got a new kitchen toy today

[feather]

... a food dehydrator

 

 Yippee. loads of fun.

  my first dehydrated apple: 

 

 

your recipes and tips welcome

[witness]

I like doing tomatoes in mine. I just sprinkle a little s& p on them first...

... a food dehydrator

 

 Yippee. loads of fun.

  my first dehydrated apple: 1st apple.jpg

 

 

your recipes and tips welcome

[feather]

thanks Carol  

 tomatoes was one of the fruits I wondered about using in it...

   they have such a high water content compared to my other fav fruits-

   pears, peaches, cherries, banana

 

  http://www2.ca.uky.edu/enri/pubs/enri129.pdf

 

  carol, does it take 12 hrs+ for tomatoes? 

[witness]

thanks Carol  

 tomatoes was one of the fruits I wondered about using in it...

   they have such a high water content compared to my other fav fruits-

   pears, peaches, cherries, banana

 

  http://www2.ca.uky.edu/enri/pubs/enri129.pdf

 

  carol, does it take 12 hrs+ for tomatoes?

[witness]

I never did time them but every hour I would switch the trays around to make sure they all got even heat. You will know they're ready when they are dry and chewy but not hard.

[feather]

thanks Carol

 

going to make jerky soon.

   turkey jerky.

  the book says 'the leaner the meats, the better results.'

 

wonder what seasonings are best to use... anyone? 

[LuanaGlobal]

Try Kale in that Dehydrator.

[LeslieDean]

... a food dehydrator

 

 Yippee. loads of fun.

  my first dehydrated apple: 1st apple.jpg

 

 

your recipes and tips welcome

Soooo, what all have you tried and what has been your favorites?

[feather]

Try Kale in that Dehydrator.

  YES! Kale! thank you!

   sisters keep telling me to try it,

  they only sell tiny kale leaves at my fav produce mart,

  afraid they will shrink to nothing so I'm looking for larger leaf kind

...  how long do you let the kale 'cook' Luana?

 

   hi Leslie   have tried apples MMMmmmm...

                             pear <-- another MMmmmm

                             peaches... hmm they stuck to the trays

 

  *rinsed all in lemon juice prior to dehydrating, taste is great

   and no turning brown

 

   do I cook sweet potato first? or do them raw?

 

  more suggestions welcome!

[witness]

Nice, now you can cut apples in rings, dry them and make an apple wreath with cinnamon stix.

[feather]

apples & cinnamon MMMmmm good idea

  thanks Carol!

 

still very new at it but willing to try anything 

[Carol E]

This makes me want to get my dehydrator out of storage!  Thanks for the reminders and ideas!

[LeslieDean]

I just adore kitchen gadgets! My husband refers to me as 'Tim the tool time Taylor' of the kitchen world! Remember the show Home Improvement? I have had just about every kitchen gimmick that has come down the pipe. But I have never had a hydrator!

[CHecker]

I love my dehydrator. Right now I'm making my own bread (ya, ya ok bread-maker style!) but all the ingredientas are non-GMO and organic. So I sprout lentils and mung beans then dehydrate them at 105 degrees for about 12 hours, or longer if a big batch. After drying I grind them up into a powder and add to my bread recipe.  

I also picked a lot of cauliflower in the farm fields this summer, I pickled some and dried some for stews later.  

[LeslieDean]

I love my dehydrator. Right now I'm making my own bread (ya, ya ok bread-maker style!) but all the ingredientas are non-GMO and organic. So I sprout lentils and mung beans then dehydrate them at 105 degrees for about 12 hours, or longer if a big batch. After drying I grind them up into a powder and add to my bread recipe.  

I also picked a lot of cauliflower in the farm fields this summer, I pickled some and dried some for stews later.

My goodness you are energetic!

[CHecker]

Me? Nah, I just have tired of so much junk in the food supply and switched to local farmer markets and doing my own growing and sprouting. My garden this year was banner!! Remember the cooler weather for the brothers during printing mentioned at the AM? Well, I think we got more of the heat here on the Pacific NW Coast so our growing season was for the record books. Dehydrating is a wonderful tool to keep foods longer. You should try doing the sprout thing Leslie, it's really easy and doesn't need any attention except 5 minutes a day. Kinda like the ferments I'm doing too. Oh, maybe some of your customers would like sprouts on their sandwich instead of lettuce? It's a nice change, and much safer (cheaper) than buying sprouts in the store.  

[LeslieDean]

I love sprouts and can never find them local in this rural area! I miss things like at home delivery, internet, dependable land line service! Just the little things people never think about...If I ever put one on a sandwich someone would probably asked out this "hair" got on there!

[CHecker]

You're so funny! Hair!! But I understand your situation. I'm also in a rural area and new things aren't always understood.

