Weird Uses for the Dehydrator

I adore my dehydrator and use it extensively for dehydrating garden produce and bargains from the grocery. However, it is not useful just for making apple chips and jerky. There are lots of fun things to use your dehydrator for. Here are some of my favorites.

* Revive stale chips, croutons, crackers, cereal etc. When these items go stale, you can give them a second chance by popping them in the dehydrator for 20-30 minutes. They will crisp back up and taste just as good, or better than they did when you bought/made them.

* If it is too humid to air dry bread crumbs or stuffing mix without molding, use the dehydrator set on low to dry them up quickly.

* Make veggie powder out of whatever you have a surplus of. Simply chop and dehydrate vegetables. Once fully dry, powder them in a food processor, blender or coffee grinder. I sift mine and run the larger pieces through the blender a second time. This is perfect for adding to all manner of recipes: stata, omelets, casseroles, enchiladas, breads, stuffing, meatloaves, etc. Good veggies to include: tomatoes, carrots, mushrooms, sweet peppers, greens, onions, garlic. This is also a perfect use for commonly wasted produce such as radish or carrot leaves, beet stems and leaves, etc.

*Make green powder. In a similar vein, make a veggie powder of just greens. Use surplus greens from the garden, the CSA box or if you buy too many greens at the market to eat before they go bad. Dehydrate, then crumble and store, either as a mix or individually. Add these to recipes to pack a nutrient punch, or add a few heaping spoonfuls to smoothies. This could also be a great way to use wild greens such as dandelion, plantain, nettles, etc.

* Dry flowers for displays.

* Make potpourri. Dry orange peels, flowers, and apple slices or peels for a nice potpourri mix. You can personalize your mix, or just use whatever you have around that smells nice.

* Make teas. Whenever you have a surplus of an herb that would make a good tea, toss it into the dehydrator to save for later. Mints, lavendar, rose hips, lemon balm and chamomile from the garden, or red clovers or red raspberry leaves that you forage are all great for teas.

* Dehydrate citrus peels for use in syrup making or adding to tea blends. They can also be candied or rehydrated and used in baking. The candied peels can be dipped in chocolate.

* Make medicine. If you are interested in herbal medicine, you can make your own herbal supplements or teas. Dry herbs that you grow in your garden, or that you can forage. Dandelion roots are something wonderful that grows profusely in pretty much every yard, and are best harvested in early spring. Harvest a year's worth, dehydrate, crumble lightly and store in glass jars til you need it.

* Use to dehydrate extra water kefir grains to store in case you kill your current batch (or want to give some to someone else later).

* Use as a humidifer in winter when the air is dry. Just place a bowl of water in the dehydrator and turn it on. It'll blow warm moisture into the air. If you have a Nesco, you can't fit a bowl in it, but you could put your leather trays onto the tray and pour water to fill.

Do you have any non-traditional uses for your dehydrator?

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Homemade Apple Chips

Now that apples are coming in, my (four) dehydrators are running round the clock. Apples are ridiculously cheap this time of year. A chain grocery store is selling a few varieties for $.49/lb. I discovered an orchard selling you-pick apples for $11/half bushel or seconds for $14/bushel. Around here apples sell for $2-3.50/lb most of the year. I can never justify spending that much, but I also don't want to live 11 months without apples. Dehydrating apples is a fantastic way to be able to freely indulge all year round.

Any type of apple will make a decent apple chip, but to make fantastic apple chips, go for something with more flavor like Fuji, Jonathon, Granny Smith or Braeburn. The more flavorful apples can be dehydrated as is and will be incredible. For more bland types like the "Delicious" varieties or Gala do well with a dusting of cinnamon. If you want to make apple chips to replace candy, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. If you are going for incredible eye-appeal, use Rome and leave the peel on.

Scrub your apples well and dry with a towel. Don't throw away any blemished apples. Just cut out nasty spots or bruises and use the rest.

Some people peel the apples. However, most of the fiber and nutrients in the apple are in or just under the peel, so this dramatically decreases the nutritional value of this snack. I leave them on. Sometimes if I'm making a giant batch, I will use my fancy peeler-corer-slicer. If you do peel them, always dehydrate the peels. Just pile them on a tray and flip halfway through. They may take a bit longer than the chips, but you don't waste those nutrients. Once dry, pulse them in the blender and then work them through a sieve for apple powder. This intensely apple-y powder can be added to smoothies, baked goods, or teas.

