Dehydrating

[Tinga]

Really?? It was dried for about 30 some odd hours LOL
I was reading that tomato powder is REALLY hydroscopic and pretty much damn near impossible to keep in powdered form.

Any tips??

[watcher]

as soon as mine was dry (I peeled it off the insert and inverted it during drying to ensure it was done) I ground it and stored it in a mason jar, 3 months now and still powder. Was there some oil in the sauce you started out with, that may be the difference.

[watcher]

At 30 hours I was able to pull the leather off the rollup trays and place on just the trays for better drying. At 54 hours tested and not dry enough at that point. Was not able to get back to it until the 96 hour mark at which point it was ready to powder after allowing it to cool to room temp. No problem powdering it at this point. It has to be so dry that at room temp it cracks into pieces rather then bend.

[Tinga]

I’ll have to try that then. Longer times and maybe I’ll lower the temp a bit as well.

[watcher]

Here is the latest dehydrating-

Pineapple
1 #10 can (106 ounces) pineapple chunks = 24 (1/2 cup) servings wet weight = 11.25 ounces dry weight = 22 (1/2 ounce) servings

28 ounces fit in a ½ gallon mason jar

Diced Tomatoes
1 #10 can (102 ounces) diced tomatoes = 24 (1/2 cup) servings wet weight = 5 1/8 ounce dried weight = 20 (1/4 ounce each) servings

5 1/8 ounce fits in a pint mason jar

Sweet Potatoes
12 pounds store weight sweet potatoes = 9 pounds (144 ounces = 24-6 ounce servings) peeled and diced (I used a French fry cutter to slice them in strips), steam blanched for 6 minutes (stirred at 3 minute mark) and dehydrated at 120 degrees = 33.5 ounces dry weight = 21 (1 ½ ounce servings)

33.5 ounces fit in a ½ gallon mason jar

[watcher]

Sweet Corn
12 pounds store weight frozen sweet corn = 48 (4 ounce) servings = 42 ounces dry weight = 48 (7/8 ounce) servings, call it 42 (1 ounce) servings.

21 ounces fills a ½ gallon mason jar

[watcher]

And another – Rutabagas – 18 pounds store weight (about 10 medium to large) rutabagas = 15 pounds peeled and diced = 40 (6 ounce) servings = 31 ounces dry weight = 35 (7/8 ounce) servings

31 ounces fills a ½ gallon mason jar

[Tinga]

Been away for a bit ( Computer issues) but this week I did about :
4 lbs of corn
5-6 lbs of dried mixed veggies
and
3 lbs of peas and green beans.

I’ve got this huge dehydrator just nothing to put in it yet LOL Probably won’t be saying that this summer

[watcher]

1 #10 can diced pears (drain and rinse well) = 23 servings wet = 12 ounces dry weight = 19 (5/8 ounce) servings
36 ounces dry weight (57 servings) fits in a ½ gallon mason jar

[watcher]

Okra
6 pounds frozen cut okra = 24 (4 ounce servings) wet weight = 8 5/8 ounces dry weight = 23 (3/8 ounce) servings

8 5/8 ounces fits in a quart mason jar

[craftyone]

I was debating learning how to can, so I bought The Ball Blue Book Guide To Preserving and read it. Canning seems a bit complex and I worry about bacteria a lot, so dehydrating seems to be a better option for me. Plus, it’s a lot lighter than canned stuff and takes up much less space! My family HATES store bought canned veggies, so I’m not even going to bother buying those for preps. 😆 But I will need a way to preserve vegetables and fruits for the cold months when the garden won’t be producing, so I’m opting for dehydrating. But I have no idea where to begin!

I’m going to look at the dehydrate2store videos on youtube in a bit, but is there a recommended book that practically all of you use? I learn things better when I have a reference book opened right in front of me, because I have an awful memory. 😆

I see recommendations for a “Nesco” dehydrator and an “Excalibur” dehydrator. Which one is the best value for the money? I’m saving my big money purchases for a water filter and a grain mill, so I don’t want to break the bank for a food dehydrator.

