Dehydrating and dehydrators

Winchester

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Thought I'd set up a new thread for dehydrating, since C catapault bought a dehydrator. If anybody else is interested, we can chat here.

7) ordered a Nesco Garden Master 1018A 8-tray dehydrator from Target! Why Target? Because everywhere else from Amazon on is saying out-of-stock while Target says I'll have it on September 1. So if anyone (looking at you, Winchester Winchester ) have any suggestions, recommendations, recipes, or ideas I'd love to have them.
Oh how awesome C catapault ! Let me see, I don't have any specific recipes or anything. I've gotten a lot of ideas online. I've done grapes (halve them and then dehydrate for raisins) and have actually had luck with them, although they do make large raisins. I've used the raisins in cookies and just for eating. Good stuff. I've done pineapple and that was really good. I tried doing zucchini chips and wasn't impressed, but you may have better results. Rick really enjoyed the apple slices. I did jerky a couple times; my Nesco came with several packets of jerky seasoning and I used sirloin steak, sliced thinly. Rick liked the jerky. And, of course, the grape tomatoes (we even snack on them). Since I'm making tomato powder, I have to dehydrate them longer than what everybody says, sometimes as long as 16 hours, esp on more humid days. It takes longer. Oh, I did onions, too....stinks the entire house up!

I usually set the dehydrator to run overnight. The Nesco isn't overly loud, so noise isn't a problem. And, most of the time, til I get up in the morning, the food is ready to come out.

Both of my Foodi Grills also include Dehydrating as a function. I've never used it because of my Nesco. I'll do what I can to help with tips, but I don't have any set recipes. My Nesco doesn't have an on/off switch. I plug it in; it starts up. I unplug it and it shuts down. I like it, although I rather wish I would have gotten one that blows from back to front. As it is, the Nesco blows from top to bottom. And I do rearrange the order of the trays from time to time, putting the one on the bottom to the top and so on. I think it helps.
dehydrator.jpg


The Ultimate Guide to Dehydrating Food | Fresh Off The Grid
A Beginner’s Guide to Dehydrating Food
Foodal's Ultimate Guide to Dehydrating Your Garden’s Bounty
 
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catapault

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Winchester Winchester Thank you so much! It isn't that I have a sudden urge to dry specific things. It's covid-19 getting to me, shoving me even more in the "post apocalyptic days are here" mindset. When Storm Isaias blew through NJ we were without power for 2 days - do have a generator so not terrible. But maybe it was a sign. Then canning jars and replacement lids are the latest empty shelf syndrome item. But even previously used canning lids can be used to close jars of dehydrated food. Then, maybe this model of dehydrator is headed in that unavailable, out-of-stock direction.

I have air-dried herbs. Do partially oven dry plum tomatoes, cut in half, sprinkle with salt + pepper + oregano, sprinkle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Slow oven for a few hours, then freeze. But see, that's back to using the freezer.

I was thinking of dehydrated onions because there are times of year when I cannot use up a bag of onions before they either start to sprout or get stinky gushy layers inside. Buy a few at a time and it's not only more expensive than buying a bag, it's practically a guarantee that I'll need one and won't have it.

Nesco has good reviews. The model I chose comes with 8 trays, 8 liner sheets for fruit leather, some other kind of liner sheets. Cannot see expanding it to 30 trays but hey, it's an option. Don't care it doesn't have a timer, I have a kitchen timer that can beep to remind me that time's up.

Big questions - can different items be dehydrated on different trays but at the same time? What if I'm not dehydrating 8 trays worth of something - are trays removed or left in place but empty?

It is so nice to have something positive to look forward to in these strange, strange times.
 