Quarter them and cut out the cores. Then lay the cut side down and slice the apples 1/4" or thinner, but be consistent in the thickness so your chips dehydrate at about the same speed. If you want to maintain a light, pretty color, spray with lemon juice as you go. If you want to add cinnamon or cinnamon sugar, toss them into a bowl as you cut and sprinkle occasionally and then toss before putting on the trays.

Lay the apple slices onto the trays in a single layer. They can be touching, but don't overlap for even drying. Use little end pieces to fill in gaps to maximize your tray space. If you have a temperature control, set it for 120 degrees. This temperature ensures that even if you forget to check them, they won't burn and it also seems to keep the color a little nicer. If you don't have temperature control, check the apples more frequently to avoid burning. If your dehydrator doesn't have a fan, rotate and rearrange the trays after checking every couple of hours.  Check for the first time at 4 hours, and then every hour or two after that (depending on your dehydrator).

Once they feel dry, tear a slice in half. Squeeze firmly and look at the torn edge for any sign of moisture. Eat a slice and see if you detect any moisture. If it seems to be thoroughly dry, put them into a glass jar with a tight fitting lid. Leave on the counter for 24 hours. If there is any sign of moisture inside the jar, go ahead and pop them back in the dehydrator to finish up. If there is no sign of moisture, it is safe to store in a cool, dry area. By checking them for 24 hours before storing out of sight, you reduce the risk of losing a jar to mold. That being said, I've never once lost a jar of any dehydrated food to mold.

Gala on the left; Rome on the right.

Apple chips are a fantastic snack on their own. We love to take a jar or two with us on road trips, especially those made without cinnamon or sugar to reduce mess. They are lightweight so they are perfect for hiking. I send small containers with Trucker for his lunch at work and they are great for adding to trail mix. You can also add them to baked goods or to top cakes. They can be rehydrated and used in pie making or applesauce. You can make a warm apple tea with cinnamon in autumn.

One reader mentioned on Facebook that she dehydrates crab apples for a tart snack. I am planning on trying this fantastic idea and will keep you updated.

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Dehydrated Tomatoes, or...the best way to preserve summer ever

I positively adore tomatoes, in every way possible. Salsa, marinara sauce, pizza, on salad, thick slices with cottage cheese, sun-dried and soaked in olive oil. *sigh*

Last year, my garden dumped a ton of tomatoes on me. I couldn't keep up! The stash on the counter grew and grew and we were eating them every way we could think of. I haven't learned to can yet (on the to-do list for the coming year), but was not about to waste any of those beautiful morsels of summer. I had been dehydrating apples for a year or so, and loving the results. I decided to try my hand at making dried tomatoes.

The benefits to dehydrating tomatoes are many. First off, it prevents wasting precious, beautiful, flavorful, perfect homegrown tomatoes. That alone makes it worth doing. It is incredibly easy, and the work of preparing the tomatoes and putting them on the trays is relaxing and meditative. It uses a low to moderate amount of electricity to preserve, and then none to store. It doesn't go bad if the power goes out (like frozen foods would). It can be stored in repurposed containers and therefore free containers. It doubles as decoration. It is good for at least several months when simply stored, and with ideal storage is good for much longer. It concentrates the flavor allowing for incredible food experiences. It stores in a small amount of space. Dehydrated tomatoes can be used in a wide variety of ways.

So now that I've convinced you, let's get started on the how.

Select any ripe tomato. Big juicy tomatoes won't be as good as meatier tomatoes, but I've never regretted dehydrating a tomato. When you dehydrate a tomato, you remove all or most of the water, so the flavor is super-concentrated. This is perfect. For a good tomato, you can turn good flavor into omg-this-is-epic flavor. For tomatoes that are a bit on the bland side, removing the water means that there is distinguishable flavor. Last year I grew a green tomato that was really pretty, but eaten fresh had little flavor. Dehydrating them meant that I could at least taste tomato when I ate them. This kept them from being thrown into the compost or otherwise wasted.

