Drying potatoes

Medbury Gardens · March 10, 2012

There's one thing i dont like and that is buying potatoes when it comes springtime and what's left in the shed starts sprouting and are not good for eating,so ive been thinking how could i make better use of the of all the spuds ive put away for winter that end up getting chucked out.
The Inca used to sun dry them but problem here is we dont get enough sun at the end of the season to do this,so is there any reason why they couldn't be put in a dehydrator??

and are they any good after that??

Anyone got any thoughts?

cornbreadlouie · March 10, 2012

I haven't read about doing whole sliced potatoes, but I found a recipe for a "bark" which is basically just a puree dried out. Reconstitutes into mashed potatoes. http://www.backpackingchef.com/potato-bark.html

salix · March 10, 2012

I pressure can some (a bit of work up-front, but a real time saver later) and you can freeze cooked and mashed 'taties.

Mark0820 · March 10, 2012

I did a Google search and found a few articles that describe how to dry potatoes, but none of the articles indicated what the dried potatoes taste like. If the Inca's sun dried them, there must be some value to it.

Slice and dry a couple of spuds, post some pictures, and let us know how they taste.

Medbury Gardens · March 10, 2012

I will have a play around and see how they come out.

I wondered if grating them in the food processor,squeeze the juice then put in the dehydrator would work.

Thats also a good idea of yours Willa about freezing taties or patties as we call then down here,just pull a few out and reheat them...i like it

Mark0820 · March 10, 2012

Grating should work too. I only mentioned slicing because one of the articles said to slice 1/8 of an inch and dry. The grated potatoes would probably dry faster than sliced.

wmontanez · March 10, 2012

Chuño is made in Peru by letting them freeze then thaw when expose to sun, press the water out and freeze /thaw then dry again. They can store this without problems for years. I bet Richard you could recreate this by grating the potatoes, freezing, thaw, squeeze water out then freeze again and store. They are consume as a soup I believe. I boiled my small ones skin and all and used them in soups as winter come by.

Medbury Gardens · March 10, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by wmontanez

Chuño is made in Peru by letting them freeze then thaw when expose to sun, press the water out and freeze /thaw then dry again. They can store this without problems for years. I bet Richard you could recreate this by grating the potatoes, freezing, thaw, squeeze water out then freeze again and store. They are consume as a soup I believe. I boiled my small ones skin and all and used them in soups as winter come by.

In yet we had always been told that its not good to refreeze food again,i know thats the case for meat,but i suppose spuds is different,i wonder why the freezing twice??

wmontanez · March 10, 2012

Got to read more.. see this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHekHgFIKHM

rockhound · March 16, 2012

MG~ The prohibition of re-freezing meat is due to certain microbes that can go into a spore-like condition. When thawed they will start to re-grow. Heat will kill them off.
I think you are safe to freeze and re-freeze potatoes, unless of course that's what killed of the Inca ;0....no seriously you're good. You can slice and dip in salt water or lemon juice or that canning stuff with vit C., then dry in drier.

Medbury Gardens · March 16, 2012

I'm not really keen on trying this freeze and re-freezing to make Chuño even though by the sound of it its great tasting and i'm sure my family wouldn't be that keen also after seeing me out there squashing spuds in bear feet.

As the days get a shorter i'll have a try at drying some spuds,at the moment its all about getting apples done which we have heaps of coming on.

Medbury Gardens · May 12, 2012

Well i gave it a go,not Chuño but seeing how this drying of potatoes goes.
I first grated them in the food processer then dropped it in boiling water for about 30 seconds,this i thought would stop it going brown,once i drained the water off i squeezed out as much more water as i could before spreading out on the drier trays,in the end the drying took about 6 hours and managed to do enough for two family sized meals.
Verdict.........a complete bloody waste of time,so i reckon i will take up Willa's idea of 'taties' or patties as we call then down here.

Mark0820 · May 12, 2012

Richard,

Was the taste the part you didn't like? Were they tasteless?

Medbury Gardens · May 13, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark0820

Richard,

Was the taste the part you didn't like? Were they tasteless?

