stocking dehydrated foods

Dried zucchini chips - slice thin, sprinkle with garlic and onion powder, salt, then dehydrate. Tastes good!!!

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"Be the change you wish to see in the world." ~ Gandhi

"A mind once stretched by imagination, never regains its former dimensions." ~ Anonymous

I dehydrate kindof regularly. I am working on herbs right now. I think I will dry potatoes as I have quite a few and don't have a good space to store them. My DH loves my dried apples, banana etc. He loves to mix them with peanuts, and such for a travel mix when he is hunting. I am also going to try apricots.

I have two dehydrators. One is without a temp control so I use that for fruits and vegetables. And the other I use for herbs, flowers, etc.

I have also dried tansy, southerwood and pennyroyal to put in stuff that I store from season to season. I keeps the bugs out of clothing etc.

When I store my stuff, I use either baby food jars (for smaller amounts or gifts) or quart size mason jars that I vacuum seal with my food saver. It all depends on what I am drying.

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Chris

PA Master Gardener

I didn't think about the humidity. When growing up, we mostly dried apples and peaches, and we had good luck with both...unless it rained, then we had to do a mad scramble to cover everything up. My Dad use to make some of the best fried apple pies with dried apples.

I know most of you are drying your own veggies but here's a neat chart to give you some idea how much dried product it will take to reconstitute into a serving size.


http://www.harmonyhousefoods.com/f/S...Size_Chart.pdf

I love my dehydrator! I tried something new with mine this summer. We had this huge chocolate cake left over so I got to thinking... I cut the frosting top off and then cubed the cake and dehydrated it. Some I left in cubes and the rest I whirred in the blender for crumbs. With the crumbs, I make dessert crusts with.. just add a dallop of melted butter and a bit of sugar.. press into the pie pan and bake for a few mins. The cubes we just toss a few on a dish of ice cream.

I save my end pieces of bread loaves and cube/dry them too. Leave some in cube shape or whirr them in the blender with seasonings. Instant stuffing mixes. Or instant breading. A handful of crumbs with dried celery,onion, sage or thyme and a dallop of butter shoved inside a pork chop before cooking it is verrrrry tasty. Or just roll your pork chop in the mix and bake like you would for a shake and bake type chop.

I have two large zuccini's here waiting for me to shred and dry. The shreds go in muffins, or breads, or soups. I have been known to sneak a handfull of shreds into meatloaves and lasagnas. shhhhh....

Another thing I do and need to restock on this fall is soup in a jar. Last year I dried left over baked chicken breast and put them in a jar with dried celery, onions, carrot shreds, zuccini shreds, peas, two chicken bullions and sealed the jars with the food saver. I would then toss the jar ingredients into the crockpot, with three jars of water. The last hour woud find me tossing in either noodles, fresh potoatoes, or couscous or rice. Sometimes I would even toss in a jar of creamed chicken soup.

I do a beef version like above using a rump roast cubed small and dried. I would add a bigger variety of dried veggies with this one. Green beans, shredded kohlrabi, or turnips, carrots, potatoes, onions, peas, celery, green peppers, ect. Not all the jars are the same.

I have found a backpakers site and did a few of the meals they mention making. Its basically dried foods that you add a cup of boiling water too..and let sit to rehydrate in a cozy type thing. Couscous is used alot in these meals. I'm hoping to expand on those.. they worked nice in the fish house. LOL

These ideas are great. I bought an excalibur but am not sure how to do much with it. I want to try drying more instead of canning or freezing. I love the chicken soup mix. I didn't know you could do that. You ladies ought to get together and write a book. I know I could sure use your advice.
JOanie

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Registered mini jerseys
NW. Ohio

I have never tried drying chicken or beef without making jerky -- what a GREAT idea!

Any suggestions on time/temps for that?

THANKS!

Pony!

I'm impressed! I would never have thought about drying cake and bread for using like that. I, too, would like to know more about that and the meat. I love the idea of making soup mix.

I have been dehydrating a lot of sweet corn, & squash for several years, mostly to use in stews. But this year, I bought an Excalibur dehydrator, & have added okra, tomatoes, & hamburger rocks.
The hamburger rocks are wonderful & taste just like fresh hamburger meat when they are reconstituted.

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Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Mt.35:24

I tried dehydrating with solar several years back, it all molded due to the humidity here also, so i think you need to live in a dry climate to do it. It would probably work in winter here, but that's not when the extra produce comes in. I also use mine to make bread crumbs and dried bread from the extra bread I make .
I've never been able to store jerky or chips, as they are usually eaten within a few days. Tried hiding the jerky once but they found it anyway.

The current Countryside has an article on making and using a solar dehydrator, I haven't read it yet though.
Dawn

Thanks to your wonderful suggestions I have started dehydrating my potatoes and it is working wonderfully. We do not have a cold storage area so things like potatoes don't keep well over time. Now I can store them and not worry about them rotting. And they are so much lighter to carry around!

I was very frustrated because my canner gasket needs replaces and I didn't want to freeze anymore food. I worry about losing it to electical failure. So now I will dehydrate my green beans too.

I like the "dried stew" idea too. Just have to have to guts to try it. Explain more about dehydrating the meats and I will give it a try.

Thanks

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Chris

PA Master Gardener

How long can you store the dehydrated potato's? I had read somewhere that it had a short shelf life. Has any of you dehydrated sweet potato's?

How long can you store zucchinni/squash? Is it important to Blanch it?

Thanks Randy

Saw a thing about the shelf life of different dehydrated veggies, I will try to run it down...
The reason you blanch 'em is to stop enzyme action so that they WON'T go bad quickly. That is what I did wrong with some of mine, and why I had to go on and use them...
No, I have not done sweets... didn't have too many of those this year.

Cindyc.

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Mom to 5 cool kids and wife to 1 great guy. Life is good!

Thanks Cindyc------I Found a Chart in Deanna Delong's---How To Dry Foods-------It said Potatoes had a 8 month to 5 year storage time-------According to temp. 8 months min at 34(f) degree's and up to 5 years at 0(f) degree------So I think I will "Play" with some and some Okra. Randy