Favorite Dehydrator Foods (recipes)

16 years ago

I got one of the Nesco (American harvest i think) with the variable temprature.

I am looking for some projects to keep it busy until I can get some peppers harvested.

What are your favorite foods to dehydrate (please include temprature setting and time to dehydrate)

I am also interested in making fruit leathers, whats a good recipe to get me started with that?

I did try to do pineapple chunks (they were like 1" x 1/2") I used the "Fruit" temprature setting for like 10 - 11 hours, but it didnt seem like they came out right... they seemed "cooked" on the outside (it wasnt anything like you might find in a pre-made trail mix bag)

any hints for me???

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Comments (10)

pepper_rancher
Original Author
16 years ago
update: I checked the model that i have. its a "Nesco American Harvest FD-75PR 700-Watt"
jimster
16 years ago
Isn't dried pineapple usually a candied type of fruit? Same for papaya and similar things I think.

Jim
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danab_z9_la (Dan) - I hope this information from a homemaker will make your research day for you. You will find USDA (United Stated Department of Agriculture) information at the link below on preparation of fruits (including figs) for dehydrating, and it may help answer your other questions - so read it carefully and take notes. Maybe you haven't studied this yet, but storage time of all food, including home-dehydrated foods, depends on several things: 1.) Heat 2.) Light 3.) Moisture 4.) Oxygen Shelf-life of storage foods are usually calculated at an "average temperature", often called "room temperature" which is usually 70-degrees F. To maximize the shelf-life the optimum storage temperature would be between 40-60-degrees F. for "room-temperature" storage. Zero-degrees F or colder for even longer storage time, and the food will also maintain more nutritional value at freezer temperatures. If you are going to freeze the food, you may want to use a method called DEHYDROFREEZING which is a combination of partially dehydrating the food and then freezing it. Fruit will normally have 80% of the moisture removed during dehydrating (you can weigh your food before drying, and then post-drying to determine how much moisture has been removed - Figs contain about 78% water before drying - you do the math...). When you use dehydrofreezing you dehydrate 70% of the moisture BUT the food MUST be stored in the freezer to avoid bacteria growth. Benefits of dehydrofreezing: the fruit will have good flavor and color and they reconstitute in about one-half the time it takes for traditionally dried foods. Information you can easily find in books at your local library on the subject, or on-line, will show most dried fruit can be stored in an air-tight container (NOT vacuum-sealed or with an oxygen absorber) for one year at 60-degrees F, or six months at 80-degrees F. Vegetables have about half the shelf-life of fruits because fruits contain sugar and sugar extends shelf-life. Extend that time to double normal storage time by vacuum-sealing (oxygen-free). Extend it even longer by vacuum-sealing AND storing in the freezer. Information from "How To Dry Foods" by Deanna DeLong (a book commonly found in libraries, or available through Inter-Library Loan - or purchase it through Amazon.com): Figs are excellent for drying. Storage time for best quality at 34-degrees F - 18-24-months or 5-8-years at 0-degrees F. Three pounds of fresh figs makes 1-pound dried. Fifty-five percent of the weight of dried figs is natural sugar. Check out the book for more information including: -varieties best for drying -which fruit to select -water content before drying -how to prepare figs -pretreatment (if any) -drying temperature -dryness test -how to use Oddly enough, I pulled all this information from my home library and information I teach in home-dehydrating classes I give. No big Government Research Grant funding this - just a nice person who took my personal time to enlighten someone doing (ah hem) "research". -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Drying Fruits
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plllog- It sounds like you are describing freeze-dried food, which unfortunately, CAN'T be duplicated in a dehydrator. Freeze-drying is a commercial technique that forms a vacuum while the food is freezing. Stored properly, freeze-dried food has a much longer shelf-life than home-dehydrated, and freeze-dried foods are much higher in nutrients than those made at home, and freeze-dried foods rehydrate in a fraction of the time as home-dried foods. I store and use both home-dehydrated and freeze-dried. jennieboyer, Home\-dehydrated foods need to be used fairly quickly because they don't have any preservatives, and the nutrients degrade quickly \- even if they still "look" fine, and may even taste fine, after years on your shelves. Recommended storage times for home\-dried foods range from 4\-months to one year because the quality is affected by oxygen, temperature, and light. Most dried fruits can be stored for one year at 60\-degrees F, or six months at 80\-degrees F. (room temperature is considered 70\-degrees F.). The cooler the storage temperature, the longer the shelf\-life, and this is true for all stored foods. For each 10\-degrees above room temperature (70\-degrees F) the faster food degrades (nutrients are lost, color and texture may change). Because home\-dehydrated vegetables don't have as much natural (or added) sugar as fruit does, vegetables have about half the shelf\-life of fruits. I consider home\-dehydrated foods pantry foods which need to be rotated and used quickly. Unless you are 100% sure a home\-dehydrated food has 10% moisture or less, don't vacuum\-seal it because if any bacteria is present, it could potentially grow into a toxin \- even in the oxygen\-free container. In order to know the amount of moisture, you have to weigh the food before and after dehydrating. For more specific information on the subject, I suggest getting the book "How To Dry Foods" by Deanna DeLong. You can often find this book at the library and used book stores. As a general rule fruits dried at home normally have about 80% of their moisture removed and vegetables \- 90%. Only a small percentage of foods dehydrated are done until they are crispy dry. I do crispy apples for snacks (which store longer), and leathery apples for cooking/baking, which get used quickly. In my case, unless