Dehydrating .....things.....

[pioneergirl]

Ok, first, if I take raw peas from the pod (heirloom type) and put them in the dehydrator, can I plant them next year?

Second, I have a dill plant...can I clip it, put it in the dehydrator, and end up with a great dried herb?

Obviously, I just got a dehydrator and have never used it before, ha!

 

[pioneergirl]

Ok, thanx for the help!!

 

[Henrietta23]

I honestly have no idea! Does a dehydrator dry things out more than you would normally dry a pea for future planting? Hmmm.
I have a dehydrator. It's a cheap one and I haven't done much with it.

 

[TanksHill]

Sorry I lagged on answering. I figured there were many more qualified.

The herbs are easy. Med to low setting maybe 10 hours. The peas??? I am really not qualified in the seed sving department.

but I have done herbs, bananas, celery, onions, bell peppers, potatoes and other vegges.

gina

 

[Rebecka]

I have used my cheap dehydrator ( no added heat type) for herbs and beans. I don't care for peas but I cant imagine they are much different than beans??? I use the not so cheap dehydrator for thicker or wetter things. The heat speeds the process but also partially cooks, so I use it for eggs and meat and things that discolor like apples and potatoes. I like the no heat one better for herbs since they seem to retain more flavor and color better than the heated.

 

[Farmfresh]

I would only air dry any peas you want to save for planting.

As for the herbs, I wash mine in cool water, shake them off and place whole stems in the dehydrator. After they are dry it is easy to crunch the best bits by placing them in a big old ziploc bag and crunching them off of the stems then remove the stems. If I have a lot and want to store them a while I place the extra in a small freezer ziploc, label and pop into the freezer. That keeps the flavor nice and fresh.

You need to check out this older thread http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1217 LOTS of info here.

 

[ORChick]

Let your peas ripen fully on the vine - way past the eating stage. The pods will dry and shrivel, and the peas will be dry when you remove them from their pods. If you aren't sure that they are dry enough you could always put them in the dehydrator on low heat - I would say less than 110*, but they really should dry quite nicely on the vine, assuming that the weather is warm and dry. This is what you do for dry beans as well.

 

[pioneergirl]

Thank you every one, greatly appreciated