Dehydrating Veggies

16 years ago

I've decided to dehydrate veggies this year to help stock my pantry. I've dehydrated apples, pears, peaches and celery for several years with good results, but I haven't ever tried yellow squash, zucchini, broccoli, or beans. I know several people on this forum dehydrate so I'm asking here. Do I need to blanche the veggies first or do I just cut them up? Does the squash work best if the seeds are cut out? Anything else I need to know?

Thanks!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (3)

User
16 years ago
Follow the directions that came with the dehydrator.

And check the "HARVEST" forum.
grainlady_ks
16 years ago
There are "new" (from 2004) home dehydrating recommendations that many books and manufacturers don't include in the drying information, which increases food safety of home-dehydrated foods. The new recommendations includes pre-treating fruits and vegetables with an acid solution prior to drying.

It was assumed that the low moisture content of home-dehydrated foods would prohibit microbial growth, but research shows the potential for microorganisms, such as Salmonella and E. Coli 0157:H7, are strong enough to survive basic drying methods, and new procedures are recommended to ensure the safety of home dried foods.

Within the link below you will find more links to up-to-date information specifically for fruit/vegetables/jerky.

If you have a cutting mandoline, you'll find the work for slicing zucchini/squash/cucumbers, etc., a much quicker job. The even thickness of the slices will help assure they dry evenly. Divide the size of slices. Put all the small end slices on one tray (or one side of a tray) and the med. and large slices on another tray (or side of a tray). This way all the like-sized slices will dry in about the same amount of time. If you mix the sizes on one tray, you'll have more work making sure the small slices are not over-done, and the large slices are not under-done.

Choose small zucchini/squash/cucumbers - without large seeds formed in the vegetable. I slice zucchini very thin and we use it as a fat-free substitute for potato chips. Thicker slices are used rehydrated in soup/casseroles, etc. You can sprinkle seasoned salt on the slices before drying to give them some flavor if you use them for snacking. I crumble dried cucumbers and add them to salads, or eat them as a snack. These thinly-sliced, dried to a crisp veggies work great with a yogurt dip, instead of potato chips.

Not all dehydrated foods have a long shelf-life, and squash/zucchini is included in that list. To extend the life beyond a month, vacuum-seal them in a jar using a FoodSaver and the jar attachment, or freeze your dehydrated food.

Check your library for some books on dehydrating for more information.

My favorites:

-How To Dry Foods - by Deanna DeLong
-Making & Using Dried Foods - by Phyllis Hobson
-Mary Bell's Complete Dehydrator Cookbook

