Ribitt wrote:
>
> And dehydrating in a convection oven at 140 or 150 F works, but you end up
> with shrivelled up chunks, high in flavour, but with a dark colour. The
> texture is "leathery".
>

Blanching first fixes that problem. I don't know why.

Best regards,
Bob

zxcvbob wrote:
> Ribitt wrote:
> >
> > And dehydrating in a convection oven at 140 or 150 F works, but you
end up
> > with shrivelled up chunks, high in flavour, but with a dark colour.
The
> > texture is "leathery".
> >
>
> Blanching first fixes that problem. I don't know why.
>
> Best regards,
> Bob

I know the term blanching, but have never seen it done first hand.
(Unless it involves a streetcar or a tin roof.) DO you get water
boiling first, and then dunk the food in the water, perhaps with a
perforated pot insert? Or else held above the water with a steamer
basket? And for how long? I have a dehydrator that I usee only
occasionally, but when the instructions call for blanching I am still
clueless.

Meantime I agree -- freezing peppers works fine; my dehydrated
attempts (peppers) were useless after.

wrote:
> zxcvbob wrote:
>
>>Ribitt wrote:
>>
>>>And dehydrating in a convection oven at 140 or 150 F works, but you
>
> end up
>
>>>with shrivelled up chunks, high in flavour, but with a dark colour.
>
> The
>
>>>texture is "leathery".
>>>
>>
>>Blanching first fixes that problem. I don't know why.
>>
>>Best regards,
>>Bob
>
>
> I know the term blanching, but have never seen it done first hand.
> (Unless it involves a streetcar or a tin roof.) DO you get water
> boiling first, and then dunk the food in the water, perhaps with a
> perforated pot insert? Or else held above the water with a steamer
> basket? And for how long? I have a dehydrator that I usee only
> occasionally, but when the instructions call for blanching I am still
> clueless.
>
> Meantime I agree -- freezing peppers works fine; my dehydrated
> attempts (peppers) were useless after.
>

I have a perforated pan insert for steaming vegetables. I steamed the
peppers in that for, I dunno, 3 minutes. Then I rinsed them briefly
with cold water so they wouldn't overcook in their own heat.

Best regards,
Bob

In article .com>,
wrote:

> I know the term blanching, but have never seen it done first hand.
> (Unless it involves a streetcar or a tin roof.) DO you get water
> boiling first, and then dunk the food in the water, perhaps with a
> perforated pot insert?

I've always done it that way, Jim. Submerge in boiling water for x
minutes and chill in ice water for at least 2x minutes. I use a
collapsible wire basket thingy.

Here's the poop from the NCHFP -- they say chill in ice water for the
same amount of time as the streetcar -- er-r-r, the blanch.

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/freeze/blanching.html

> Or else held above the water with a steamer
> basket?

That's covered, too. Steam-blanching looks fussier to me - have to
arrange stuff in one layer only vs. dumping into large quantity of
boiling water.

>And for how long?

For however long the blanching instructions state.

> I have a dehydrator that I usee only
> occasionally, but when the instructions call for blanching I am still
> clueless.

You're a man. (Oh, stop! I'm KIDDING!")

> Meantime I agree -- freezing peppers works fine; my dehydrated
> attempts (peppers) were useless after.

-Barb, desiring to help
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> Sweet Potato Follies added 2/24/05.
"I read recipes the way I read science fiction: I get to the end and
say,'Well, that's not going to happen.'" - Comedian Rita Rudner,
performance at New York, New York, January 10, 2005.

Thanks, Barb, for the tips.

That inspired me to get creative yesterday, Sat. afternoon. Has a
recipe for a lentil soup with lentils (duh), ham chunks, (and
everything following from my dehydrated stores) onion, green pepper,
mushrooms, plum tomatoes, celery, and assorted herbs and spices.

Slowly simmered all afternoon.

Tasted, fooled with a bit more, simmered a bit more, added some other
veggies.
Tasted again.

