dehydrating

[SheepDog]

I use a dehydrator but I don't care for it much. At 120F it dries OK but I much prefer freeze drying even if it does take a bit longer.

 

[NannyPatty]

I use a dehydrator but I don't care for it much. At 120F it dries OK but I much prefer freeze drying even if it does take a bit longer.

Where did you get your freeze dryer?

 

[Tank-Girl]

I just got done watching YT video's on dehydrating frozen veggies which takes all the work out of peeling dicing and blanching.
A whole 1kg bag of frozen veggies fits into a pint jar AND is shelf stable.

Really excited about this new chapter of food preserving.

 

[Terri9630]

I'll be buying my very first ever dehydrator next pension day!

It's a large square one with ten trays.

I've been watching "Our Half Acre Homestead" on YT and WOW! Mrs. V can fit so much shelf stable food into a small space.
I know it chews a lot of electricity on the front end BUT I'm looking at the massive crop - grain, veggie and fruit failures all across Europe, Spain and the US
and I'm going to want my freezer space to store oatmeal, flours and other grain products.
I want to dehydrate fruit and veggies now before the prices of everything goes sky high.

WINTER IS COMING.

I love watching her videos.

 

[goshengirl]

I just got done watching YT video's on dehydrating frozen veggies which takes all the work out of peeling dicing and blanching.
A whole 1kg bag of frozen veggies fits into a pint jar AND is shelf stable.

Really excited about this new chapter of food preserving.

It's an awesome way to go! We have a store here that runs a sale on frozen veggies (and a lot of other things) - buy 10 for $10, and the 11th is free, making each bag of veggies 90 cents. It's a great time to pick up a bunch of frozen veggies and dehydrate them.

 

[goshengirl]

More good videos: https://www.dehydrate2store.com/videos

 

[timmie]

cranberries in the dehydrator

 

[Tank-Girl]

My dehydrator was just delivered.

I'm trying to work up some energy and enthusiasm so I can get it unpacked, the trays washed and loaded.
I've got 10 1kg bags of mixed frozen veggies to dehydrate and that's not going to happen if the
dehydrator stays in it's box.

I will say I'm very surprised how big this beast is.
I'm going to have to rethink where I was going to put it.

 

[Tank-Girl]

Put my dehydrator through it's paces and I have a few thoughts.

It took longer than I expected because I was worried about how small the veggies would get so I lined the trays with grease proof paper so they wouldn't fall through.
That was a mistake. I'll be buying some tulle fabric from the store on pension day so there'll be better air flow.

I def. have to rotate the trays. The top ones just didn't dry and and some of that issue will be solved one I get the tulle.

Yes. you can fit a LOT of product in a very small amount of space. All up 8 kgs of diced mixed frozen veg. fit into to recycled pasta sauce jars once it was dried.

 

[Terri9630]

Tank Girl, you can use the plastic grid things that are sold infabric stores. They are a square with holes in them for thread or yarn.

 

[snappy1]

Tank Girl, you can use the plastic grid things that are sold infabric stores. They are a square with holes in them for thread or yarn.

I have used those and also (at other times) old pantyhose.

 

[Sonya_6]

Tankgirl if you start dehydrating fresh fruits/veggies and need to chop them up, a slicer/chopper kit will save you a tremendous amount of time and gives better results when dehydrating.

It is perfect because it is not only faster but all the pieces/cubes come out the same size and dry uniformly. Lots of brands sell identical little green kits and most cost about $15 which is well worth it though I usually only use the 2 cube inserts.

 

[Amish Heart]

But use the guard if you're slicing carrots.
Fingertips are not great to dehydrate.
I know.

 

[UncleJoe]

I was worried about how small the veggies would get so I lined the trays with grease proof paper so they wouldn't fall through.
That was a mistake. I'll be buying some tulle fabric from the store

Most dehydrators have "leather sheets as an optional accessory. Have you looked into that?

 

[Sonya_6]

But use the guard if you're slicing carrots.
Fingertips are not great to dehydrate.
I know.

The little slicer that comes with the kit is pretty much useless, though I did buy an adjustable mandolin (IMO the most dangerous tool in the kitchen).

I started off being very careful to use the guard and even wore cut-resistant gloves, but after a while got a bit more relaxed until suddenly slicing a huge chunk of my thumb almost completely off. It still gives me chills when I think about it. It is one of those mistakes people only make once.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Aha as an added safety precaution you can use chain link metal filleting or meat cutting gloves too when using your mandolin/Food slicer , perhaps you would only get metal filings instead of pieces of fingers in your veges then .

 

[Peanut]

my thumb almost completely off. It still gives me chills when I think about it. It is one of those mistakes people only make once.

