Dehydrating

[shelleybean]

I don't grind mine down to a powder. I just leave them in pieces. I doubt this makes much of a difference. I keep them in the freezer for up to six months or so. I don't keep them in olive oil so it's easy to just remove the amount I need and leave the rest frozen.

[mjc]

I keep what I can use in a short period of time in a tightly sealed jar, with the rest of the spices. The rest I freeze.

I do powder some, but find that they tend to clump if not kept tightly sealed. Sometimes putting some rice in the jar (I used an old spice glass that had a shaker lid) and a shaker lid will help with the clumping.

[Ruth_10]

What have you been dehydrating this fall?

I used my Nesco Snackmaster to dry:

1. Jalapeno and faux Jalapeno
2. Anaheim-type peppers (Sahauro and Big Jim)
3. Bell peppers (Red Knight, mostly)
4. Ancho Gigantea (ancho type) pepper
5. A mix of Jonathan and Yellow Delicious apples.

I like the apples for snacking or on hot cereal. The peppers (at least the hot ones) I usually grind into a powder and use for seasoning in dishes.

Some other things I would like to try dehydrating are broccoli and carrots, to use in soups and casserole-type dishes. I usually don't have either of those left over after eating fresh or freezing, in the case of broccoli.

[hilldale]

I dried some cherry tomatoes, peppers, and apples. I will have to increase the amount for next year, as most of my stash has been used!

[brokenbar]

I have a sun-dried tomato business however, we were gone to Mexico this summer so my son dried nearly 250 lbs (and he sold every last one of them to the chefs in Billings, Montana and Cody, Wyoming.) He also made 12, 1 liter bottles of hot pepper oil using smoked and dried hot peppers. Then he made "soup mix" using dried carrots, peas and beans and finally, he dried nearly 75 pounds of apricots. We only get a good crop about every third or forth year as it always seems we inevitably get a late frost and it knocks all the blossoms off the trees. Besides all the drying, he and his Lady Friend canned peas, beans, asparagus, carrots (both hot and dinner) and processed nearly 300 pounds of tomato suace which I made into my special marinara when we returned.( I shared a lot of the pre-cooked sauce with neighbors and friends.) He will be all on his own next year as we are leaving for good. I have no doubts that he will do a splendid job.

[TZ-OH6]

I bought a 9-shelf Excalibur dehydrator (Refurbished) this year to dry my hot peppers and seasoning peppers. I did some cherry tomatoes but do not like the cloying flavor at all. I wanted to do peaches but there was crop failure at the local orchards. We went to one of the local apple orchards around Thanksgiving and bought about a half bushel to dry, and then stopped at a nearby grocery, which had apples from the same orchard for half the price.

Anyway, I ended up drying about a bushel in all of Winesap, Jonagold, Gala, and Fuji. Those dried up to about three gallon ziplocks full. The Excalibur dries 1/4-1/3" thick apple slices in less than 24 hours without having to rotate shelves around. I run it on the bathrom counter with the room fan on so as not to poison the house with pepper smell. Next year I hope to have an excess of garlic, which I should end up having to dry.

[veggie babe]

Did one variety of apple dry better than the other? I dryed peaches and peppers, hope to do better this coming year.

Neva

[TZ-OH6]

Drying times and textures are pretty similar but each variety has a different flavor when dried. Winesap has a more complex flavor but less sweetness than the others, and I also dried a variety called Gold Rush, which were a little too tart for my tastes. The others, although subtly different, were all candy-sweet and very good. We bought some freeze dried --dried apples at the store and they taste like bland sponge by comparison. I did some Golden Delicious a while back and they were very good too.

[GrannyG]

I have been dehydrating tomatoes this week, pear and brandywines, and after I slice them, I cover them with a mixture of basil, coarse black pepper, and canning salt mixed together, then dry them. I have been eating them as fast as I do them...shame on me... so wonderful in salads or to crunch on...

[Love2Troll]

Hi GrannyG,

I cover them with a mixture of basil...

Great idea! I now grow only Columnar Basil because it overwinters & adapts to low light conditions so well. I will try your recipe this year. Thanks!

jt

[stevesch]

lots of great ideas and advice, thanks all !

[tjg911]

i was looking for threads on dehydrators and this was the best. any updates after using yours over time?

many people mentioned nesco from walmart but i doubt they'd have it in the store at this time of the year.

i want one for drying garlic and sun gold tomatoes possibly cayenne peppers but they air dry ok inside with a/c during summer. what features do i look for? how many shelves? fan i assume is important? thermostat sounds like a good feature based upon comments. watts? ruth says 500 works fine.

appreciate comments.

tom

[RinTinTin]

Some good ABC's about dehydrating here:

csu_dry_vegetables.pdf (application/pdf Object)

[TZ-OH6]

I have a big 9 tray Excaliber (bought refurbished, less $$). What I notice that would transfer to any dehydrator is that if you are a gardener you need more trays than you have. We buy cheap apples in season, by the half peck(?) bag and I can almost fit the whole bag in, but I bring 4-5 bags home from the grocery store at a time. Peppers are the same way. If you are trying to stock up on chile powder for storage you want to process alot at one time to get it over with, and the peppers tend to ripen in a short period of time. My garlic is getting old so I will have to fill up the machine with that, and onions would needed alot of room too for a whole year's worth of dehydrated onions. I don't do tomatoes because I don't like the taste, but if I did, those would take a lot of room too.

[kath]

Originally Posted by RinTinTin

Some good ABC's about dehydrating here:

csu_dry_vegetables.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Wow, this is a keeper- I especially like the "dryness test" column- very helpful. Think I'm going to start hunting around for a used one.

Thanks!