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 Post subject: Food dehydrators
PostPosted: Sat Oct 10, 2009 5:28 pm 
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Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 4:38 pm
Posts: 536
I finally purchased one of these. It's filled with italian tomatoes from my friend's garden right now. Tomorrow it will be the box of pears that has been in my fridge for weeks.

Does anybody have recommendations for uses, storage for dried food ideas, craft ideas, tips and tricks, whatever...for a dehydrator? Mine is a Nesco expandable model with a fan and thermostat.

Thanks,
EB


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 Post subject: Re: Food dehydrators
PostPosted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 6:32 am 
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Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2009 4:34 pm
Posts: 2011
A friend of mine does orange slices to decorate for Christmas. They are brightly colored and smell great.

Mary


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 Post subject: Re: Food dehydrators
PostPosted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 4:08 pm 
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Thanks Mary. Not many other dehydrator fans here apparently. I have found some websites with ideas.

The tomatoes were wonderful. I froze them after dehydrating in ziplocks, just to be sure they keep well. They are dynamite in soups and stews and pretty good eating just plain.

The pears were amazing too. So flavorful, and the whole big volume of freshies condensed down to a fraction of the space. So much less time involved with drying than canning. I did some batches with a dip in ascorbic acid, but could not really tell the difference, so in the future I would eliminate this step completely.

Really enjoying the deyhdrator. :mrgreen:

Lynn


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 Post subject: Re: Food dehydrators
PostPosted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 4:53 pm 
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Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2009 10:48 am
Posts: 818
Location: Near Ithaca, NY
Actually, the dehydrator is one of my favorite gizmos. If you can, the Ball book has dehyrating ideas, and recipes, and I have Mary Bell's Compete Dehydrator Cookbook. I didn't do much this summer because it rained, and rained, and then rained some more, and I keep it outside under the gazebo so it doesn't heat up the house; in the winter I keep it in the basement.

I make jerky out of venison which is really, really good and I don't like venison, but DS is a hunter. Also make fruit rollups. My favorite, and smell wise it is sooooo good, is celery leaves. I just trim them off and dehydrate them for use in stews and soups. Root vegetables are good for dehydrating, too

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A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch. - James Beard


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 Post subject: Re: Food dehydrators
PostPosted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 1:57 pm 
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Thanks K. I'll check the Ball book. Mary Bell has a book called Dehydrating with an Attitude which is really clever, my friend has it and I must borrow it again soon now that I have a dehydrator.


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 Post subject: Re: Food dehydrators
PostPosted: Sat Oct 17, 2009 8:21 am 
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Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2009 4:34 pm
Posts: 2011
I just picked up some dried spiced figs. They have an almond and some fennel seeds inside. I think they are an Italian thing. I wonder if you could use the spices on other dried fruit (unless you have a good fig supplier!).

Mary


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 Post subject: Re: Food dehydrators
PostPosted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 8:41 pm 
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Hi EB,

I dehydrate more things from my garden than I freeze...they shrink, and there's more room in my pantry! lol I tried eggplant for the first time this season, as well as tomatillos. I haven't tried the eggplant yet, but the tomatillos did great! The EP I dunked in a solution of ascorbic acid, to prevent discoloration - a good thing to do with some fruits, as well, and easier to do than fuming with sulfur! Tomatoes and tomatillos I just cut in halves or quarters, and dry as is, and most peppers I dry as is.

One thing I do when drying some of these things, esp. for the first time, is weigh them, before and after. This way I can tell what is the equivalent to a given amount of fresh veggie or fruit. 1 lb of tomatillos, tomatoes, and eggplant this year reduced to about 1.3 oz, on average.

All of these dried foods I store in glass jars.

I tried a method to make salsa with the tomatillos that I used with success with dried tomatoes, which is to pan toast them, as I do chiles, using Bayless' method of pressing them against the pan for several seconds, flipping, and pressing again. Then I cover with enough water to equal a little less than the original weight, and soak for 30 or more min. They take a little longer to rehydrate than peppers, but when making a smooth salsa, this doesn't matter much. I soak them separate from the peppers, as that water can be bitter.

Right now I have the end of my tomatillo harvest in the dehydrator, along with 8 trays of peppers. And many more peppers out there, but that's it for this year.

Dave

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 Post subject: Re: Food dehydrators
PostPosted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 8:55 pm 
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Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 4:38 pm
Posts: 536
What a good idea to weigh before and after for equivalents.

I am impressed by just how time friendly it is to dehydrate rather than can. And the flavors seem to intensify so much, love the products so far. Nice info on your tomatillos.

eb


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 Post subject: Re: Food dehydrators
PostPosted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 2:36 pm 
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Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2009 10:48 am
Posts: 818
Location: Near Ithaca, NY
Consider signing up for Nesco's newsletter - I just got mine. They will send you sales deals, and recipes, etc. Also, I find a lot of dehyrating stuff at Bass Pro. They have several shelves of spices, tools, etc. (I think it's a "guy thing") If there isn't one around, you can look on line.

I agree about the flavors being intensified. Also, when veggies are maybe, forgotten, I dehyrdrate them, and they live on. I am horrid for doing this with parsnips, for some reason, but I can put them in stews or soups. It really cuts out a lot of waste, and doesn't tyake up as much space......

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A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch. - James Beard


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 Post subject: Re: Food dehydrators
PostPosted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 3:58 pm 
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Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 5:29 am
Posts: 454
Location: York PA
I am a fan of dehydrators. We used to make jerky for Darin & his friends when he was in college. We have also dried hot peppers & tomatoes. We just didn't have time for a garden this yr.

Great idea to dry fresh produce that you will not have time to use. I have some green beans that fall into that catagory - do you think I could dry those for soups?
Kathy


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