It happened to me twice... I'm a slow learner.

 

[Amish Heart]

I took my index finger tip almost off. It was hanging. One of my daughters was home and she helped me glue it back on. I haven't touched it since.

 

[Peanut]

I got it twice separated by about 4 months. I then bought some cut resistant gloves and slowed down. Mandolins are dangerous but very handy!

 

[Tank-Girl]

I'm checking my dried veggies every few days to check for mould.
None so far.

I brought the tulle and cut it to size for the racks and it works a treat.

I've currently got 2 kgs of mixed frozen veggies in the dehydrator atm. and I've put it on a small cabinet with castor wheels so I can move it out of the way when not in use.

 

[Sonya_6]

I'm checking my dried veggies every few days to check for mould.
None so far.

How are you storing them? In mylar? Or mason jars?

If you dry them until they snap/shatter and seal them up tight (I use mylar and an oxygen absorber if they are going to be stored for several months) mold should not be a problem as it can't grow without oxygen.

You could also try sealing them in jars and putting the jars in the oven (so it creates a vacuum seal when it cools). Oxygen absorbers will sometimes also cause a vacuum seal on the jars but not a very strong one.

 

[Peanut]

I bought a "food saver" vacuum sealer, model 3200 a few years ago. I do use it to seal meats and such going into a freezer, handy. The real reason I got it was so I could seal herbs in mason jars. There are attachments for sealing regular and wide mouth jars.

In the picture the black thing is a the food saver sealer. The red handled device in front of it I bought at an auto parts store. Its a manual vacuum pump. I can still seal mason jars if there is no electricity.

 

[TMT Tactical]

Peanut: That is a great idea about the manual vacuum pump. I bet there are a lot of folks (me included ) that had not thought about using one.

 

[Tank-Girl]

I bought a "food saver" vacuum sealer, model 3200 a few years ago. I do use it to seal meats and such going into a freezer, handy. The real reason I got it was so I could seal herbs in mason jars. There are attachments for sealing regular and wide mouth jars.

In the picture the black thing is a the food saver sealer. The red handled device in front of it I bought at an auto parts store. Its a manual vacuum pump. I can still seal mason jars if there is no electricity.

View attachment 5785

Thanks.

I have a food saver and a break bleeder and regular and wide mouth food saver attachments that fit mason jars.
I'm new to dehydrating so what I'm testing for is how dry I need to get food so it doesn't spoil not how to package and store once it is.
Hence the constant mold and sniff check.

Unless you have someone on hand who can physically guide you, check the food and let you know it's dry enough then it's trial and error
and then trusting the process.

 

[Sonya_6]

I'm new to dehydrating so what I'm testing for is how dry I need to get food so it doesn't spoil not how to package and store once it is.

For regular vegetables I grab a larger piece and cut it with scissors. If it is brittle and shatters/flies in different directions it is dry enough. If it cuts part way it is not. That is a good litmus test for typical veggies (green beans, carrots, broccoli etc...).

 

[Meerkat]

About 9 or so years ago we bought a 4 or $500 9tray Excaliber and only use it 3 times,its been in box now for years.

We mostly can and freeze. But do want to use it if time allows.

 

[Tank-Girl]

The small green grocers I like to buy from have onions and carrots for .99 cents a kilo and sweet potatoes for .89 cents per kilo so
I'm thinking I'll buy some to dehydrate.

I've watched Mrs.V's YT video on dehydrating onions and carrots so I know to chop them and blanch them first before dehydating.

 

[Amish Heart]

I've got a bunch of mixed citrus in now (mandarins, grapefruit) because they were getting hard skinned. I powdered them when they are dried for citrus powder.
Good prices, Tank Girl. I would run the onions outside, though.

 

[SheepDog]

I just chopped about 2 pounds of chives from our garden and put them in the freezer to dry. In a couple of days I will put a couple quart canning jars and lids in with them to get cold. Then I pour the dried chives into the jars put the lids on and we have freeze dried chives for a couple of years. The flavor of the freeze dried chives is more potent than when we use the dehydrator.

 

[Peanut]

I put two trays of pecan wood in the dehydrator today. I never thought I’d write those words. I was almost out of pecan wood in the house so I went up to shop to get some out of a bucket I keep under the work bench. It was GONE! My bucket was missing! I had 4 different kinds of smoking wood in it. Probably my dad, some days he doesn’t think clearly. He probably needed a bucket for something and dumped my wood out.

So, I grabbed the chainsaw and cut a dozen pieces off a low hanging pecan limb. I debarked and split them up into small pieces with a wood chisel. They will be nice and dry in a couple of days. Meat smoking disaster averted!