the dehydrated food is being used, they are stored in a dark, cool, food storage room in the basement. I always try to store enough apple slices for a year, but that's the only item I plan on doing that. Even foods that seem bone dry can still have some moisture in it. Each time you open a container of dehydrated foods, it will reabsorb moisture from the air, so make sure you don't leave the lid off a container any longer than needed, and use more small containers (pint and quart jars). The same problem of reabsorption occurs after the dehydrated food is done drying. Once the food is dry, allow it to come to room temperature, then place it in a container/s and be sure to condition it (an important step many people skip and find they have moldy food) before placing it in storage. If you pack warm food into a jar, moisture will continue to be expelled from the warm food and can be trapped in the jar, causing the food to mold. I would avoid using a timed dehydrator because it is possible for the food to sit for a long period of time after the timer has gone off, and it will most certainly have reabsorbed a lot of moisture, especially in a place where there is high humidity. I typically don't store home\-dried foods in large batches \- especially potatoes which are notorious for molding. Crispy apples destined for snacking I place in a snack\-size zip\-lock bag, then place the bags of apple slices in a quart jar. This way each time the jar is opened there is less chance any of the apple slices will reabsorb moisture from the air. There is an alternative method called dehydrofreezing where only about 70% of the moisture is removed, however, these foods MUST be stored in the freezer to prevent microbial growth. There are some advantages to dehydrofreezing \- the food has better flavor and color than traditional drying, and they reconstitute in about half the time it takes for traditionally dried foods. They also take up less space in the freezer than fresh\-frozen food. If you don't have plastic fruit leather sheets you can use plastic wrap to cover the trays, or you could try a produce bag with some cutting required to make it cover the round trays (both will require some over\-lapping). Caution \-\-\- do NOT place the food on the printed side of the bags because the ink is NOT food\-grade. I will also bet once you use a plastic bag or plastic wrap for this process, you will find the stiff plastic fruit leather sheets much easier to use and well worth the money. \-Grainlady
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I also have a big Excaliber 9 tray dehydrator, but have given up on tomato powder, my tomatoes never seem to get dry enough to BE powder, and it turns into a tomato brick, even with the dessicant packs. (sigh) I do dry apples, and use them annually for Elery's Mother's Apple Stack Cake, I've become "keeper of the recipe" and it is required for Christmas. Any not used for that just gets eaten as snacks by the Grandkids, they love them. I always dehydrate zucchini "chips", I bought some Garlic Sriracha seasoning from Costco and sprinkled the slices before drying. Elery loved them and ate them instead of potato or tortilla chips. I always dry some "plain" to put into soups too, and I make "zucchini candy", which is just zucchini, cut into "worms", boiled in a concentrated koolaid/sugar mixture and then dehydrated and tossed in sugar. Not healthy, but the kids love 'em. Leeks are handy dried, all the family members want them, it's easy and convenient to use and I also dehydrate chopped onion in the fall when the onions are ready to go into storage. I dehydrate sliced garlic, I peel the garlic and toss the cloves into the food processor with the slicing blade. They dry well and relatively quickly and can quickly be ground to powder, used as is, or crumbled in the mortar and pestle, depending on your needs. I keep garlic for several months and then when it starts to sprout, it goes into the dehydrator, usually about February. Peppers? Oh yes, always peppers, both hot and sweet. Elery also likes to take the dried hot peppers and grind them to powder which he then puts on EVERYTHING! Mushrooms when they go on sale or when I can forage some morels, but I use far more than I ever have, so mostly mushrooms get purchased at the grocery store. Herbs of all kinds go into the dehydrator, although I freeze basil, I think it loses flavor when dried. So, rosemary, curry plant, sage, oregano, chives, parsley. Thyme is sturdy, I dig that right out of the snow so I don't bother to dry it and I'm still looking for a good spot for some lovage. I have dehydrated jerky, but it seems to lose its flavor quickly and become bland and chewy. It's really good when it's freshly made, though... Oh, and various fruit "leathers" for the grandkids, although I quickly learned not to roll them up in waxed paper no matter what I find on the internet. That stuff will stick to it forever! I'm sure there's more, but I can't think of it. I store all my dehydrated stuff in glass canning jars, I have a lot of the old blue ones that were at Dad's, and I don't put them into the canner, they are strictly for dry storage. And, like Sleevendog, I get some dried beans from other sources. I do get the 32 bean soup from North Bay. It really does have 32 kinds of beans, as well as 8 or 9 vegetables, some barley, nice seasonings. I really like it. Annie
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ksrogers
16 years ago
Dried is different from candied. Candied has sugar added and is 'cured' with sugar, which is used as an aid in the lengthy drying process. Candied fruits are what you see in fruit cakes, as translucent pieces. Dried fruits have no sugar added. Dried pineapple is also different in appearance compared to candied. Usually candied fruits are packed in containers and have a little thick syrup in the container as well. Dried fruits have no liquid residue.
karen_b
16 years ago
From my research and experience, I've learned to set the dehydrator at 130-140 degrees (depending on what I'm drying...for herbs I use the 130 all else 140) for the first hour then reduce to 120-130 degrees till dry. Dryness greatly depends on how thick you slice whatever you dry. Yesterday I dried thinly sliced apples & peaches which took less than a day...I really don't keep track of how long it actually takes because I am usually drying several different things at one time and I'm loosey at keeping records. Try the following two sites for information on recipes and how tos.

