your dehydrated foods - what you dried, and how you used them

[LvsChant]

No... just a Youtube video I found on the subject...

[johngalt]

your turn - what have you been dehydrating recently?

fruit leather for the picanniny

[LvsChant]

Great job, jg, I notice you have the excalibur liners... looks like they work pretty well?

[CO-retired]

IVSCHANT....got a question for ya 'bout them fittings that you can get for removing air from qt Ball Masons......How do they work?
OK I see how it simply goes on to the top of the jar....ya run the vacuum line to your shrinker/sealer....it depleats the 02 from the jar...then what?when you remove the fitting from the jar...what am I missing here?
I hate to sound dumb but I dont understand how the removal of the fitting doesnt let the air back in to the jar!
do you have the lid and seal on first?

[LvsChant]

Co-retired... to use the mason jar attachment for the foodsaver (you have to be sure you have the correct size attachment for the size jar you have -- regular or wide-mouthed),

1. You first fill the jar as desired with dehydrated food (or chocolate chips, or whatever), place lid on top (without ring).

2. Push the attachment down over the top of jar and lid.
3. Attach hose... push 'canister' option on vacuum sealer.

4. When the machine stops, detach the hose from the attachment (it gives a satisfying sound that lets you know it was under vacuum pressure).
5. Remove the attachment from the jar and lid.

Your lid will be popped down and sealed on the jar.
6. Add the ring to the jar (optional) and store...


Works like a charm. Once you see the attachment with the way it fits over the top of the jar, it makes more sense... and it really does work very well.

[Morning Sunshine]

I feel so DUMB!!!!!

I had two of those vac seal thingies for jars, and I freecycled them thinking that you needed to leave it on the jar, and there was no way I was going to buy enough of them to make it worth having.  Not to mention, it made the jars so much bigger. 

sigh


live and learn, and buy things I had once upon a time.  oh well, I like to think my posting those on freecycle was the answer to someone's prayer.   

[LvsChant]

Put it on your wishlist for the next gift-occasion... I use this method of vacuum sealing way more than the bags now. It is just the best!

I also bought a canister (big enough for all my various sizes of jars from the grocery store to fit) and use it for sealing a great variety of things.

To use the canister to vacuum seal, you first fill the jar and put the original lid on (not too tightly) and place inside the canister.



Then, using the vacuum sealer and hose, use the 'canister' option to remove as much air as possible.
Remove hose from canister top... press canister lid release button before removing canister lid. At this point, you should watch the lid inside the canister... the lid should pop down, indicating it is sealed. It can take a try or two, although being sure to leave about 1 inch headspace inside the jar does tend to help -- overfilling can cause it not to seal up.


I sealed up valentine candy I got on half-price in this applesauce jar... you'll find it funny to see the candy bar wrappers expanding out and looking like balloons inside the jar... marshmallows do a similar thing

Don't beat yourself up... just get more... you'll be glad you did.

[CO-retired]

 ;DThank you SO much for taking the time to post pictures and explain the procedure for vacuum sealing!!
I got another one for ya :Dis it still a good idea to use the oxy driers in your jars when sealing them?
Where can I buy a sealer with a vacuum port....and the unit to seal the jars with?(the white round thing that goes on top of the jars.)

[LvsChant]

Glad it helped... I use O2 in jars I don't use frequently... may be overkill, but it will probably help keep things longer (there is only so much air the vacuum sealer can suck out, right?).

I bought the foodsaver at Cabela's when they had a good sale. They sell similar units at Walmart, Target, K-Mart, Amazon... I've seen them for as little as $79, although I've heard of folks snagging them on Craigslist or freecycle for much less than that.

I bought the mason jar attachments on amazon... ditto for the canister. That is the best source for those things I've found. Foodsaver doesn't even sell them directly (they actually recommended Amazon to me when I called them). The foodsaver does have its limitations (won't vacuum seal mylar -- seals fine, just won't extract the air -- and doesn't have a wide enough heat strip to seal up the big mylar bags in one go), but I don't know that the other brands have the vacuum port, and for that alone, foodsaver would be my choice.

