Drying food

[Robson Valley]

greg.g good. you are soon to learn about the water content of plant and animal food stuff.
Just think: all kinds of dried fruits & veg along with several different dried and seasoned meats.
Pot of clean water on a stove or little cooking fire and restore!

Most importantly: keep a written record of what works ( times & temps) and what doesn't.
As time goes by, you can stop for a few minutes and "whip up a batch" when a food deal
happens in the store or you score big, out foraging.

It makes interesting smells in your house. Better home nibble-treats than store-bought junk.

 

[greg.g]

greg.g good. you are soon to learn about the water content of plant and animal food stuff.
Just think: all kinds of dried fruits & veg along with several different dried and seasoned meats.
Pot of clean water on a stove or little cooking fire and restore!

Most importantly: keep a written record of what works ( times & temps) and what doesn't.
As time goes by, you can stop for a few minutes and "whip up a batch" when a food deal
happens in the store or you score big, out foraging.

It makes interesting smells in your house. Better home nibble-treats than store-bought junk.

I already use a Sawyer mini to keep the weight down.
The thought of using it to rehydrate food is very appealing.
I do like my food, but it weighs too bl@@dy much

 

[Robson Valley]

I don't think that I eat any more or less than I did without the dehydrator.
The tomatoes, just a couple of slices at a time, are garnish treats and tonight will be one of those dinners.
I dipped into the tomato jar for herbed tomato oil to cook some potatoes in, pretty good.

I never even got around to making jerky for last year's hunting season.
From my notes, I can mix it up then set the machine and forget it.

Should dry a big wad of bison and fool with making Cree-style pemmican (bison backstrap fat).
Our gardens are starting to produce root crops of carrots, parsnips, potatoes and turnips.
Burgoo, 1750-style, could be on the menu.

 

[JamPan]

I already use a Sawyer mini to keep the weight down.
The thought of using it to rehydrate food is very appealing.
I do like my food, but it weighs too bl@@dy much

I'm already visualising all kinds of portable dried goods too. Just add water!

 

[greg.g]

The dehydrator arrived today.
To try it out, I have got some sliced banana, pear and plums on the go at the moment.

 

[Toddy]

Those'll do

The pears are lovely, they really are, bananas my lot devoured. The plums I liked, but I'm fine with sour, and most plums don't make good prunes…..it's Summer fruit though, not Autumn, hopefully they'll be sweet

M

 

[JamPan]

I've been dehydrating quite a bit now. Peaches are delicious. The pears I tried I wasn't overly impressed with. They are the shorter ones in the supermarket. What type is everyone using for the tasty pears?

 

[Toddy]

They need to be ripe, and I just used Conference ones.
They dry out almost toffee chewy and sweet
If you don't use ripe ones, but really hard ones, they don't seem to be sweet. Like mangos that way I find.

I haven't tried peaches, I usually just jar them, but there seems to be a glut in our local supermarkets just now. I think the dehydrator's coming back out

 

[JamPan]

Ahh that's the mistake I made. I dried them too green. I'll get some conference ones and let them age a bit like I do the bananas.

 

[Toddy]

It really surprised me the difference it made, just using riper fruit.

You know when the bananas go so ripe that they're almost falling apart inside their skins ? Spread them out on a sheet of either baking parchment or silicon and mash them with a fork. Then slip the covered sheet onto one of the dehydrator racks.
They turn out so amazingly sweet banana and chewy The scary thing is how many bananas folks will eat when they're dried like this though

 

[JamPan]

Looks like I'll be off to the supermarket in a bit then.

It's funny, my wife really dislikes bananas, but she can't get enough of the dehydrated chewy ones. I'll have a go at aging them to the end and mashing them up like you say.

 

[nitrambur]

Had some chillis in the dehydrator all day, they're the same as when they went it, but then it seems to be just blowing cold air though, did I buy a dud?

 

[Toddy]

Has it got a temperature control ? if not, then it should just be blowing hot-ish air.
If it has a temperature control, have you checked it's setting ?

M

 

[santaman2000]

Had some chillis in the dehydrator all day, they're the same as when they went it, but then it seems to be just blowing cold air though, did I buy a dud?

To be honest, the earliest dried foods were cold dried (the cold prevented spoilage while the meat dehydrated) Later folks in somewhat warmer climates found that smoke kept flies and other critters away while the food dehydrated (thus the birth of "smoked' foods) it's only relatively recently that we began to add slight heat and actually cook the food while it dries.

All that said, your dehydrator is one of those modern devices and should be blowing warm air. Toddy's idea seems correct to me.

 

[nitrambur]

Has it got a temperature control ? if not, then it should just be blowing hot-ish air.
If it has a temperature control, have you checked it's setting ?

M

Got a control, it's on 70C. I think I'll need to replace the thermostat board

 

[JamPan]

Yeah that sounds broken. When I set mine even to 30c you can feel the warm air on your hand.

 

[nitrambur]

Further inspection....traced the wiring to the board, live is connected where it's labelled ACN and neutral to ACL, I don't imagine for a second that can be right. Swapped em over and still no joy (maybe I should move this to the "problems of being practical" thread??)
I know it's a 220/240v controller now anyway so I can order one. Just hope it is that and not the heating element itself that's gone, any way to check that?

 

[JamPan]

Hm, that's a right pest for you. Worst cas scenario you'll have a dedicated cold air dehydrator. Might take forever to dry stuff though. :s

 

[Janne]

The drier/dehydrator I bought was a cheap one, but the only one I could find. No temperature control, which was a bit annoying. Cooked the beef more than dried!
Met a friend in the supermarket that told me a pro kitchen store here had a more advanced model. Looks like an oven, with shelves, both perforated and solid. And a temperature control.

Will get it this Saturday, unless the Weather Gods get angry and sends Hurricane Irma towards us.

It is fun to dry!

 

[JamPan]

I've just collected a good bunch of sweet cicely this evening to dehydrate, but I'm now having second thoughts about what if it might be hemlock, even though I know it's not, and it smells of aniseed anyway.