DEHYDRATING

DEHYDRATING

DEHYDRATING

A large garden can be a little overwhelming when you find yourself with an over abundance of zucchini or peppers.
You may find yourself giving away most of your harvest just to keep up with it.

I know a lot of people who grow a garden but still spend a small fortune at the supermarket for things they could have made themselves from their garden.

You can enjoy the bounty of your vegetable and herb garden year round by using a dehydrator to create your own dry soup mixes, meals and seasonings.

If you consider the amount of money you will spend on a can of soup or a box of Au Gratin potatoes you might find it is not only heather but also cheaper to make it yourself.

By dehydrating or canning your harvest you can build up your food stores with shelf stable food.
If the power should go out you won't have to worry about losing everything because it is in the freezer.

I guess the first thing you will want to do is clean and sterilize your jars and lids
and make sure you have plenty of oxygen absorbers.
After you clean the jars you can put them back in the box to keep them clean and organized.
Canning jars are always best but recycling glass jars with tight fitting lids can save a lot of money.
You will want a clean work area where you can setup your dehydrator(s). You may want to consider a couple of timers if your dehydrator(s) do not have them.
I have more than one dehydrator because I do a lot of dehydrating year round.

Keep in mind that when you dehydrate onions, garlic, peppers or Sauerkraut you aren't going to want to do it inside the house, for obvious reasons.
If you have a shed or garage you may want to setup a permanent work area there.

You can find the mesh dehydrator tray inserts at Amazon.
I made my own out of plastic canvas.
It has worked well for me and helps keep food from falling to the bottom of the dehydrator.

You may want to start out with a few simple things at first to get familiar with your dehydrator such as frozen corn or peas.
You can pick up a few bags
at the store to practice on and they don't need to be blanched before you dehydrate them.

Brake the frozen corn apart in the bag and spread out on the trays in a single layer.
Allow enough space between so the corn will dry evenly.

Set the temperature to about 135 degrees for about 8 hours.
Check for dryness.
It should be brittle and hard. If not, rotate the trays and reset the time for another 4 to 6 hours.
Let it cool for about an hour and store in a clean sterilized jar with one or two oxygen absorbers.
Dehydrated corn makes a great snack.

Winter time is a great time to practice with the frozen fruits and vegetables at your leisure.

Once you have gotten familiar with your dehydrator and have a few verities of vegetables dehydrated you can start building up your soup mixes or other recipes.

I will be sharing a few my recipes on dehydrating soon and hope you will do the same.