Cut them up, depending on what type. Cherry or grape tomatoes are best simply cut in half. Romas can be cut in halves, quarters, thick or thin slices. Large tomatoes should be sliced in thick or thin slices. A standard dehydrator will hold a lot of tomatoes so make sure you have a good number before getting started. Halves, quarters or thick slices will take longer to dehydrate, but too thin of slices may burn if you don't pull them out soon enough. I'd suggest no thinner than 1/4 inch slices.

Lay the tomato slices evenly across the screens. Don't allow them to overlap at all, but it is fine to have them touching. Place the trays into the dehydrator. If you have a temperature dial, set it for 130-135. The first few times you dehydrate them, make sure it's during the day and you can be home to check them. The last thing you want is to burn those precious beauties! Check them after 4 hours. In my old dehydrator, some of the tomatoes would be ready in 4-5 hours. If one tray is more dry than the others, rotate the trays so the least dry tray is where the most dry tray was. Check every hour or so for the first few times. Keep track of how long it takes your dehydrator to dry tomatoes for the thickness you decided on. In the future you can check less often or allow the dehydrator to run overnight or when you leave the house.

If you are drying slices, the slices will be brittle when ready. To check, remove a couple pieces from the dehydrator and allow them to cool for a couple minutes. They will seem less dry when hot, so you want to allow them to cool completely. Pick them up and drop them on the counter. They should clatter. You can also bend it. If it breaks in half completely, it is very dry and ready to store. If you are drying halves, quarters or thick slices, it won't break in half when you bend them. It will also be harder to dehydrate them as completely, so they may not store as long. For these, after they cool, tear a piece in half. Looking at the torn edge, squeeze the piece firmly. If you see a bead of water start to form or if it looks wet, dry it longer. You want it to look very dry in the middle.

Once they are dry, allow them to cool for several minutes. Don't allow them to cool for more than a half hour, as they can start to reabsorb water from the air, causing them to spoil in storage.

The easiest way to store dehydrated tomatoes is to place them in repurposed glass jars. I save most glass jars from condiments, pickles, sauces, and dressings. These are great for food storage. Wide mouthed jars are the best for storing dehydrated tomatoes. You can pack the tomatoes in rather tightly, then cap tightly.

For the longest term storage, keep in a cool, dark, dry place. However, if you plan on using them within the winter following harvest, you can use them as decoration. I line the tops of my cabinets and a shelving unit in my kitchen with glass jars filled with dried foods. It adds a lovely country charm to the room and I love it.

Now for using them! There are so many wonderful ways to use the tomatoes, you'll be devastated when your supply runs out and promise yourself that your going to double your garden space next year (if you are anything like me).

* As a snack-the intense flavor of dehydrated tomato slices is wonderful as is, but you can also sprinkle with seasonings before drying your tomato chips.
* Powder the bone-dry tomatoes. 1 part powder + 1 part water = tomato paste. 1 part powder + 3 parts water = tomato sauce. You could also use this to make tomato juice or tomato soup.
* Crumble tomato slices into a too-thin chili about a half hour before serving to thicken it up perfectly.
* When making a deli-meat sandwich for a bag lunch, place a slice of tomato against the mayo. It will rehydrate using the moisture from the mayo and provide incredible tomato flavor without the sogginess.
* Pour hot oil over a jar of them, then place in the refrigerator for a week. They'll soak up some of the oil to give you wonderful mock sun-dried tomatoes to use on sandwiches, salads, pizza or in pasta dishes. The oil will also be tomato flavored and incredible for salad dressings.
* If your enchilada filling is a bit too thin, add some crumbled tomatoes. They'll rehydrate during cooking.=

What are your favorite ways to use up dehydrated tomatoes?

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Mango Banana Fruit Leathers

 Earlier this year I bought a brand-spankin-new Nesco American Harvest Snackmaster Express all-in kit. So pretty. It included fruit leather trays, but I'd never been much into fruit roll-ups. Even as a kid, the neon colors, extreme sweetness and off-flavors bothered me. Last night though, I found myself with 6 mangoes that were just about to go from wonderfully ripe to compost. Around here, that's sacrilege. I had to find something to do with them all, immediately. I also had a bunch of bananas at the nice, mottled brown stage, not quite overripe, but sweet and delicious.

