What is the most Challenging Veggie/Fruit/Flower/Herb you have
Dehydrated in each category ? Why ? Please share your experience.

Thanks.

On Sun 09 Oct 2005 06:22:23a, wrote in rec.food.preserving:

> What is the most Challenging Veggie/Fruit/Flower/Herb you have
> Dehydrated in each category ? Why ? Please share your experience.
>
> Thanks.
>

Why? You didn't share yours.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
_____________________________

http://tinypic.com/dzijap.jpg

Popie-In-The-Bowl

On Sun, 9 Oct 2005 09:22:23 -0400, wrote:

>What is the most Challenging Veggie/Fruit/Flower/Herb you have
>Dehydrated in each category ? Why ? Please share your experience.
>
>Thanks.

Do you want us to do your research for school or a report of some
kind?
--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974

wrote:
> What is the most Challenging Veggie/Fruit/Flower/Herb you have
> Dehydrated in each category ? Why ? Please share your experience.
>
> Thanks.


I'll vote for watermelon; even though I've never tried it.

-Bob

On 9 Oct 2005 16:44:13 +0200
Wayne Boatwright > wrote:

> Why? You didn't share yours.
>

Good question. I am a newbie to food preservation itself and
hence don't have much experience at anything in this regard. What
an amazing field it is ! Like being in paradise.

From what I have read so far, I will vote for grapes. They seem
to take something like 24 hours.

So far I have tried Cauliflower and onions. Problem is that these
tend to absorb moisture and become soft/pliable.

On Sun, 09 Oct 2005 11:30:49 -0400
The Cook > wrote:

> Do you want us to do your research for school or a report of
> some kind?
> --
> Susan N.
>
> "Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
> 48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
> Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974


Here is some background info.: I am small time, simple person
newbie to food preservation and looking to learn real life
experience here. After Katrina etc., several people lost freezer
food due to lack of power. Also, high oil prices/natural gas
etc., is expected to push prices of everything higher in the
future. Hence, wish to dehydrate veggies/fruits whenever I find
them at a good price. I have a very cheap, basic dehydrator for
now without temperature control. Greatly limited with respecte to
herbs/flowers. Would like to learn more from others here in
general.

wrote:
> On 9 Oct 2005 16:44:13 +0200
> Wayne Boatwright > wrote:
>
>
>>Why? You didn't share yours.
>>
>
>
> Good question. I am a newbie to food preservation itself and
> hence don't have much experience at anything in this regard. What
> an amazing field it is ! Like being in paradise.
>
> From what I have read so far, I will vote for grapes. They seem
> to take something like 24 hours.
>
> So far I have tried Cauliflower and onions. Problem is that these
> tend to absorb moisture and become soft/pliable.


Bell peppers are very *easy* to dehydrate; the only thing is, they
shrink about 95% and it can be kind of discouraging when you chop a
whole grocery bag full of peppers and when you are finished drying them
they fit in a small jelly jar!

A lot of vegetables (including the previously mentioned bell peppers)
dehydrate faster and keep better if you blanch them before drying.

Small plum tomatoes are rewarding to dehydrate; just cut them into
halves/quarters and put them on the trays skin-side down. Big slicing
tomatoes are also good when dried, but the slices tend to stick to the
trays.

Canned pineapple rings or chunks take a long time to dry, and then it
only takes a few minutes to eat them all ;-)

Best regards,
Bob

On Sun 09 Oct 2005 02:47:02p, wrote in rec.food.preserving:

> On 9 Oct 2005 16:44:13 +0200
> Wayne Boatwright > wrote:
>
>> Why? You didn't share yours.
>>
>
> Good question. I am a newbie to food preservation itself and
> hence don't have much experience at anything in this regard. What
> an amazing field it is ! Like being in paradise.
>
> From what I have read so far, I will vote for grapes. They seem
> to take something like 24 hours.
>
> So far I have tried Cauliflower and onions. Problem is that these
> tend to absorb moisture and become soft/pliable.

Sorry for misjudging you. Actually, about the only thing I dry are herbs
and they're really quite easy. All other foods I either can, pickle, or
freeze.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
_____________________________

http://tinypic.com/dzijap.jpg

Popie-In-The-Bowl

> wrote in message ...
> On 9 Oct 2005 16:44:13 +0200
> Wayne Boatwright > wrote:
>
> > Why? You didn't share yours.
> >

> From what I have read so far, I will vote for grapes. They seem
> to take something like 24 hours.
>
> So far I have tried Cauliflower and onions. Problem is that these
> tend to absorb moisture and become soft/pliable.

Then it seems to me one ought to stick to things that work. I recall going
to an historically correct village in Virginia and they were drying
greenbeans on the roof in the sun. Here in Italy, people pick grape bunches
and hang them in their cellars or garages, and we hang herbs loosely
wrapped in tissue paper (to keep off dust) from house beams. Sun dried
tomatoes are dried in the sun. As you can see, people have dried what can
be successfully dried for centuries without electricity, so start with the
things that have always worked and you should be a success.
Lots of things like potatoes and onions and garlic don't need to be dried to
keep.

> wrote in message ...
> On 9 Oct 2005 16:44:13 +0200
> Wayne Boatwright > wrote:
>
>> Why? You didn't share yours.
>>
>
> Good question. I am a newbie to food preservation itself and
> hence don't have much experience at anything in this regard. What
> an amazing field it is ! Like being in paradise.
>
> From what I have read so far, I will vote for grapes. They seem
> to take something like 24 hours.
>
> So far I have tried Cauliflower and onions. Problem is that these
> tend to absorb moisture and become soft/pliable.