If you do have a problem with the vacuum tube attachment wearing out, etc., you can get a replacement directly from Foodsaver.

[LICountryBoy]

The foodsaver does have its limitations (won't vacuum seal mylar -- seals fine, just won't extract the air -- and doesn't have a wide enough heat strip to seal up the big mylar bags in one go),

Dehydrate2store has a video from a guy that shows 2 ways to vacuum seal mylar bags with a food saver using a foodsaver bag. One uses the whole bag, the other uses part of a bag.

[LvsChant]

+1 LICountry Boy... I had not seen those videos on Tammy's site! I was hoping to see how to do this with my foodsaver (and had heard that it could be done with the right technique) but never could get it to work without seeing it... Here is the link to the video explaining how to vacuum seal mylar using a foodsaver:

http://www.dehydrate2store.com/videos/?id=58

I like method 2 best... I'll be using that method next time I do mylar sealing.

[jetta2337]

lvschant how do you do your pasta sauce? I did quite a few tomato's last year and I have tired a few ways to make some pasta sauce with them but haven't liked anything I have come up with. Can you give me your low down? What is in it and how you get it back to the sauce? Thanks!

[LvsChant]

My tomato crop wasn't good enough last summer to do much more than can some diced tomatoes and dehydrate some... I'm hoping for better luck this year. I'd like to make ketchup (which I did at home with my Mom) and tomato sauce and pasta sauce... I'm hoping to do more experimentation and choosing favorite recipes for the family.

My pasta sauce experiment above was done using Ragu sauce I had in my storage.

To reconstitute, just take 3 to 3 1/2 T. pasta sauce powder and add 1 c. hot water... use as normal... I'm going to add less water to the powder for using on homemade pizzas. I think the regular pasta sauce is a little too runny for pizza sauce usually. This will actually be more all-purpose than regular sauce in the cupboard.

Here is a recipe from Wendy DeWitt's pdf that could be easily made from food in storage:

Marinara Sauce (makes 4 cups)
2 c. tomato paste plus 2 c. water (or 4 c. tomato sauce)
1 tsp. garlic powder
1-2 T dried onion
1 1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp sugar
(Or use 2-3 tsp. Italian seasoning in place of other spices)

[johngalt]

I notice you have the excalibur liners... looks like they work pretty well?

Yes they do.  They are teflon coated glass fabric, so I was looking for alternatives, but they really do work the best of anything we've tried.

[A mazed]

I dehydrate just anout anything that doesn't run away  Have been doing hash browns and mushrooms peas and corn a lot lately did some sliced potatoes. I got a great deal on hash browns 2 pound bags for 99 cents and the same week bananas were 33 cents a pound did I ever stock up. I got 6 bunches of bananas and deydrated them all in sliced form.Still have 10 bags of hash browns to go. has anyone done fruit roll ups? how do you do them?

[LvsChant]

Fruit roll-ups... check out Tammy's video:

http://www.dehydrate2store.com/videos/?id=14

[luke]

I got a dehydrator for christmas, the deal was I had to share it with my mom when she grew her veggies, but it is not yet that time. I did just get home from a vacation and am wondering if I can use my dehydrator to store some fish that I caught? It is mainly white fish from the ocean (reds - salmon grouper, sea bass, rock fish, forget what else they called them out west).  Anyone have success dehydrating fish, or any tips I should be aware of? I'll be dehydrating a lot of vegetables later this year but I'm anxious to try it out now!

[LvsChant]

I have no experience with drying fish personally, although I can remember (from years ago as an exchange student in the Philippines) that dried salted whitefish was very common. Wish fish or meat, though, you are going to have to add salt and it won't keep as long as dried veges... sounds a lot more risky to me than fruits and veges...

I would recommend finding frozen veges on sale and trying them instead... potatoes are also very reasonable this time of year and work very well.

[portwand]

Still saving for the Excalibur so I bought some dehydrated strawberries & blueberries.  Blueberries were fine on my cereal however the strawberry texture was not very good - I soaked them for about 20 minutes..Next time I will use in batter when cooking to see if that works better.