I chopped up all six mangoes, using a spoon to scrape the pits and peels to get every last lovely bit of the pulp. I blended them with 4 bananas in two batches. Each batch filled two leather trays. I added enough to completely cover the trays, but not so much that it was seeping over the edges. I used a spoon to try to level it out, but as you can see from the second photo, I didn't do the best job. That being said, they are still delicious, so it wasn't a complete failure.

I dehydrated them overnight at 115 degrees, which in hindsight was a little low. They were still tacky and still wet in some areas when I checked 9 hours later. I kicked the dehydrator up to 135 degrees and let them go for another 3 hours. When I checked on them, they were quite dry, not very tacky, but not crisp. I peeled them easily off of the dehydrator trays in one smooth motion. I laid them directly on the trays and dehydrated them for another half hour just to ensure they were fully dry.

They were quite tasty. Unlike the store-bought kind, they weren't sickly sweet, just lots of tropical flavor with a hint of sweetness. I'll admit that the color leaves something to be desired. Next batch may have some lemon juice or citric acid added to prevent browning.

I can't wait to try new flavors. Apple strawberry. Strawberry lemonade. Pineapple Mango. Blackberry Pear. 

These will be a great snack for road trips and hiking. For those with kids, this would be a great addition to lunch boxes. It is a quick, easy and cheap way to use up a lot of fruit that would otherwise go to waste.

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Homemade Mondays

Drying Frozen Foods, Or the Easiest Dehydrator Project Ever

March is National Frozen Foods Month. Grocery stores are having sales on some frozen foods, so it may be worth checking out the sales to see if there is anything you use on a better sale than you usually see, or if there is something that is usually out of your price range that is at a decent price now. Just don't buy those creepy frozen pizzas with three pepperonis and barely any cheese. Just don't.

I did buy several frozen foods today. Plain, normal, run-of-the-mill frozen veggies. They were on sale for $.88 per 1 lb package. That is a better price than those veggies usually are in the fresh produce section. While fresh veggies are picked and shipped halfway across the globe before they get to your store (and continue deteriorating until you buy them and eat them), frozen veggies are frozen shortly after picking and then shipped. While they are far from an ideal source of produce (that is your garden, farm stand or farmer's market), in the dead of winter, when the garden seems forever away and the stores from last year's harvest are dwindling, frozen veggies are a decent source of nutrition.

My freezer is currently filled to the gills with some clearance-priced yogurt, bacon I found on an awesome sale, and some venison my parents gave me. There wasn't a lot of room for frozen peas and carrots. So I dehydrated them.

I have a Nesco American Harvest Snackmaster dehydrator with 5 small-holed trays. My last dehydrator was an older Snackmaster that had the large hole in the middle. Even thought the trays are not the same,  they fit perfectly together, so I use the old trays on my new dehydrator. Now I can dehydrate 9 trays all at once.

I dehydrated 6 packages of frozen foods: 2 lbs broccoli, 1 lb green beans and 3 pounds carrots/peas/corn/green beans.

This was the easiest dehydrator project ever. Usually filling the dehydrator is a 1-2 hour ordeal, scrubbing, peeling, chopping/slicing and arranging. Not this time. I simply cut the bags open, dumped some on each tray and spread them roughly even. The only cutting I had to do was to cut a few of the larger broccoli pieces into smaller pieces so the trays would sit flat, but in the 2 packages, there were only 6 large pieces. The produce doesn't need to be blanched. This is definitely a time saver, and an especially easy way to preserve food when you are desperately short on time.

They fit on 8 trays. The peas, corn and diced carrots were very small, so I put those on fruit roll trays or mesh screens so they didn't fall through the holes. If you don't have special trays, you could just use plastic wrap over the trays. I put them on 135 degrees.

This seems to be a great way to take advantage of a good sale, increase my food stores to get me through until the garden starts to produce, while saving valuable freezer space meat sales. Also, in my area, power outages are common, and sometimes last for weeks. For that reason, I prefer to dehydrate most of my food stores so I don't risk losing everything. Next year I hope to get a bigger harvest from the garden, and put up more homegrown foods for winter eating. However, dehydrated frozen foods definitely has it's place in the food stockpiling plan, and will be a great way to put up foods that I don't grow, like broccoli and corn.