where in we discuss dehydration of vegetables 101

*** edited to add some links to official dehydration sites at the bottom of this post

as some of you folks may remember, i keep a very large pantry.
i try to make sure that we have enough of everything to last us, in case of emergencies

storms
power outages
shortages (remember the rice shortage?)
financial set backs
illness

i try to keep three methods of food storage.

frozen
canned
dried

my friend rho asked me to do a post about dehydrated foods....
so i am going to start talking about that today (which is thursday for you folks)

first off i want to tell you, drying food at home is not hard,
with some minimal care,
it lasts a very long time, properly stored,
and it's wonderful for emergencies.
or because you just can't bear to scrub, peel and slice the carrots for the stew tonight cause you are so very tired from working all day

first off there are plenty of books on this (we'll get to the book list in another post- if i forget, you remind me)

so we'll start with the real basics, the dehydrator
i have several (yes i know)
i have two excaliburs (one 9 tray and one 5) and an american harvest with something like 11 trays.
i like all of them
and sometimes ALL of them are in use at the same time!

some of the things i dry the most?
carrots
broccoli
sweet peppers
tomatoes
ONIONS (you haven't lived until you've eaten dried vidalia onions-dry them OUTSIDE-you will thank me for that one)
cabbage
herbs
oranges
lemons
limes
grapefruit
zucchini
eggplant
peaches
sliced mushrooms
asparagus
celery


(and occasionally potatoes but you have to really watch potatoes, they mold FAST)

so let's start with something very easy.
onions! in spite of the smell, and i am very very serious about drying them OUTSIDE of your living area, they will get to you if not........
onions are great to dry
i sliced them up in the food processor one year and it was even easier to do
i like them about 1/8 thick
spread them in one layer on the trays, and depending on weather, i start at about 5 hours, then flip them until they are almost crisp. these things are fantastic as a snack btw.

now mine changed color a bit but that was ok too
we also grind them for onion powder as we need them

when they are totally dry, i put them in mason jars with a 'dry can' seal i use a seal-a-meal jar sealer and a used but washed canning lid and ring
label (although onions are pretty obvious.....citrus not so much so)
i think 50 # of vidalia dried down to 4 quarts or maybe 5, i wasn't able to do them this year or last so i can't quite remember how many, but i know that i STILL have them on the shelf
keep them stored in a cool, dark, DRY place (in moist climates, either use them food grade 'stay dry' packs or maybe try the heat sealing mylar bags or both--)

i will tell you also that i hooked more people on drying food by letting them have some of my dried vidalia onions....they are like fantastic chips- seriously, they are better then onion flavored potato chips!

i basically dry citrus the same way, just sliced and dried......USE ORGANIC citrus if you are going to do that ok? and remember to label the jars...... next time lemons and limes are on sale.... pick them up and dry them
i dry these guys crisp, and i do use them often
the oranges in either blueberry orange compot or my cranberry orange sauce at the holidays
sometimes i grind up the citrus slices and throw that into cookie dough......

now some things need to be blanched briefly before drying, i usually blanch broccoli and then slice it thin and dry it- not so much things like peppers or tomatoes, or zucchinis etc.

i cut the veggies uniformly, and i try to cut them into pieces that are pretty easy to deal with, i like to dice peppers and eggplant
i slice carrots and zucchini into 1/8'' slices
i grow special tomatoes sometimes for sun drying but i dry them in the dehydrator (they sometimes turn very dark but that's ok, i don't use sulfur or anything to preserve color)


use? well....... i mostly use them in soups or stews (either soak in liquid prior or just throw them in about 1/2 or so before you're going to eat )
and in sauces- also in dips with sour cream
i like the broccoli in cream of broccoli cheddar soup

but i am going to tell you a HUGE secret.......shhhhhh don't tell bernie, and DO NOT TELL YOUR KIDS
i grind my dried veggies up and put them into things like stuffing for poultry, or into a casserole sauce,
or into meatballs, meatloaf...... hahahaha
what they don't know is wonderful for them

ok, so that's your intro to dehydrating veggies and fruits
i know it's basic but really it's not hard

ask me questions in the comments and we will continue this for a few days if you find it interesting and useful...

http://www.clemson.edu/sustainableag/IP147_food_dehydration.pdf

http://msuextension.org/publications/HomeHealthandFamily/MT200907HR.pdf

http://nchfp.uga.edu/