[fritz_monroe]

I don't like the texture of reconstituted dehydrated strawberries, they always end up slimy feeling to me.  But eating them completely dry, I like that.  They remind me of that "astronaut ice cream" that they sell at museums.  And the taste is so concentrated.

[portwand]

Yes, the strawberries were slimy - that is funny about the ice cream a friend gave me some to try and the taste was interesting...I thought it would be similiar to the ice cream dots they sell at the zoo 

[Morning Sunshine]

I dried a whole head? bunch? bulb? thingy of celery last night.  It probably had around 8 thick stalks and I-don't-know-how-many smaller stalks with leaves in the middle.  Anyway, that whole thing dried to 1/2 c of dried celery  
WOW!!!!!  I had no idea how much that would compress......  I guess I do not need as much celery as I have been putting in things.  On the other hand, no one has complained of celery flavor, so I guess I will continue turning it into flour powder and adding it to my various soups and stews in the amounts I have been using.  celery is good for us, after all.....

[LvsChant]

Yes... celery and carrots seem to dehydrate down amazingly compared to the original size. I've not tried grinding into powder, though... might be a sneaky way to get my kids to eat them

[Morning Sunshine]

Yes... celery and carrots seem to dehydrate down amazingly compared to the original size. I've not tried grinding into powder, though... might be a sneaky way to get my kids to eat them

 
My favorite part about dehydrated foods.  I am sneaking veggies into everything - beets, mushrooms, squash, celery, onions, zucchini - that I can hide it.  I have also been able to add berries to things - my hubby does not like "chunks" of stuff in his baked goods, but berry powder gives the flavor without the "chunk"

my husband has declared that I am a "vegetable pusher"

[evilphish]

I have dehydrated strawberry slices - they taste like candy!!!  but they are a pain to slice.  I am going to try another method this spring.

if it hasn't already been said,  try an egg slicer,  works with button shrooms as well.

[Morning Sunshine]

if it hasn't already been said,  try an egg slicer,  works with button shrooms as well.

yeah.. I have ruined egg slicers on strawberries.....  3 last year, and 3 the time before that.  The seeds are too tough for the thin wires.  I am looking for a new method this year.....

[evilphish]

i've never had a problem doing it that way. 

[Grasshopper2Ant]

One of my favorite things to dehydrate is ground beef.  I boil it to brown it, then drain and rinse very thoroughly until I don't see anymore grease coming out -- then dehydrate.  It comes out very light and it rehydrates very quickly.  I'm still a little squeamish about leaving dehydrated meat out at room temperature, so I store it in the freezer -- probably unnecessary.  Works great when I have something I want to cook with ground beef, it will completely rehydrate while cooking within about 10 to 15 minutes.

[Koski]

So far all i have dehydrated is spaghetti sauce, turned out ok, lemons, turned out ok, but have a slight metalic taste to them when i put them in a glass of water, and i have done some hash browns. Only problem i have right now is how do i cook the hash browns now? I did add some hot water to them but they turned out really mushy, so i just threw them in the frying pan and they turned out to hard, not sure what to do.

[Morning Sunshine]

So far all i have dehydrated is spaghetti sauce, turned out ok, lemons, turned out ok, but have a slight metallic taste to them when i put them in a glass of water, and i have done some hash browns. Only problem i have right now is how do i cook the hash browns now? I did add some hot water to them but they turned out really mushy, so i just threw them in the frying pan and they turned out to hard, not sure what to do.

when you did hashbrowns, how did you do them?  (I ask because different parts of the country seem to call hashbrowns different things.)  I boil my whole russet potatoes, peel them while hot, cool in the fridge, shred with a hand cheese grater, and dry.  I did about 100 pounds last year.
I put about 2 cups of dry shredded pots in a 6-c bowl, pour on some water, about 4 cups, maybe, not hot, not cold, just whatever comes out of my faucet right then.  I let it sit about 20-30 minutes.  When ready to cook, I melt 2 T bacon grease and 2 T butter and add salt (I like salt, so I add lots of it) and fry the potatoes until tasty brown.  works every time.  And I need to do about 200 pounds this year!!   (we ran out about May)