dehydrator

[pumkinlover]

Well I have taken the plunge! 
When I was trying to use the oven for drying figs I also put a few plums in.  They were delicious so that convinced me as well as your recommendations.
I thought the same as you squeezyjohn but we only started lighting the wood burner when a lot of potential drying produce has been and gone.  Any way I will try to time for when the solar panels are working.  I already do that when possible for other electricity gobbling devices.

[pumkinlover]

[pumkinlover]

Well it came yesterday. Got tons of apples so decided to give it a try! I hadn't reckoned on how much humidity it would cause- so now got the dehumidifier running too. Double environmental impact!

[Melbourne12]

Our "Preserve It Naturally" book arrived, and it is indeed excellent.

I had a go at making fruit leather.  The apple, pear and kiwi fruit one came out beautifully, and roled up exactly as it should do.  It made healthy "sweets" for the grandchildren.

I liquidised a nice ripe pineapple to make leather as well.  The result was a bit unexpected.  In the 12 hours that it took for the apple, pear and kiwi, the pineapple dried quite literally to a crisp.  But we found that pineapple crisps went down pretty well with the kids, too!

[Melbourne12]

We're still loving the dehydrator.  I'm afraid that I had to make several batches of candied peel.  It was so delicious that we ate it like sweeties rather than keeping it for baking.

And if you're in a hurry, or need to raise a very rich sweetened yeast dough, it works superbly as a warm drawer.

[gwynleg]

Hi Melbourne, wondered how you are getting on with the dehydrator now? I am wondering about the humidity that others have mentioned as dont want to set up an issue in the room the dehydrator would be in. Have you tried other drying things and would you recommend a dehydrator purchase?!
thanks

[Hector]

So glad to find this post. I've been saving to get one....but then hubby said what about space to store dried produce and does it last?

We grow lots of Spinach and greens....do they dehydrate well?

[lottie lou]

Dried beans etc take up less space (in my opinion) than their frozen equivalents do.  Store in jars, boxes etc in the cupboard.  Have not thought about drying spinach, however I grow that chard and perpetual spinach and they usually survive the colder weather and still can be picked.  Courgettes and tomatoes are my favourite.

[johhnyco15]

cherry tomatoes dehydrated chopped small on a cream cheese bagel fantastic this will be my first full season with my trusted dehydrator there will be dried produce everywhere

[Hector]

I've also succumbed. So excited :)

[gwynleg]

Would love to hear more about types of dehydrators used. I am looking at the 9 tray excelsior  - do any of you have this and could comment on it please (or others)
thanks

[lottie lou]

cherry tomatoes dehydrated chopped small on a cream cheese bagel fantastic this will be my first full season with my trusted dehydrator there will be dried produce everywhere

Doesn't when drying cherry tomatoes you end up with only little dots anyway - not worth chopping?  How dry do you dry your tomatoes?

[Melbourne12]

Would love to hear more about types of dehydrators used. I am looking at the 9 tray excelsior  - do any of you have this and could comment on it please (or others)
thanks

We have the 9 tray Excalibur, the simplest one without the timer.  It works brilliantly, but it's undoubtedly bulky.  We've used it mainly for drying fruit so far, including fruit leathers and candied peel.  The only failure that we've had so far is a fruit leather mixture in which I included orange and lemon pulp.  It didn't dry well, and went mouldy.

Everything else has been excellent.  We tend to dry vegetables to bone dry for best results.  Fruit for snacking on can be left a little bit softer.

[pumkinlover]

In hindsight I might have got the smaller version, just because it seemed to take so long chop up the apples, however they were windfalls so a lot more fiddly. I had to set it going so the first prepared ones didn't oxidise while I was still peeling and chopping the other 8 trays worth.

Lottielou- I find the very small tomatoes are somewhat tiny when dehydrated but the taste is superb.

Gwnleg-Just be aware that the catch on the front panel of the excalibur is somewhat fiddly. Need care to put it on.

[gwynleg]

Thanks for all of the comments - very useful. Think a purchase will be made....

[gwynleg]

Well I have brought an Excalibur 9 tray model - very exciting. Running it for the first time this morning there is a strong warm plastic smell (not burning). Has anyone else  had this? Thought of running it without the door on for a while to see it that gets rid of it. Don't want to make my first try with fruit smell of plastic. Any advice please?

[Melbourne12]

We had this on the first run - it's just the new plastic smell and should soon disappear.

One thing to watch out for is that the wire mesh at the back can get pushed back enough to interfere with the fan blades. Apparently it can happen in transit.  That'll also smell, but it'll be a burning smell.  If you get that, switch it off and just ease the wire guard forward so that the fan blades rotate freely.

[gwynleg]

Thanks Melbourne. Leaving it on a while helped.Experimented with dehydrating some frozen fruits - cherries, blueberries, rhubarb and raspberries. Had thought they would be great for putting in with yoghourt or with muesli but not sure now. I did them till they were really dry/hard and wonder now if we should dry them to a softer more chewy stage?

[Melbourne12]

Thanks Melbourne. Leaving it on a while helped.Experimented with dehydrating some frozen fruits - cherries, blueberries, rhubarb and raspberries. Had thought they would be great for putting in with yoghourt or with muesli but not sure now. I did them till they were really dry/hard and wonder now if we should dry them to a softer more chewy stage?

If you're going to keep them in a jar or a sealed box at ambient temperature for any length of time, then they need to be quite dry.

We sometimes semi-dry fruit as you've suggested for adding to porridge or cereals, but we then keep them in the fridge.  I guess that's not drying for preservation, but drying to intensify the flavours.

Although I've only tried this with peel and chestnuts, you can also soak the fruit in sugar syrup before semi-drying it.  The sugar makes sure that it has a long life, even if it's not completely dry.  But of course it's then not the healthiest of snacks!

[gwynleg]

Have made parsnip crisps with a glut that I found hiding on the allotment! Its all trial and error so can think of ways to improve them but overall they are pleasantly similar to shop brought... I sliced them then mixed with some oil and salt before dehydrating them. I think I used too much oil and they took ages and ages to dry. I think I may try without oil on some and use a light oil spray on some to see what happens then.

Hoping to hear others successes and things they would do differently on the dehydrator front!

[BarriedaleNick]

Has anyone tried garlic?  I always have issues storing garlic and it tends to start growing or going off early in the year.  I thought maybe some thin slices of garlic might dry well??