Jem

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We have a dehydrator. So far we have not done much but I only use the amount of trays that I need. So if I only have 4 trays worth of food, only 4 get used. As for combining different foods, I can only assume that if the food has the same drying time and the flavors would not compromise each other, you should be fine. And perhaps if two foods do complement each other, but have different times, just place them on different trays and keep the ones that would dry first on top so they can be removed mid way and allow the rest to continue to dry. For example. If you were making jerky, drying onions would probably add some flavor to the meat, and if not would not cause the meat to have a weird taste. So, the bottom 4 trays can be jerky and the top 4 trays could be onions, then just remove the 4 trays of onions, and replace the lid quickly, to let the meat continue.
I would not recommend drying something like strawberries with onions in the same batch.....:barfgreen:
 

MoochNNoodles

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I told my mother about your tomato powder. Her eyes glazed over...she was in chef mode. I'll probably have to get her one for Christmas now. :flail:
 

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We got a 6-tray dehydrator with a timer several years ago, and hubby has gotten a lot of use out of it because of the orchard. He primarily uses it for fruit: apples, pears, peaches, plums, apricots, quince, and grapes. We've got them in such large quantities that he doesn't often mix them. Any empty trays are just removed before use, or trays of stuff that's finished before the contents of other trays. He loves hot peppers, grows a couple of varieties, and dehydrates enough to get him through the year. They were the reason he wanted the device. He doesn't grow onions. Once in a while he dehydrates catnip or stevia, though most of the time those and other herbs are just hung up to dry. He cans his tomatoes and freezes sweet peppers and hasn't tried drying them.

The dehydrator is in the cellar - in front of an open window and behind a closed door - since otherwise the smell would permeate everything in the house. It's also a bit noisy.
 

Kat0121

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I have a dehydrator. 8 tray. Got it at a thrift store years ago. I've made many batches of beef jerky. That's all I have used it for. I need to make some. Haven't in too long. :yummy:
 
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Winchester

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I've been concentrating on tomatoes this year because we have so many. As a rule, if all your produce takes the same amount of dehydrating time, you should be OK. BUT.....as Jem Jem says, don't do different smelling foods together. No onions with strawberries! That could get ugly.

MoochNNoodles MoochNNoodles Your mother would be happy with tomato powder, I'm sure. You might want to get her a coffee grinder, too, if she doesn't already have one. It's perfect for grinding the dried tomatoes into powder. A food processor doesn't do it fine enough. Rick's mother gave me my coffee grinder for my birthday one year. Hasn't ground a bit of coffee beans; it's strictly for spices and herbs. And that's why she gave it to me; she knows me well. Works beautifully! (I think I would like talking to your mom)
 

catapault

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The obvious uses are drying fruit / fruit leather, drying vegetables, making jerky. With ample time before the device arrives (supposedly September 1) I have been trolling on the Internet. It's astonishing how people use a dehydrator - spicy pork snack sticks (like Slim Jims, I guess, a sort of variation on jerky), put overcooked rice in dehydrator for a day then fry - apparently it puffs up into little rice cakes. Dehydrate ketchup or barbecue sauce overnight, then put sticky slivers of the stuff on a potato or over a piece of chicken. When juicing ginger put the pulpy leftover fibrous stuff in the dehydrator, use the crunchy ginger on grilled pumpkin or in cocktails.

Apparently the sky's the limit for what you can do.
 

catapault

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Woohoo! Dehydrator was delivered yesterday! Today I want to wash all eight of the trays and decide what I want to do for the initial dehydration. Also, decide where it will live. Depends on how noisy it is to run - will the kitchen be O,K, or should it go in the upstairs guest bathroom with the door closed - there's a low bureau up there where it would fit nicely but how do I then fill / empty trays. Who knew there was so much to consider! Stay tuned for future developments.
 
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Winchester

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Awesome C catapault ! Our Nesco really isn't that loud, so I just keep it on the counter in the kitchen. Right now, I'm keeping it in the kitchen because I'm using it at least 3 times a week. Once the produce season is over, I'll re-box it and take it back down to the basement. I'm doing grape tomatoes in it right now.
 

catapault

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Dehydrator has had its initial run today. I did buy a timer - the kind that goes into wall outlet and appliance plugs into timer. Once unpacked it says suitable for light bulbs of thus and such kind. Decided to wait and discuss with Himself before putting into service. He says its O.K. Next time. Although remembering 10 hours is rather easy.

Lowest tray had halved cherry tomatoes. One quart was sufficient for one tray and takes about 30 minutes to halve and place.

Next six trays had mixed baby greens - kale, chard, and spinach.

Ran dehydrator for 10 hours. If someone is in the kitchen it is annoying. If in a different room it's not so bad.

