My new dehydrator

[Currahee]

Got a dehydrator Sunday, something I've been wanting to do- it opens up several survival type food manufacturing capabilities.

1st batch just as a test.  There are some peaches, babnanas, green apple, and pineapple.  It ran for almost 16 hours- lesson learned slice tings evenly or you will get uneven drying.


2nd batch- cut it as thin as I could trying to speed up the process and I'm looking for ingredients for home made trail mix.

This represents about one apple after 4 hours

[Well-Prepared Witch]

Very cool!  I just got a dehydrator for my birthday.  My first tests were mixed.  The dried apples were delicious!  I definitely want to do that again.  The apricots and bananas not so much.  I think I sliced the apricots too thin and let them dry too long.  They were almost powdery in texture rather than that chewy texture that you get from store bought apricots.  The bananas I'm not sure what I did wrong.  They didn't taste a thing like the banana chips you buy in the store.  I'll have to do some reading about dehydrating and see if I can't figure out what I did wrong with the bananas.

[Currahee]

The store bought banana chips are fried in oil, and terribly fatty.

[Well-Prepared Witch]

I did not know that!    No wonder they taste so good. *sigh*

[Currahee]

I've got a run of bananas going right now, I'm trying them while they are still pretty green, read that helps a little.  I also saw a youtube vid where a woman coated them in honey first.  I think that would rock.

[Well-Prepared Witch]

Ooh - I'll have to try the dipping in honey thing.  Yum!  Also, when I revisited the bananas not expecting them to taste like banana chips, they're not bad.  Not my favorite way to eat a banana (smushed up on toast  ), but edible.

[thatGuy]

What machine did you end up with Currahee?

You might want to look into getting a deli slicer or mandolin so you get nice even slices, just be careful to keep the kids away from that French Finger Slicer.

[Currahee]

It's a cheapo ($44) from academy, mostly meant for Jerky I think but I haven't tried any meat yet.

I think we might have a slicer already, I will look in to it.  My favorite things at the moment are cutting apples really small and mixing them with peanuts and the bananas.

[USMC0331]

We have a cheap one that I've used for making hamburger jerky treats for the dog in. 

This year we tried to dry some shredded zucchini but it didn't work out too well.

I need to learn how to dehydrate more stuff for medium term storage. That and sun dried garden items.

So much to learn in so little time!

We are going to check if the price of bulk harvest foods are worth dehydrating this year and try pears (local crops) if possible.

[thedigininja]

In South Africa we have a staple snack that started off as a necessity for our forefathers called biltong. It's spiced, cured and dried meat, usually beef or game. It's amazing and the perfect way to store meat. Anyway I recently bought myself a "biltong maker" which is literally just a plastic box with a fan in the top and ventilation holes in the side. I modified it by installing a 60w incandescent light bulb and wrapping the inside with aluminium foil (making sure to leave the ventilation open). First I made some beef biltong (without the light) because it's unaffordable in stores now but since I've also dehydrated tomatoes, mushrooms, leeks and even cheese. I found that the cheese works best if you start it off with the light(about 12 hours) wipe off the oil coating and then continue with just the fan (36 to 48 hours). My next step is to find a small humidifier to place inside so that I can do nice thick cuts of pork.

[Nemo]

How would a humidifier do anything to cure pork?  Do you mean dehumidifier or ??  Dehydrating means getting water out, correct?   A humidifier means putting water in.  I am totally confabulated with this.

Nemo

 

[thedigininja]

With thick cuts of pork you need to control the temperature and humidity. Cool temperature and humidity starting at about 80% for the first week and then gradually reduced to 50 percent over the next 3 weeks or so until it is ready.  You do this to prevent the outer from drying out too quickly leaving the core moist and susceptible to rot. By maintaining a steady humidity you ensure it dries evenly.
That's why it's easier to use thinner cuts.