www.dryit.com click on recipes for ideas

Another good site www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/dry.html
jimster
16 years ago
Thanks, Ken. I understand the difference between candied and dried fruit. I just haven't seen dried pineapple, only candied. It wasn't packed in syrup, it was sold in bulk by the pound and had a dry, sugary coating. Same for papaya. It's good stuff.

But then, I haven't seen everything and I rarely eat trail mix. So, there certainly could be dried pineapple sold without my knowing it. :-)

Jim
dgkritch
16 years ago
Let's see, some of the more interesting things to dry:
Cantaloupe
Strawberries
Onion
Shallots
Garlic (to be powdered later)
Apple slice are good. Sprinkle with a little cinnamon/sugar
Only limited by your imagination.
I dried all the leftover fruit from my daughter's wedding platters, combined it with the leftover nuts and called it Wedding Trail Mix!!
Deanna
ksrogers
16 years ago
The dried is what your seeing, as dried pineapple as a dull coating like mango and papaya in pieces. Candied has some sticky gooey coating on it, and is usually sold in whole rings. Candied cherries, citron, green, red, yellow and orange color.
pepper_rancher
Original Author
16 years ago
Yes, i think you are confusing it for candied pineapple because they added sugar to it...

Do you think this has something to do with the drying process (why mine came out so differently?)

Maybe I could coat in sugar first and then dry...? It seems like the sugar may pull some moisture out...

what do you think?
nancyofnc
16 years ago
Back to the dehydrator original question - my fav thing to dry is sliced tomatoes. I use them all winter, ground up and with a little water to rehydrate, makes wonderful fresh tasting pasta sauce, pizza sauce, tomato soup, and ketchup by the cup. I also use them as you would "sun-dried" tomatoes. Same thing. Unpeeled little Roma's, Amish Paste, or my fav Principe Borghese heirloom tomatoes have a very rich flavor when dried. They do have to be firm low juice varieties or it takes forever to dehydrate where the sliced paste tomatoes take 8 hours total at 145 at the beginning then down to 135 - 140 for the remaining time. If you do use juicy tomatoes I'd recommend taking out the seeds and letting the juice drip out before putting them in the dehydrator.

Another thing I make is vegetable leather. There are many recipes out there. Some I make have all the same ingredients as vegetable soup - add a cup of hot water, stir and stir, and after a while have hot soup. Since I grow organically and don't need all that salt as in commercial soups, I have a good tasting, good for you soup.

One very important thing to do with all dehydrated foods is to put them in plastic bags or jars and put them in the freezer for 48 hours. This kills the native bacteria that lives in our air (and any weevils or critter eggs that might be lurking and survived the heating process).

Nancy the nancedar
rachelellen
16 years ago
When I dry pineapple, I dry it in 1/4 inch slices rather than in chunks. My husband loves it. Usually, the pineapples you buy in the store aren't very ripe, so I put them out in the sun for a day or two and they sweeten up nicely. I like them almost too ripe when I dry them, as the flavor grows much more intense.

I love to dry bell peppers and tomatoes for salad dressing. When you're making a vinaigrette, put a few slices of dried tomato and a couple of rings of dried bell pepper (red is prettier) in a spice grinder and powder them before adding them to the vinaigrette. Make sure to let it sit for at least an hour before serving it. I have used dried strawberry chips the same way.

I would like very much to learn how to make the veggie chips that are now becoming available. They seem as if they're dried, as opposed to fried, but I haven't been very successful. Does anyone know how?

Favorite Dehydrator Foods (recipes)

Comments (10)

pepper_rancher
Original Author

jimster

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Favorite Dehydrator Foods (recipes)

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pepper_rancherOriginal Author

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pepper_rancherOriginal Author

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pepper_rancher
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