All of these books do NOT include the new home drying recommendations, but are great resources for drying food at home. So make sure you add the acid treatment to increase the safety of your food.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: New Home Drying Recommendations
Related Discussions
Growing entire year's worth of veggies??
Q
Comments (8)
We pretty much grow all the veggies we consume, and fruits too. We still buy avocados (plan to buy a baby tree), bananas, and artichokes, since mine are only starting to produce. I do not think I can grow bananas here, but might still try. Our situation is a little different since we grow 365 days a year. It is just two of us, but we produce a lot of excess that goes into canned/pickled/dried/smoked/fermented gifts. I stretch the season by planting in shade, or using amaranth and New Zealand spinach as summer greens, this way we always have fresh garden greens. We always have some type of legume growing (peas, favas, runner beans, limas, southern beans, regular beans) so we only preserve the excess. I recently gave several gallon bags away to friends, but we also pickled 10 pints. I do very little canning per se, since we simply eat what is growing. In a couple of months, different things are growing, so we eat that. I can and preserve when I have an excess that might go bad. However, in some cases, i like some preserved products so much that we grow extra, so we have the excess. Examples are smoked peppers, dried and smoked tomatoes, picked relish, pickled peppers, pickled green beans, stuff like that. It allows you to make your own gourmet food, that you would pay $$$$$ at a place like Bristol farms, except what you can produce from your own garden veggies and seasoning will be even better. You have to find out what works for your family, but I will offer some alternatives to canning the food on your list. - Tomatoes can be dried, and also smoked and then dried. Dried tomatoes can be ground up and made into an 'instant' tomato paste/sauce. No canning, jar costs, water costs, electricity, freezer space. You can use a solar dehydrator in many areas too. -Potatoes can also be dried, but they will keep in the cellar a long time. You can extend the growing season by staggering plantings, then you store them in the earth ;-) -same thing with winter squash, it keeps in the cellar. -peppers dry and smoke very well. I grow extra just for smoking. I have dehydrated zuchs, onions, carrots, green beans, kale, garlic, fruit.....I do it mostly for backpacking trips, but the dehydrated veggie flakes also make a nice addition to soups. I have not found any good way to preserve eggplant, except to make a dish with it and freeze it, like eggplant parmesan or moussaka.
...See More
Food Dehydrators
Q
Comments (16)
I've used different methods for drying - some foods are better suited to one over the other. Most herbs are easy, and for me, I dry them in a sunny window, to which I have 2 window screens tied - butterfly fashion - together - and with good sun exposure can expect to be done in 2 days. This includes dried onion/garlic scapes, thyme, mints, etc. I also put harvested onions and garlic there for a few days to start them - then hang inside or braided together, and placed in a dry area - near the ceiling for longer storage. This year, we had a lot of foggy/smoggy summer weather, so invested in my Excaliber - works great. I did a lot of cherry type tomatoes and felt they were dried sufficiently to go in a sealed jar in the pantry. No signs of mold. The dehydrator also worked great for helping to get a good rise from my sourdough breads. The toughest things so far to dry - are peppers. They want to curl over and create perfect tight areas for mold to harbor. This last batch I sliced long thin strips - as I just want to grind them for powder anyway. It seems to be working much better and faster. Have also used the dehydrator to facilitate peeling and drying nuts. When they are dried, hulled, and shelled, I freeze them in baggies - then place inside a freezer half pint container. They can be toasted and ground right from the freezer that way - tasting fresh as can be. I dried some pineapple - then baggied and put in freezer containers also - this prevents ice crystals from forming, especially if only a few are removed from time to time. Just my 2 c's. Bejay
...See More
Help please on dehydrating veggies for dried soup mix.
Q
Comments (6)
Stacie - have you read this instruction pamphlet on drying and using dried foods from NCHFP? Tons of info on all the basics. See link below. It gives you a table on rehydrating too. Dried vegetable soup can be any vegetables you want as long as they are all fully dried and as long as the particles are approximately the same size for rehydrating evenly. Otherwise you end up with mushy bits of onion or smushy peas while the green beans are still hard as rocks. So if you dice some then dice all, if you chop some then chop all, etc. For rehydrating you do it while it is cooking and rather than water we use broth - beef, chicken or vegetable - for flavor. Just begin with your favorite fresh vegetable soup recipe for amounts to measure out before drying them so the dried veggies will be in the same proportions when packaged. Personally I don't care for dehydrating previously frozen vegetables. They are soft and mushy, take much longer to dry than fresh, and lose most of their flavor in the process. THe secret is to make sure that every single piece of vegetable is totally dry. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Drying Fruits and Vegetables
...See More
Oxygen absorbers
Q
Comments (6)
I never worry about creating a vacuum for dry storage items. I know some do it with either a jar vacuum sealer or with the oven methods (which isn't recommended) but I am in and out of the jars too often to worry about it re-doing the seal. I use some old 1/2 gallon jars as well as some quart jars for my dehydrated foods storage and just screw a lid and ring on normal tension. Now this is for fully dried foods of course. If dealing with only partially dried things like tomatoes, they go into the freezer in vacuum seal bags. Dave
...See More
User
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks Grainlady!

I've had this dehydrator for around 20 years. The original book didn't have a lot of information. I'm not even sure where it is anymore. I've always just used salt as a preservative.

Dehydrating Veggies

Comments (3)

User

grainlady_ks

Related Discussions

User
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Dehydrating Veggies

Comments (3)

User

grainlady_ks

Related Discussions

UserOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

User
Original Author