Greens - baby kale, baby spinach, baby Swiss chard - fully dried and crispy. Scrunched by hand then ran through Magic Bullet. One and one-half pounds powdered down to a small jar. Will use in soups, smoothies, etc.

Cherry tomatoes dried somewhat leathery but not dry, dry. Which I didn't want anyhow. Problem - there were some that were larger than most of them. Tossed them with some red wine vinegar, then drained. Placed in a jar and used olive oil to covered them well.

And that's how it went. I'm rather pleased.
 
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Winchester

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Nice C catapault ! You should be pleased. Good work!

Ordinarily, I do tomatoes to a bit of a leathery consistency. But if I'm making powder, then I want them harder to put them through the grinder easily. I have two pints of powder in the fridge now.

Thinking of drying peppers.
 

catapault

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MoochNNoodles MoochNNoodles the only way I have skinned peppers is by roasting hot peppers over a flame until blackened, placing in paper bag to sweat, then peel.

Today I'm working with grapes. Having not found any Concord grapes I bought two punnets (each weighed 3 pounds) of seedless black table grapes. Cooked with two diced apples and 1 pint of water. Ran solids through food mill to puree. Straining puree through mesh strainer, fine mesh strainer, now through cheesecloth. Juice will become jelly. Puree would normally not be strained so much, and turned into grape butter. But figure I will use the dehydrator and turn it into grape leather so best to strain as much liquid off as can easily be managed.

Now come my questions.
1) Drying time. On-line suggestions are anywhere from 4 to 8 to 12 hours. Quite a variation. How long does your fruit leather generally take?
2) I do have liners for the dehydrator trays. Should they be lightly oiled before spreading pulp?
3) Sweetening. Because these are table grapes they are rather mild. Shall I add a Tablespoon of sugar per pint of pulp? Would honey, liquified in microwave, be better? The jelly will have some fresh squeezed lemon juice added. Should I add maybe a Tablespoon per pint of grape pulp?
4) Seeing as how I have 8 trays and 8 liners - what about taking a pint of home canned applesauce and dehydrating that to fruit leather?
5) Has anyone made cranberry apple fruit leather? If yes, did you like it?

Enquiring minds want to know. Thanks for you advice / suggestions / help.
 

catapault

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O.K. Just winging it here. Lightly oiled a tray liner. Spread grape pulp, one tablespoon sugar, no lemon juice. Patted flat. Set on base. Placed empty tray above it. Oiled second liner. Remaining grape pulp filled about 1/3 of tray. Pint of home canned applesauce, much wetter than grape pulp, nicely filled remainder of liner sheet. Placed onto dehydrator, with another empty tray above.

So it is
base with heater and fan / grape pulp tray / empty tray / grape pulp applesauce tray / empty tray, lid.

Timer set for four hours. Stay tuned for future developments.
 

MoochNNoodles

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the only way I have skinned peppers is by roasting hot peppers over a flame until blackened, placing in paper bag to sweat, then peel.
I read about it once and decided it was too much work for the moment. Roasted peppers are so good though.

I hope the grape leather turns out well!
 

catapault

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Six hours. Still not quite done. Nibbled some. Not wild about it. Check off list and move on to dehydrate something else.
 
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Winchester

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I did some Carmen peppers in the dehydrator. It took almost 24 hours, but they're really nice and dry. We had picked all these peppers bc of the impending frost and hoped they'd turn red, at least a little bit. Well, some of them did, but most have not. And I refuse to lose them. The dehydrator came to the rescue.

Here are the washed, dried, seeded and chopped peppers. I should have counter them. I used a whole large sheet, plus some from another large sheet.
PeppersOne.jpg


Spread out on the trays. I used five trays (with screens). I started dehydrating around 3:00 or so Wednesday afternoon. (FWIW, it takes forever to prepare peppers!)
PeppersTwo.jpg


Done and in a small Corning bowl. They dry down to pretty much nothing.
PeppersThree.jpg


And after a round or two in the food processor. That's probably half a pint of peppers. The food processor is in the background, working on round 2. I have enough yet for a third time, but that will be it (I think!).
PeppersFour.jpg
 
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