What is the best way to store dehydrated foods? I read that some of you can your dehydrated foods, but I really am leery of canning. Which is better in your opinion: mylar bags and O2 absorbers or vacuum sealing with a Food Saver? And which option is more economical?

Finally, what’s the best cookbook out there for using dehydrated food? I wrote down the titles I saw mentioned in this thread but I was wondering if there was one book or author that most everybody agrees is the best. Thanks in advance, you are a wonderful group of people! 🙂

[Tinga]

I haven’t used a Nesco but I’ll give you some input on the Excalibur.

LOVE IT. The trays are super easy to load, holds lots of foods and it really easy to clean. I bought mine through Excaliburs site and I got a refurbished model. It was cheaper than the new ones but for the last year has been flawless. Even came with a recipe booklet.

I store mine 2 separate ways : Long term – Mylar with 02 absorbers. Talk about weight savings. 20 lbs of carrots, sliced and dehydrated fitting in a 1/2 gallon bag.
Short Term – Mason jars with lids. I use the short term all the time in dishes. Usually I throw them in the dish while cooking and don’t worry about liquid. ( But I cook like that, by eye and no two dishes are ever the same)

The one place I learned the most was dehydrate2store. Biggest thing I had to remember is some foods need to be blanched ( I did about 40 lbs of potatoes and they all had to be blanched) Overall, I’ve used it enough to well out weigh the initial investment. I bought a bigger one at first so that when I started using it, I didn’t wind up buying another one because the first I bought was too small.

[Vina8]

As already mentioned, dehydrate2store videos, “The Dehydrator Bible” for an instruction and recipe book, the internet for other searches for specific things not listed in the book. I mostly experiment now on my own. I have no experience with the Nesco, but like Tinga, I have the Excalibur 9-tray and love it. At this time of year, it goes 24/7 with no trouble. We store most of our dehydrated food in canning jars with a desiccant. I have a large canister attachment for my Food Saver that allows me to vacuum seal the jars. I don’t “can” my dehydrated food. I like it because it is easy to store the jars on shelves and see what I have, even though they are all labeled and dated. I can also reseal them if I won’t be using the whole jar right away. The jars are reusable and can also be used for canning. Some foods when hard and crisp from drying will poke holes in Mylar and must first be put in zip lock or vacuum-sealed bags.

We dehydrate a lot and prefer it for many things. We also can and have learned not to be fearful of it. We can tomatoes and tomato sauce in addition to drying some. We also can beans (navy, kidney, pinto, garbonzo) for convenience. It is a lot easier to open a jar of cooked beans than cook them from a dried bean for every recipe. Jams and preserves are easy. One of our favorites is canned meat, particularly beef, and will be doing a lot more of that. See my blog http://ncpreppers.com/ for a recent posts I did about Vegetable Beef soup I made using dehydrated vegetables from our garden and home-canned meat and tomatoes. I made it in a crock pot. It was easy and delicious.

[GertyGoose]

Vina8, I just popped over to your blog to take a look and ended up staying! LOL Awesome stuff! I am drying alot this summer as well.. although my garden hasnt done very well it has just been to hot here in SW Mo this week we will see temps 100-106 with out the heat index.. oh well I have taken it as a learning curve wrote it all down! ANYWAY I have been drying alot of frozen things as they come on sale.. I like the potatos this way as I dont have to blanch them, I learned the hard way…did some without blanching and they turned that ugly greyish weird color.. still tasted good but not worth it if the family says ummm mom i’m not eating whatever that is….

As for my dehydrator I have a 5 tray Excalibur.. LOVE IT

Blessings everyone!
Gerty

[Vina8]

Thanks for visiting my blog, Gerty. LOL, I know that families can be picky about gray food! We are drying potatoes from our garden. I do them sliced. I found that dehydrated hash browns are excellent and you can’t tell the difference from fresh. You can buy them pretty cheap online–cheaper than if you have to buy the potatoes fresh to dehydrate.

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