Who uses a food dehydrator?
bossyvossy
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
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bragu_DSM 5
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoRelated Discussions
WANTED: A Bosch Mixer...commerical food dehydrator and squeezo
Comments (0)machine. Anyone have one? I could buy it or trade even up for perennials. I am fair and honest. Or even do 1/2 and 1/2.I just thought there might be folks who don't use theirs anymore. Thank you! Sandy...See MoreFavorite food dehydrator?
Comments (50)I own one of the Ronco dehydrators. We originally bought it for drying a few things for backpacking trips. It does OK for small trips for two people, but it has been seriously underpowered keeping up with the garden production of what we had wanted to dry in order to preserve food. That happened last year with tomatoes, and this year with figs. We went around the problem learning how to can (last year) and learning to make fig/fruit wine (this year). You can figure that the freezer space was shrinking rapidly with full summer garden production, so freezing was not an option. Nothing against canning, and certainly nothing against wine, but I would have preferred to have a larger capacity dryer. I love drying tomatoes and then grinding them up into a tomato powder that can reconstitute into a sauce out in the woods in a backpacking trip. It is also great to have at home, easier than canning and you can actually store them without refrigeration. I love their taste too! For figs, I use dried figs in breads, muffins, energy bars I make myself (mixed with nuts and other things). Lately I have also found out that zucchini slices dry very nicely, and so do green beans. I also have peach and nectarine trees, they ripen with the figs, so yes, more space in a dehydrator! We are considering making one of the solar ones, but out of nice materials that we already have (not cardboard). The main model plan that is going around the internet has a tilted black air duct, it should work just by the principle that hot air rises. Also, it is very sunny and very dry where I live, so solar should be good for us, save energy and avoid heating the room in the summer. The food is confined so critters should not be a big problem. Has anyone had any experience with the solar types? any advice?...See MoreNew Stove Has Built-In Food Dehydrator Mode
Comments (6)I have always done quite a bit of canning at peak times and I haven't had it cause any burner problems or anything, but then I don't can CONSTANTLY like some of the folks on the Harvest Forum do. On the old stove, it is only the oven that has gone out, so we are going to hang on to it a while....just put it out in the garage/barn. I am not sure about canning on the new stove, and need to do some research (and quickly!). I've thought about getting a big turkey fryer and using it to do my canning....lots of people do that so they can do the canning outside and avoid heating up the house. Speaking of not heating up the house.....one of our neighbors lives in a home his relatives built in 1912. I love that old house! The kitchen is so large you could live in it alone! They have a separate "summer kitchen" about 60' from the main house, and it is the only home around here with a summer kitchen still standing, although I don't think they've used it as a summer kitchen in many years. I'd love to have a summer kitchen. I AM real excited about the convection oven. We never would have spent the money to get a stove this fancy at regular retail prices (living on one income, we've learned to be pretty thrifty). Getting it at the outlet store, though, saved us about 30% and it was brand new--not used/returned/repaired like some of them are (described on their tags as "reconditioned"). It had "damage".....a scratch on the side that you won't see because that side sits next to a wall, so it was a terrific deal. That scratch was the only thing "wrong" with it, and I can't believe a 4" long scratch saved us hundreds of dollars. I suspect the new stove is smarter than all of us humans. For example, I can set it on the convection mode and tell it I am going to bake a cake at 375 degrees (the temperature given on the cake recipe). The stove then will automatically adjust the temperature downward as needed since a convection oven cooks more quickly. I also could adjust it manually, but will just let the stove's brain figure it out! It also has a warming drawer which our older stove did not. While we were at the Sears outlet store, I was drooling over some of the French Door refrigerators with the freezer compartment on the bottom. I also saw some new ultra-modern and gorgeous stainless steel freezers. Now, I don't need a new refrigerator or freezer yet, but I know what I do want when (and if) either one of them ever die. Dawn...See MoreLooking for food dehydrator recommendations.
Comments (24)I'll add in too about time and temp. It can depend on what kind of unit you use, and also what the humidity is. Not a huge amount of difference, but enough sometimes. My units run 95-160. 160 is for meats. Jerky of course. But I also do some lean lunchmeat- can make good crumbles like bacon bits in soups and such. I do smoked fish too- smoked sturgeon dehydrates super crisp to honey salmon is fridge store only. Great for soups, and the sturgeon is killer with onions in a cream cheese and egg smear. Chicken or turkey breast as fat free as possible is good- I make a killer enchilada pulled chicken that dries up and is a "secret ingredient" in layered dips, cheesy soups, baked potato topper.. The majority of the rest of what I do is at 145. Citrus I do more around 135 because it can really discolor- still great to use, just not pretty. I do use the 95 temp too- this is nice for if stuff isn't quite done, or needs a flip and slower dry to finish overnight. The lower degree range there is good :) I don't just dehydrate my harvests, I also do it with sales. When citrus is on sale, I dry it. Frozen corn and peas, ditto. This morning I pulled off a batch each of sale white corn and sale peas from the dehydrators- 72 oz frozen dries down into less than a quart jar dried. And cooking with it. Wow, I do a lot of cooking with the stuff. Probably better for another thread since this one is for dehydrators themselves. But it is a learning curve to an extent....See Moredcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
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