If I remember correctly, blanching stops the maturation process, killing the enzymes that will cause the peas to get old and tasteless. I would say yes, empty those bags. You'll have to blanch for the right amount of time, too. I have a book on that somewhere, but I'm sure the information is on the Internet.

I'm with Dave on this one... I peel, chop up in the food processor to a dice, then spread the onions out on jelly sheets... then into the dehydrator at 135. I use jelly sheets so that as the onion gets smaller, none fall through to the bottom. About halfway through the process, I turn the onions over on their sheets and re-arrange the trays in their stack. What results is a slightly toasted colored minced onion. I dry my onions out in the solarium, just like I do with hot peppers- don't want to kill anyone with the aroma of those things drying, heh. Note that I use a little Nesco round dehydrator, and not an Excalibur, so the turning of the onions and re-arranging the trays might be different with the Excalibur than it is with the Nesco.

The National Center for Home Food Preservation is essentially the standard for government tested results for food preservation --- whether it's for up-to-date methods for canning, pickling, jam/jelly, low-sugar, freezing, drying, curing/smoking, fermenting, etc. Take any and all information shared from the site for what it's worth to you, we're all adults here and can do what we want. But when I teach classes at the County Extension Office, 4-H groups, the Senior Center and Food Bank and other places as a certified Master Food Volunteer through Kansas State University Cooperative Extension, or pass on information on this, or other message boards, these are the guidelines I use and the factsheets I share. I can only suggest using tested recipes and methods, and that's what the National Center for Home Food Preservation provides. Blanching is also used for those of us who dehydrate vegetables to stop the enzymes in the food, and up-to-date instructions can be found through the National Center for Home Food Preservation that include acidified water bath treatment that most people omit, or are completely unaware of. There were new home drying recommendations (in 2006) due to the potential for microorganisms like Salmonella and E. Coli 0157:H7 and home-dried food in two studies conducted at Colorado State University (and other studies since), so there are new procedures needed to ensure the safety of home dried/dehydrated foods. I tend to follow these recommendation, and it's also what I teach in the classes on the subject, but others may find it an unnecessary step - the old "we've always done it this way and it's never killed us yet" thinking. We blanch food for other reasons - to soften it (which is what happens when you blanch corn), preserve it's color (even though heat is chlorophyll's archenemy - the science how it works is pretty interesting), sometimes blanching is used to facilitate the removal of skin (like peaches and tomatoes), and blanching can also help to eliminate bitter flavors (broccoli rabe, for example). Blanching stops the action of enzymes that cause poor texture and loss of color and flavor. Blanched vegetables also reconstitute more easily than ones that haven't been blanched. Do your own research if you don't agree with the National Center for Home Food Preservation - although most web sites use it as a "standard", and blanching times were tested at the University of Georgia.

I blanch mine because I like corn just barely cooked, and sometimes I even eat it right off the stalk, still standing in the garden. I used the blanched stuff for things like corn and bean salad or to add to corn bread, plus I can use it for creamed corn or corn pudding too. It's easy for me to just shuck all the corn, dump it into the big pot, blanch for a couple minutes, then give it a quick dunk in ice water to stop the cooking. When it's cool enough to handle I dry the ears and slice it off the cob for freezing. I used to freeze some still on the cob but it takes so much freezer room. Annie