What are you DEHYDRATING today?

[Wifezilla]

I made crystalized ginger this weekend. I used erythritol and splenda instead of sugar and it still came out good.

 

[ORChick]

I just finished with some lemon balm and lemon catnip (this is a new one for me - I need to see how I, and the cats, like it , and have some marjoram going at the moment. Also the grated zest of an organic lemon that I had juiced.

Have you done the zest before and does it retain the lemon taste? I have tried the commercial zest and found it very lacking in flavor compared to Fresh. I am a lemonaid nut and I have been throwing most of the lemon skins out.~gd

I dry it at a low temperature (about 105*) in my dehydrator, and it retains taste and aroma fairly well. I add it (powdered) to baked goods or (strips) to soups, stews, or steep in heated milk for a custard. The best way to keep the fresh flavor is to put the freshly grated zest into icecube trays and cover with lemon juice and freeze; thaw and strain, and use as fresh. When I lived in California, and had more access to un-sprayed lemons, I would use the peels in various ways - dried, or candied (for holiday baking), or steeped in olive oil for several weeks to make a lemony oil - very nice in salad dressings. I tried steeping in vodka once, for lemon extract, but I wasn't thrilled with the result. My preferance is to only do this with unsprayed lemons, believing that the sprays and waxes used on *regular* citrus isn't easily or completely removed from the bumpy, oily peel.

 

[urban dreamer]

Who knows how to make a solar dehydrator? I was thinking of ways to preserve small quanities of food. I always have a tomatoe or some other veggies or something left over after a recipe. And I can't eat a bag of apples by myself before they spoil (even though SO swears he'll help ). How do you dry them in an oven? How do you ensure the oven dose not blow up after hours and hours (or if you leave the house for any period of time?)???



There is gose again: something eles nifty you guys get me interested in....

 

[Farmfresh]

I learned how to do this from others on the forum. I will now simplify.

1. Arrange food on trays, be sure it is thinly and uniformly sliced.

2. Open door to dehydrator and place foods inside.

3. Be sure at least one window is cracked slightly open to allow for the escape of moisture.

4. Park car in sun!



Pretty easy to do and no joke - it works! I would hesitate about using this method with meats however. Temps can vary too much.

 

[FarmerDenise]

I am dehydrating the green tops of the onions we harvested this week in the big dehydrator on wheels
I just cut the green tops off, made sure there were no ugly spots on them, layed them on a cardboard beer flat and left them in the backseat of the car for a couple of mostly sunny days.

 

[framing fowl]

I was given 2 shopping bags of tomatoes, so 15 square feet of tomato leather with salt & a touch of basil. Oh, my goodness, I could eat this stuff straight!!

Noobie, how do you prep the tomatoes for this? Can you just blend them raw or do you need to cook them and peel the skins like you do for canning? I've got cherry tomatoes comin' out my ears but no way am I gonna peel those suckers for this project!

 

[Wifezilla]

I am doing the car method this year. I have a little VW golf with a big hatchback space (once you fold the back seat down). It is off the road right now for repairs, but can still be useful as a dehydrator

 

[tamlynn]

Making a dehydrated clumpy granola right now. Takes forever when its so overcast and cool.

 

[andehens]

Apricots in my turkey roaster!
I put a little wire rack with some cloth, set it for 135 and viola, a dehydrater!

 

[Blackbird]

I am currently drying a large batch of French Tarragon and several sections of Motherwort.