Then decided to throw it all out.

Why did I buy that fancy dehydrator?

Or, I just decide to give up on doing anything with lentils.

Made dinner from a box of tuna helper.

wrote:

> Thanks, Barb, for the tips.
>
> That inspired me to get creative yesterday, Sat. afternoon. Has a
> recipe for a lentil soup with lentils (duh), ham chunks, (and
> everything following from my dehydrated stores) onion, green pepper,
> mushrooms, plum tomatoes, celery, and assorted herbs and spices.
>
> Slowly simmered all afternoon.
>
> Tasted, fooled with a bit more, simmered a bit more, added some other
> veggies.
> Tasted again.
>
> Then decided to throw it all out.
>
> Why did I buy that fancy dehydrator?
>
> Or, I just decide to give up on doing anything with lentils.
>
> Made dinner from a box of tuna helper.
>


I vote for, "you just doen't like lentils". Try it again sometime with
Great Northern beans or small red beans.

Bob

zxcvbob wrote:
> wrote:
>
>> Thanks, Barb, for the tips.
>>
>> That inspired me to get creative yesterday, Sat. afternoon. Has a
>> recipe for a lentil soup with lentils (duh), ham chunks, (and
>> everything following from my dehydrated stores) onion, green pepper,
>> mushrooms, plum tomatoes, celery, and assorted herbs and spices.
>>
>> Slowly simmered all afternoon.
>>
>> Tasted, fooled with a bit more, simmered a bit more, added some other
>> veggies.
>> Tasted again.
>>
>> Then decided to throw it all out.
>>
>> Why did I buy that fancy dehydrator?
>>
>> Or, I just decide to give up on doing anything with lentils.
>>
>> Made dinner from a box of tuna helper.
>>
>
>
> I vote for, "you just doen't like lentils". Try it again sometime with
> Great Northern beans or small red beans.
>
> Bob
I'm with Bob, I despise lentils myself but the soup would be much better
even if you used a bag of "ten bean soup mix", which ain't nothing but a
bunch of mixed up beans and peas.

I've also found that when I use my dehydrated veggies the soup is much
better if I rehydrate them while cooking and add the meat and stuff at
the correct time before serving. Seems the rehydrating requires more
water than we think at the time. The peppers are much better if you skin
them before dehydrating, seems like the skins get really tough when
rehydrated. Additionally, I never blanch stuff I'm dehydrating,
blanching does take some of the vitamins and flavor from them.

George

zxcvbob wrote:
> wrote:
>
> > Thanks, Barb, for the tips.
> >
> > That inspired me to get creative yesterday, Sat. afternoon. Has a
> > recipe for a lentil soup with lentils (duh), ham chunks, (and
> > everything following from my dehydrated stores) onion, green
pepper,
> > mushrooms, plum tomatoes, celery, and assorted herbs and spices.
> >
> > Slowly simmered all afternoon.
> >
> > Tasted, fooled with a bit more, simmered a bit more, added some
other
> > veggies.
> > Tasted again.
> >
> > Then decided to throw it all out.
> >
> > Why did I buy that fancy dehydrator?
> >
> > Or, I just decide to give up on doing anything with lentils.
> >
> > Made dinner from a box of tuna helper.
> >
>
>
> I vote for, "you just doen't like lentils". Try it again sometime
with
> Great Northern beans or small red beans.
>
> Bob



I think you may be right, zv. I've had lentils eating out, or from
canned soups, but never success whenever I pick up a bag on a whim (or
on a shopping cart) and thry to cook them myself. I use red beans many
different ways. Great Northern -- are those the small white beans,
like in the famous Senate dining room soup recipe? Had that recipe
around here long ago, always thought I might try it.

