What are you dehydrating?

[jennyjj01]

Blanching* and dehydrating lots of 8p veggies from ALDI and Lidl.
Carrot pieces in separate shapes for different uses. I'm going to try to make some carrot powder for soups and drinks.

Done some shallots, but crikey are they full of water. 24 hours in and they are still soft as s.....

Done a few parsnip fingers, but I don't know how well they will rehydrate and cook.

I'm dumping and replacing some of previous years' dried onions, swedes and carrots, which have degraded and gone dark. They lasted easily a year and some is still good after three years.

This year, I'm splitting the veg between dehydrated and frozen and a few months stored 'as is' in hessian sacks. Should not need to buy veg till summer. We are not big on 'greens' in this house.

My conscience is clear, chucking out the remains of previous years 19p veg stash. It served as food security insurance.

*Blanching certainly makes a difference for carrots, which soon go black if not blanched first.

[Adjee]

Currently our dehydrators are running 24 hours a day and are full of strawberries, peas, onion leaf tops and various herbs all freshly harvested from the field/garden.

[GillyBee]

I am just frustrated at the moment. I replaced my old falling to bits model with one which has a door on the front. I din't measure the space carefully and it is too big to fit on the old shelf. I am waiting for Mr Jellybee to make a new shelf (likely to take a while with his health).
In the meantime I thought I would try it in another location which has the solar power setup. If nothing else it has demonstrated that the solar does not have enough oomph to run at 600W for even one hour. At 300W it is fine but only in sunlight (400W solar panels). So I can dry my herbs but nothing else.

(I think half the problem is the AGM battery is shot. Time to look for a replacement)

[Adjee]

In the meantime I thought I would try it in another location which has the solar power setup. If nothing else it has demonstrated that the solar does not have enough oomph to run at 600W for even one hour. At 300W it is fine but only in sunlight (400W solar panels). So I can dry my herbs but nothing else.

(I think half the problem is the AGM battery is shot. Time to look for a replacement)

You have just raised a point that I have been throwing around these past few weeks regarding dehydrators and solar power stations. I will open it in another thread as you and others may be able to share your knowledge.

[Adjee]

Currently wearing all the dehydrators out. Peppers, beans, aubergines, onions, carrots, courgettes, herbs and potatoes being done separately and in various mixes. Dehydrating is easy, the preparation is not!

[GillyBee]

My deydrator has migrated to the kitchen and mains power so I can actually use it properly. I have been converting the produce of the local park's cherry plums and my own plum tree into fruit leather as I am getting bored making jam. The Trombincino squash "dehydrator crisps" lasted less than 24 hours so I hope the squash start to produce well soon. Dried sweet potato "jerky" was less popular. Next up is homemade stock powder from dried celery, carrot, onion, mushrooms and courgettes.

[Arzosah]

I haven't used my little dehydrator much this year, but I've got it on the go at the moment, with a bit of a weird one - hazel leaves my ambition is to make my own pesto, and I've previously done a batch of wild garlic. I've got half a dozen basil plants growing, I'll be mixing it all up eventually.

[GillyBee]

My basil is producing well in the greenhouse. I keep chopping it back, blending with oil and freezing it in ice cube trays to add to meals later in the year.

[Adjee]

Still busy dehydrating the onion crop but we have also started on the melons, bumper harvest this year. Main issue is that due to the constant heat (@45C) they are green one minute then yellow and heat bursting the next so we are having to check them every hour to prevent splitting and drying. Water melons are fine but the others.............. Still all the animals are enjoying the spoils.

Normally we would be making some melon wine (a favorite of mine) but we are just too busy this year trying to keep on keep on top of the harvest and preserving it all.

[GillyBee]

Eeek! That sounds pretty nasty if you have to be in the fields/garden in that heat. I hope it all calms down for you soon.

My tiny garden is producing more courgette/ Tromboncino than we can eat so they are getting dehydrated to add to stews and curries next winter.