Dehydrating Food - Do You?

Jules

Jules

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Yesterday for the first time, I decided to dehydrate and started with fresh celery leaves. Didn’t think it would work, because the instructions were so easy. I’ve thought incorrectly before. Now I have a nice supply to add to soups or make celery salt or whatever.

I’m thinking I’ll do this with parsley, since I usually end up tossing half.
 

No, I've never tried dehydrating food but one of my favorite go to recipe calls for celery flakes and I've found them hard to find and expensive...so I may give it a try.
 
Yep ..I do ( we) have fruit trees in our little Aussie … back yard peach / apricot / plum / apples.
Last summer we ( hubby and I ) dried 40 kg of apricots ( fresh weight ) which yields approx 3.5 kg of dried apricots .
Sometimes I’ll thrown in a few sliced apples to dry as well
We dry them outside under a verandah ….the sun costs nothing :)

We also bottle / can our own fruit

Photo Shows approximately 20 kg of fruit on drying rack

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I dry mostly herbs and nuts that I have soaked overnight. I also dry garlic and powder it. I have dried celery for celery powder and that came out good! And I dry Stevia.
I have experimented with different things but now I stick to mainly these things.
 
The method for the celery leaves:

wash & gently pat dry
lay in a single layer on parchment paper on a cookie tray
preheat oven to 200 F
turn on oven light
place tray in oven and leave for 10 minutes
turn off oven, leave on light
leave in oven for 2 - 4 hours
Do Not open door
Easy peasy.
 
I dry lemon zest in the oven .i use it for fish dishes / deserts / biscuits

We also have a lemon tree and I Zest lemons and bottle some lemon Juice …not allot but enough for when we don’t have any fresh lemons 🍋
 
This is the process of drying apricot roll ups ….well our method we use

Vitamise apricots in kitchen whizz ( I weight them into 3 kg lots ) and add 100 grams of sugar to,each 3 kg lo.

Tip into lined trays ( I use freezer go between )

Dry in part shade for 5 days

Tip,out of trays , remove plastic liner ~ ~ dry a further 3 days .,it all depends on the weather ….

Cut each slab in half and roll up ….We store in freezer ..take out when required

We cover the fruit at night while drying , never have any trouble with bugs 🐜

Each tray which are actually long type pot plant saucers ( I bought new) ..hold 1 kg of “wet” fruit

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Kadee said:
This is the process of drying apricot roll ups ….well our method we use

Vitamise apricots in kitchen whizz ( I weight them into 3 kg lots ) and add 100 grams of sugar to,each 3 kg lo.

Tip into lined trays ( I use freezer go between )

Dry in part shade for 5 days

Tip,out of trays , remove plastic liner ~ ~ dry a further 3 days .,it all depends on the weather ….

Cut each slab in half and roll up ….We store in freezer ..take out when required

We cover the fruit at night while drying , never have any trouble with bugs 🐜

Each tray which are actually long type pot plant saucers ( I bought new) ..hold 1 kg of “wet” fruit

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Click to expand...
Very interesting, I love apricots...have an Apricot tree that bears a ton of fruit every couple years. None this year, frost and wind killed the buds.
 
I have a dehydrator and I have dehydrated fruit when there is a glut but to be honest I think it is far more convenient to buy dried fruit than make it.
 
Here's a video where I compare the noise of my microwave to the noise of my dehydrator ...


I used to make Mason, the boy dog, jerky treats. But there was only one(1) HUGE problem ...
He got to where he would only want the jerky treats and refuse his normal meals.
I tried both kibble and wet meals. Tried different proteins in the meals. Didn't matter.
Alls he wanted was that jerky !!! ... had to stop making jerky treats and get him back on a balanced diet.

Even tried putting just a few bit of jerky on his meals. He would only eat the jerky and a small taste of the rest ...

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Batches ...

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Naturally said:
HA !!! Jules, it was plain and simple jerky. No salt, seasoning, marinade or anything.
That stuff isn't good for dogs. Mason must have thought it just the very best though :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
I was going to say “as long as he’s happy with it” except poor doggie is doing without now. 😉
 
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