them in for another four hours. New batteries this morning and both are working. Didn't expect that.
Nothing to lose, so I removed as many screws as I could, pried them partially open, and used litte screws to keep an opening.
Placed them in the dehydrator at 125° for two hours. They were getting too hot when I remembered to check but the condensation in the screen windows had cleared up. I reduced the temp to minimum and left them in for another four hours. New batteries this morning and both are working. Didn't expect that.
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