Dehydrator questions, leather?

[ferrol]

Hi, recently got a unit for myself and have so far done; apples, bannanannana's (can never spell that), carrots and soon jerky.

Question is:
How exactly do you make fruit leathers and deydrate stews and stuff, my dehydrator has holes all over the place, wouldn't it just drip down.

Forgive me if I am being dumb, but how?

thanks

ferrol

 

[Bardster]

Just lay a piece of cling film on the tray and put your puree on that. Remember tho to only cover HALF the tray. You have to allow room for the air to circulate after all.

 

[ferrol]

Thanks Bardster,

I presume that applies to stews as well?

 

[Voivode]

You can do stews as well, yes. I use parchment paper for my lining instead of cling film. My dehydrator also came with a couple of plastic trays designed to do fruit rolls, but they aren't deep enough to take a serious amount of liquid.

My machine allows for the whole tray to be covered, as there are air channels up the sides and the middle. I also live in a relatively arid climate, so drying foods in the summer and winter is often as easy as leaving them on the counter.

 

[ferrol]

AM thinking about wandering round northern Scotland forests for a few days and am playing with the idea of bring stables instead of Ratpack meals. Maybe even small game as well?

Jerky is no problem, veg Ok with Oxo cubes, but I'd like some pre-prepared ones so i can just set up and heat n eat.

Suggestiosn welcome of what to try or even where to go, tis just a idea in the back of my head, more often than not it slowly creeps forward.

ferrol

 

[rik_uk3]

You can dry pasta sauce into a very good leather, I use pasata sieved toms, add dried garlic and basil then dry; this becomes a very good base for a pasta meal. Don't just stick to fruit, there is so much you can dry well

Mushrooms are great, and the water you re-hydrate them in gains a really intense mushroom flavour.

Lots of veg does well, peas, sweetcorn, sliced green beans, onions, carrots, swede (squash to our American friends I think), turnip. I buy bulk packs of a lot of veg from a freezer centre (Iceland ) to dry. Frozen veg has often been blanched and fast frozen, retaining a high proportion of vitamins (often higher than fresh produce that has sat on a supermarket shelf for a couple of days)

Minced beef works well too, just fry off your mince, then rinse under boiling water to remove excess fat and dry. Americans call these 'hamburger rocks' and they work very well in stews, curries and pasta dishes.