I do onions with great success but cauliflower not. I usually freeze
caulis. I don't dry the onions to brittle point and they keep fine in a
jar

On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 05:59:55 GMT
"Ophelia" > wrote:

> I do onions with great success but cauliflower not. I usually
> freeze caulis. I don't dry the onions to brittle point and
> they keep fine in a jar


After drying I put the onions in the refrigerator in a bag, well
sealed. I am out of containers for storage.

On 10 Oct 2005 05:01:25 +0200
Wayne Boatwright > wrote:


> Sorry for misjudging you. Actually, about the only thing I dry
> are herbs and they're really quite easy. All other foods I
> either can, pickle, or freeze.
>
> --
> Wayne Boatwright *¿*
> _____________________________
>
> http://tinypic.com/dzijap.jpg
>
> Popie-In-The-Bowl


No problem. Thanks for sharing.

zxcvbob wrote:

> wrote:
>
>> What is the most Challenging Veggie/Fruit/Flower/Herb you have
>> Dehydrated in each category ? Why ? Please share your experience.
>>
>> Thanks.
>
>
>
> I'll vote for watermelon; even though I've never tried it.
>
> -Bob
Oh I did. It takes a long time to dehydrate and you don't get very much
but the results are like candy. It is really good! If you are into dry
cereal which we aren't very often it is good sprinkled over top. There
will be no need for suger. It's good mixed into muggins as well.

wrote:

> On Sun, 09 Oct 2005 11:30:49 -0400
> The Cook > wrote:
>
>
>>Do you want us to do your research for school or a report of
>>some kind?
>>--
>>Susan N.
>>
>>"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
>>48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
>>Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974
>
>
>
> Here is some background info.: I am small time, simple person
> newbie to food preservation and looking to learn real life
> experience here. After Katrina etc., several people lost freezer
> food due to lack of power. Also, high oil prices/natural gas
> etc., is expected to push prices of everything higher in the
> future. Hence, wish to dehydrate veggies/fruits whenever I find
> them at a good price. I have a very cheap, basic dehydrator for
> now without temperature control. Greatly limited with respecte to
> herbs/flowers. Would like to learn more from others here in
> general.

I can appreciate this. I do most of our home preserving including
canning, freezing, and drying. The problem is that with a natural
disaster like Katrina most dried and canned stores will be lost anyway.
We live in an area where this is quite unlikely but I still do all
three types of preserving. I must say dehydrating is my least likely
way to preserve foods. As far as herbs go, frozen is the way but dried
also works. Get yourself a good vacuum sealer and use that to seal your
dried foods.

Ophelia wrote:

> > wrote in message ...
>
>>On 9 Oct 2005 16:44:13 +0200
>>Wayne Boatwright > wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Why? You didn't share yours.
>>>
>>
>>Good question. I am a newbie to food preservation itself and
>>hence don't have much experience at anything in this regard. What
>>an amazing field it is ! Like being in paradise.
>>
>>From what I have read so far, I will vote for grapes. They seem
>>to take something like 24 hours.
>>
>>So far I have tried Cauliflower and onions. Problem is that these
>>tend to absorb moisture and become soft/pliable.
>
>
> I do onions with great success but cauliflower not. I usually freeze
> caulis. I don't dry the onions to brittle point and they keep fine in a
> jar
>
>
>
I mainly freeze cauliflower too but I have made a few jars of pickled
cauliflower. It's pretty good and looks very nice in the jars. I tend
to freeze or overwinter onions instead of drying them. I haven't used
the dehydrator much this year. It will be on the go this week as I'm
making beef jerky.

On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 18:12:23 -0400
~patches~ > wrote:

> I can appreciate this. I do most of our home preserving
> including canning, freezing, and drying. The problem is that
> with a natural disaster like Katrina most dried and canned
> stores will be lost anyway. We live in an area where this is
> quite unlikely but I still do all three types of preserving. I
> must say dehydrating is my least likely way to preserve foods.
> As far as herbs go, frozen is the way but dried also works.
> Get yourself a good vacuum sealer and use that to seal your
> dried foods.


If they call for an evacuation, you can just walk off with a
months supply of dehydrated fruits in your bag.

By the way I dehydrated strawberries, the end result is really
bad. The dehydrated strawberries taste real different almost like
eating paper/tasteless. I don't have a temperature control in my
dehydrator, it can go all the way upto 75C, specially towards the
end and this is a concern.

Wonder if anyone has dehydrated strawberries here ? Please share
your experience.

wrote:

> On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 18:12:23 -0400
> ~patches~ > wrote:
>
>
>>I can appreciate this. I do most of our home preserving
>>including canning, freezing, and drying. The problem is that
>>with a natural disaster like Katrina most dried and canned
>>stores will be lost anyway. We live in an area where this is
>>quite unlikely but I still do all three types of preserving. I
>>must say dehydrating is my least likely way to preserve foods.
>>As far as herbs go, frozen is the way but dried also works.
>>Get yourself a good vacuum sealer and use that to seal your
>>dried foods.
>
>
>
> If they call for an evacuation, you can just walk off with a
> months supply of dehydrated fruits in your bag.
>
> By the way I dehydrated strawberries, the end result is really
> bad. The dehydrated strawberries taste real different almost like
> eating paper/tasteless. I don't have a temperature control in my
> dehydrator, it can go all the way upto 75C, specially towards the
> end and this is a concern.

Strawberries are kind of a special case as is watermelon. Dip them in a
little lemon juice then dehydrate and use for cereal topping.
>
> Wonder if anyone has dehydrated strawberries here ? Please share
> your experience.

Yes and just about everything else. This year my dehydrator was going
full tilt and dehydrating has never been my main focus except for a few
things. I'm playing with curing meats right now which is new to me but
a great deal of fun.