But since people learned of what I was doing here with all my "new fangled" eating I've gotten a really good response. Some sisters want to start doing it too. And canning? It's become the "new" fad. Sisters and brothers alike are learning and having fun.  

 

So Leslie, at least try the lentil sprouts, super easy, take 1/2 cup dry lentils and soak overnight or up to 18 hours if you want, I do. Drain and put into container (I use a mason jar with screening on it or use the big cottage cheese tubs with the lid cut out and fit screening in it) and leave on your counter. Rinse and drain the sprout seeds every day. Some say 2 or 3 times a day but I find they're too wet that way. Once a day is perfect. In about 6-8 days you'll have nice sprouts to do with as you see fit. Turkey/ham/roast beef wraps or sandwiches, on salads, dried. It was amazing to me how many people loved sprouts but didn't eat them anymore due to salmonella in commercially done sprouts. When they found out how fast and easy it was they've all joined in doing it, well almost everyone!

 

And mung beans are good too.

[CHecker]

Let me know when you're interested in fermenting......................

[Toy Poodles]

This is what a dehydrator is for in the fall- all you deer hunters out there, after you've eaten your choicest portion of meat, give the rest to us with dehydrators. We have a metal grinder which we screw down to a ply-board table and we grind the rest of that venison. Then we have already bought from Walmart in the sporting section our different types of jerky spices, so we mix these into the meat. We had also bought a squirt meat gun at Wally World too, so all we do is pack the ground spiced up meat into the guns and squirt out a line onto the dehydrator trays. We fill up our dehydrator trays with long squirts of venison and then the next day we have tons of JERKY!!!! Yeah!!! 

If you don't have anyone with venison to give you then you can use beef or pork. Have fun. They are also good to fill up your emergency bags with baggies of jerky. 

[LeslieDean]

Cheryl, I am excited to try the sprouts! Thank you so much!

[LeslieDean]

Can you do alfalfa sprouts?

[CHecker]

I haven't done alfalfa but I can. Why don't you try it and let me know how it turns out?

The reason I do lentil's is because a lot of people rave over lentil soup. I can't STAND it!! Ich, ick! So to get my lentils I sprouted them. The nutty crunchy flavor/texture is incredible. A brother I know takes them by the handful from the bag and stuffs them in his mouth (while his wife cringes. She got salmonilla poisoning from store bought and can't eat them at all).  

I also sprout raw almonds, (hard to find raw due to USDA rules regarding raw nuts! Pfff, Really!) Sprouted raw almonds are an amazing energy source and become a whole different food, incredibly nourishing.    

[LeslieDean]

I haven't done alfalfa but I can. Why don't you try it and let me know how it turns out?

The reason I do lentil's is because a lot of people rave over lentil soup. I can't STAND it!! Ich, ick! So to get my lentils I sprouted them. The nutty crunchy flavor/texture is incredible. A brother I know takes them by the handful from the bag and stuffs them in his mouth (while his wife cringes. She got salmonilla poisoning from store bought and can't eat them at all).  

I also sprout raw almonds, (hard to find raw due to USDA rules regarding raw nuts! Pfff, Really!) Sprouted raw almonds are an amazing energy source and become a whole different food, incredibly nourishing.    

 I will go to Whole Foods Market today and get the alfalfa seeds.  I watched the video on you tube last night and am excited to try them!  We really like them in a pita pocket with light, fluffy, scrambled eggs with a lot of freshly grated black pepper.  Hopefully by this weekend I will have some.

 

I really want to learn how to garden in Paradise.  I can not grown anything except very tall weeds.  Even basil which everyone says grows so easily---nope.  ;-(

I buy a herb garden container every year and watch them die.  Rick finally said "Why do you continue to torture yourself that way?"

[CHecker]

I'm excited for you to grow alfalfa sprouts. You're gonna love it when you do it. Just remember to use screening.

 

In the new system I'll come over and help you get started in the garden. A little help and you'll be an expert in no time.

 

If it makes you feel any better I planted zucchini last year, several times, and they all died! Yup I killed many zucchini! But this year I planted only one and it's doing great still, a tribute to the good weather we've had I think. I have 1 big one and 5 small ones. It's supposed to be nice for another week or so. I'll pick them then put them in the dehydrator.

 

Now, since this is a topic of kitchen gadgets I have to say another favorite is the wire racks you put on a baking sheet so your chicken can cook all around and be baked crispy. I'll marinate chicken over night in salt water to tighten the flesh then rinse, pat dry, dunk in whipped eggs then panko mixed with seasonings of your choice, placed on the racks and baked at 350, the chicken is crunchy and "fried" tasting. No more soggy anything for us!