"----As zuchinnis age in the garden the peels get tougher for winter storage.--"

That is true for humans, not for zuchinnis. LOL!

I find zuchinni skin has a different taste and also require different cooking time. So I sometimes cook them separate.

I did one yesterday, as a matter of fact.

dcarch

Great idea to try to use the peel (skin) because that's where most of the vitamins and minerals are! :-)

I've never dehydrated the skins alone. I always leave them on the dehydrated zucchini "chips". You may be able to use dehydrated zucchini skins if you peel them very thin and dehydrate them until crispy dry. Store them whole in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. As needed, run it through a coffee/spice mill and use as a powder. If you blend it all into a powder first, it will quickly pack and get hard because there are no anti-caking ingredients to keep it free-flowing, so powder it as needed. I'd be sure to taste it first and see what it might be good for as an add-in ingredient - dip, smoothie, sauce, soup.... Flavors can intensify and colors can change during dehydration. If you try this, please report back your results.

Another use could be prepared in a mixture with fruit or vegetable leathers. (See link below and click on vegetable leather and fruit leather.)

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: NCFHFP - Drying Vegetable and Fruit Leather

dcarch - if you wait for the skins to get tough they actually do store over winter but the skins then are not really edible they get sharp and tough. I have yet to be able to cook down aged skin.

Grainlady - if the skins were soft enough I would have left them on but I have failed in that experiment before. I think I will try drying the skins on their own and grinding them into powder. I actually thought you may have tried this already.

Maybe it is a thing of the north to let your zukes grow tough for winter coldroom storage.