Or perhaps because those lentils are so small they cook too fast and
become mushy. I like the long, slow simmer for soups and stews. In
fact, the only thing that's preserving my sanity this long end to
winter is it's still the season for soups and stews. The only mushy
ones I'll tolerate are split green peas. hmmm .... that's an idea.

wrote:

> zxcvbob wrote:
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Thanks, Barb, for the tips.
> > >
> > > That inspired me to get creative yesterday, Sat. afternoon. Has a
> > > recipe for a lentil soup with lentils (duh), ham chunks, (and
> > > everything following from my dehydrated stores) onion, green
> pepper,
> > > mushrooms, plum tomatoes, celery, and assorted herbs and spices.
> > >
> > > Slowly simmered all afternoon.
> > >
> > > Tasted, fooled with a bit more, simmered a bit more, added some
> other
> > > veggies.
> > > Tasted again.
> > >
> > > Then decided to throw it all out.
> > >
> > > Why did I buy that fancy dehydrator?
> > >
> > > Or, I just decide to give up on doing anything with lentils.
> > >
> > > Made dinner from a box of tuna helper.
> > >
> >
> >
> > I vote for, "you just doen't like lentils". Try it again sometime
> with
> > Great Northern beans or small red beans.
> >
> > Bob
>
> I think you may be right, zv. I've had lentils eating out, or from
> canned soups, but never success whenever I pick up a bag on a whim (or
> on a shopping cart) and thry to cook them myself. I use red beans many
> different ways. Great Northern -- are those the small white beans,
> like in the famous Senate dining room soup recipe? Had that recipe
> around here long ago, always thought I might try it.
> Or perhaps because those lentils are so small they cook too fast and
> become mushy. I like the long, slow simmer for soups and stews. In
> fact, the only thing that's preserving my sanity this long end to
> winter is it's still the season for soups and stews. The only mushy
> ones I'll tolerate are split green peas. hmmm .... that's an idea.

I found that one can be too zealous adding stuff. Once I completely
ruined some navy bean soup with ham chunks and onions and carrots
and celery and bay leaves and green peppers and I forget all what
else. Was overpowerly not bean soup anymore.
Edrena

wrote:

> Great Northern -- are those the small white beans,
> like in the famous Senate dining room soup recipe?

I believe those are navy beans.

B/

wrote:
> zxcvbob wrote:
>
wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Thanks, Barb, for the tips.
>>>
>>>That inspired me to get creative yesterday, Sat. afternoon. Has a
>>>recipe for a lentil soup with lentils (duh), ham chunks, (and
>>>everything following from my dehydrated stores) onion, green
>
> pepper,
>
>>>mushrooms, plum tomatoes, celery, and assorted herbs and spices.
>>>
>>>Slowly simmered all afternoon.
>>>
>>>Tasted, fooled with a bit more, simmered a bit more, added some
>
> other
>
>>>veggies.
>>>Tasted again.
>>>
>>>Then decided to throw it all out.
>>>
>>>Why did I buy that fancy dehydrator?
>>>
>>>Or, I just decide to give up on doing anything with lentils.
>>>
>>>Made dinner from a box of tuna helper.
>>>
>>
>>
>>I vote for, "you just doen't like lentils". Try it again sometime
>
> with
>
>>Great Northern beans or small red beans.
>>
>>Bob
>
>
>
>
> I think you may be right, zv. I've had lentils eating out, or from
> canned soups, but never success whenever I pick up a bag on a whim (or
> on a shopping cart) and thry to cook them myself. I use red beans many
> different ways. Great Northern -- are those the small white beans,
> like in the famous Senate dining room soup recipe? Had that recipe
> around here long ago, always thought I might try it.
>
> Or perhaps because those lentils are so small they cook too fast and
> become mushy. I like the long, slow simmer for soups and stews. In
> fact, the only thing that's preserving my sanity this long end to
> winter is it's still the season for soups and stews. The only mushy
> ones I'll tolerate are split green peas. hmmm .... that's an idea.
>
You might try some of the other lentils. The split orangey ones cook to
a mush very fast, but some of the others do not. Especially some of the
small rounder ones.
Ellen