No its the fact that it took so long to only get a small amount dried,but as for the taste,i bagged it up and is still up in the pantry

Medbury Gardens · July 21, 2012

What ive done in the end is when i'm doing a pot of spud for mashing i'll do 2x as much as needed,then when cold i spread out what's left on plastic food wrap and pop in the freezer,should be ideal for shepherds pies etc come middle of spring.

March 10, 2012	#1
Medbury Gardens Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Medbury, New Zealand Posts: 1,881	Drying potatoes There's one thing i dont like and that is buying potatoes when it comes springtime and what's left in the shed starts sprouting and are not good for eating,so ive been thinking how could i make better use of the of all the spuds ive put away for winter that end up getting chucked out. The Inca used to sun dry them but problem here is we dont get enough sun at the end of the season to do this,so is there any reason why they couldn't be put in a dehydrator??and are they any good after that?? Anyone got any thoughts? __________________ Richard

March 10, 2012	#2
cornbreadlouie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: SF bay area... north bay Posts: 242	I haven't read about doing whole sliced potatoes, but I found a recipe for a "bark" which is basically just a puree dried out. Reconstitutes into mashed potatoes. http://www.backpackingchef.com/potato-bark.html __________________ Do You Like Worms?

March 10, 2012	#5
Medbury Gardens Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Medbury, New Zealand Posts: 1,881	I will have a play around and see how they come out. I wondered if grating them in the food processor,squeeze the juice then put in the dehydrator would work. Thats also a good idea of yours Willa about freezing taties or patties as we call then down here,just pull a few out and reheat them...i like it __________________ Richard

March 10, 2012	#7
wmontanez Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: MA Posts: 776	Chuño is made in Peru by letting them freeze then thaw when expose to sun, press the water out and freeze /thaw then dry again. They can store this without problems for years. I bet Richard you could recreate this by grating the potatoes, freezing, thaw, squeeze water out then freeze again and store. They are consume as a soup I believe. I boiled my small ones skin and all and used them in soups as winter come by. __________________ Wendy

March 10, 2012	#9
wmontanez Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: MA Posts: 776	Got to read more.. see this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHekHgFIKHM __________________ Wendy

March 10, 2012	#3
salix Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: north central B.C. Posts: 2,310	I pressure can some (a bit of work up-front, but a real time saver later) and you can freeze cooked and mashed 'taties.

March 10, 2012	#4
Mark0820 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Cincinnati Posts: 907	I did a Google search and found a few articles that describe how to dry potatoes, but none of the articles indicated what the dried potatoes taste like. If the Inca's sun dried them, there must be some value to it. Slice and dry a couple of spuds, post some pictures, and let us know how they taste.

March 16, 2012	#10
rockhound Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Tennessee Posts: 285	MG~ The prohibition of re-freezing meat is due to certain microbes that can go into a spore-like condition. When thawed they will start to re-grow. Heat will kill them off. I think you are safe to freeze and re-freeze potatoes, unless of course that's what killed of the Inca ;0....no seriously you're good. You can slice and dip in salt water or lemon juice or that canning stuff with vit C., then dry in drier.

May 12, 2012	#12
Medbury Gardens Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Medbury, New Zealand Posts: 1,881	Well i gave it a go,not Chuño but seeing how this drying of potatoes goes. I first grated them in the food processer then dropped it in boiling water for about 30 seconds,this i thought would stop it going brown,once i drained the water off i squeezed out as much more water as i could before spreading out on the drier trays,in the end the drying took about 6 hours and managed to do enough for two family sized meals. Verdict.........a complete bloody waste of time,so i reckon i will take up Willa's idea of 'taties' or patties as we call then down here. __________________ Richard

July 21, 2012	#15
Medbury Gardens Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Medbury, New Zealand Posts: 1,881	What ive done in the end is when i'm doing a pot of spud for mashing i'll do 2x as much as needed,then when cold i spread out what's left on plastic food wrap and pop in the freezer,should be ideal for shepherds pies etc come middle of spring. __________________ Richard