Saturday, January 31, 2009

Using a new toy....

Usually on Saturdays we post about a sweet treat that we made to snack on. While I do have something for you today, there really isn't much of a recipe for it, however, it gives me a chance to show off one of the a new toys I got for Christmas!

I had been wanting a food dehydrator for awhile now and thanks to my parents, we got one! I was afraid that I'd use it once and then forget about it, but over the past couple of weeks, we have certainly put it to work!

The first way I had to use it was to make dried apples. We used to buy them occasionally and they never lasted long enough because we kept picking at the bag in the pantry! I asked Jeff what kind of apple he wanted to try first and since we both like Granny Smith's, he thought those would be a good way to start. I used the food processor to make short work of slicing them down, but I think I'll use a mandolin next time as they were a bit thin. To aid them from turning very dark as they sat in the circulating hot air, we gave them a five minute dunk in a mixture of water and Ball's Fruit Fresh, which is basically ascorbic acid (vitamin C). The mixture (sans water) also works well to keep guacamole bright green if it needs to sit out.

I filled up the trays and they were done in just about 4 to 5 hours! I think the next batch will get a dusting of cinnamon and I'll also cut them thicker to give 'em a little more chew. I can't wait until it is apple picking time again and take a trip out to the orchards like we did last year for fresh apples.

Since we finished off the four trays I made (mental note... need to buy more trays!), the next way we used it was to make banana chips!

I found these took longer to dry out - probably closer to 6 or 7 hours, depending on how thick the slices ended up. Now, these will not end up being the same as those crisp banana chips you find in the market - those have actually been fried! While you could probably achieve crispness if you left them in longer, you'd end up loosing a lot of the good things found in bananas. Sweet and chewy, these are good enough by themselves, but we found them outrageously good slathered with a layer of homemade peanut or cashew butter! We are actually on our 4th batch as of this morning - I didn't realize how much we would end up liking these. Now that we've done these a few times, I've found it takes about 9 large bananas to fill up all the trays and they are best sliced about 1/4" thick.

So, what's on tap next? I'm excited to try making our own raisins, fruit leather (especially using strawberries picked from that fantastic farm we found last year), dried tomatoes when they strike late this summer, maybe some dried cranberries and even homemade jerky! Do you have a dehydrator? What else do you like to use yours for?

23 comments:

  1. We used to have one, and I used to use it all the time for making dried tomatoes... SOOOO much better than the ones you get in the store! They were so good, that we usually ended up snacking on them as they were more than we did for cooking with. I used to pick up ginat bags of tomatoes at the farmer's market in the summer. Now that you have got me thinking about it, I really should pick up another machine...

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  2. Yum--everything looks and sounds great! Thanks for the tip of using the food processor to slice the apples--I don't have a mandolin, and it is hard to slice the apples uniformly!

    I haven't used my dehydrator in forever, but your post has inspired me! You should try drying pears--they are SO good. Also, pineapple! It is addictive and delicious!

    Courtney

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  3. I ended up giving mine because I was not using it. Now looking at your pics I should have kept it.

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  4. I love homemade beef jerky. In fact, I made some last weekend that I've been snacking on all week. I use it in the summer to dry herbs. I haven't made pineapple in a long time... may need to do that tomorrow! Be sure to post any jerky recipes you come across that you enjoy.

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  5. We make beef jerky. Do try peaches in the summer and pears. So yummy. We also do apples and tomatoes during the summer.

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  6. I don't have one but seeing what you've done with yours I wish I did! you're dried fruit looks great!

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  7. I love dried mango! I usually get it in bulk from Whole Foods. I don't have a dehydrator, but if I did that's what I'd make.

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  8. You can also put mushrooms in there. They reconstitute well.

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  9. Mushrooms work well in this and reconstitute well when you need them.

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  10. Also Kiwi fruit . orange,paw paw yummmmmmm

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  11. HI. I was just reading last week on someone's blog how they use the dehydrator for all the usual stuff, as well as saving food from going bad. Vegetables and fruits that will go bad before you can use them, can all be thrown in and dehydrated, then store them in jars and use in recipes. YOu can use the dehydrated things for soups and stews, dips and stir frys, pretty much everything, and you don't have to worry about wasting food.
    I loved this tip and have been using our dehydrator all the time now.

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  12. I had this identical dehydrator but didn't use it much. I was afraid that the dried goods wouldn't be safe so stored them in the freezer. We raised a lot of blueberries but couldn't get the berries to dry; they ended up like little liquid filled balloons. When we sold our little farm and moved to an active adult community, I sold the dehydrator. I feel it had been a waste of money.

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  13. I have been considering getting a dehydrator, I am glad it is working for you!
    Keep us posted on good thickness and drying times of new foods! :)

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  14. I got one this summer, it's awesome! I dry a lot of mushrooms, then grind them up and use them as a flavour enhancer in everything. Works great!

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  15. Just found your blog, and I'm glad I did. I got a dehydrator a few months ago, and I've used it several times for beef jerkey. Man, it's so nice to have homemade jerkey, not to mention the price savings. I have 8 trays on mine, and 1 average eye of round will fill it up. And make what would have cost me $40-50 dollars for less than $20.
    I'm definitly going to give the apple/banana option a try. I'm looking for some healthy snack options, and those fill the bill quite nicely.
    Keep up the awesome work.

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  16. I love using my dehydrator! My favorite thing to do for fruit leather is using applesauce. Strawberry applesauce makes very easy, tasty fruit leather. The fruit leather inserts for the dehydrator are great too! I've used cut up parchment paper in place of them, but the trays are the easiest.

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  17. This it sooooo cool Joe!!
    I also have thought about getting one but always think twice if it is really worth the investment (I am unsure I would use it much...).
    You certainly made me think a little more now!!
    Ana

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  18. My mother had a dehydrator when I was a kid. We didn't eat much candy or sweets, but dried fruit was certainly a treat! My favorite is berry fruit leather as well as dried apples.

    I wonder if you could dry jalepenos and herbs for future use.

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  19. Fantastic tips - thanks! I'm really looking forward to exploring the possibilities with the dehydrator.

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  20. We bought a (Ronco) dehydrator over 10 years ago and love it. Although we put it away and don't use it for a while, we love it when we get it out and make lots of yummy dried things. My favorite is bananas--LOVE them. They are nothing like whatever those banana things are in the store! My husband's favorite is definitely jerky! FUN kitchen toy!

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  21. Hi Joe-
    Been meaning to tell you forever how CUTE Gus is! I saw your comment about possibly going to agility class....I compete very actively in dog agility and it is a BLAST! Be careful though-it is a very addicting sport....

    Anyway-one of the trendy dog treats these days are dried sweet potatoes...if I had a dehydrator I would make sweet potato chews for my dogs!

    Sheila in MD

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  22. Glad I happened upon your post... now I have a new gadget to add to my must-have list. Looks like a fun thing to experiment with!!

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  23. Rachel, the dehydrator did a wonderful job on drying herbs; I dried Greek oregano, flat leaf parsley, and basil. We also dried Jalapeno peppers and then crushed them to make flakes or ground them in an old fashioned meat grinder to make hot pepper powder. Working with the hot peppers sure caused major sneezing fits.

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