My first shot at dehydrating

I'm just getting started too! I have a Nesco-American Harvest and have 4 pounds of frozen green beans to do. Can I use french cut green beans? Anyone know if that would be a problem?

 

Sure, only thin bein, they may fall through the trays.

Ain't hardly a weekend goes by what we don't use ours.

The fresh veggies just require a bit a preppin before ya dry em, but it ain't that much trouble.

 

I wanted to practice with dehydrating before I splurged on the Excalibur, so I bought the Nesco Snackmaster ( square ), 8 trays...I tried apples and bananas ( fresh ) which came out great...the frozen stuff fell through the cracks so I have to make mesh thingies for them...but it worked great, it was only $60..

 

Congrats on the Excalibur! :flower:

Look forward to hearing about the hash browns. (and all the other goodies)

 

I ended up with a few of the "mesh" liners to go with the fruit leather trays for my dehydrator but wanted more so I went to the craft store and picked up the plastic canvas that people embroider yarn on and I cut it to fit... I don't like using plastic for anything food wise but so far it is the only thing that works well... I often dry my herbs and small items on the mesh and they work well and wash well and hold up to the abuse. for fruit leather trays and if you dehydrator is square/rectangle you could try buying the cheaper silicon mats at walmart or other big box stores and use them to line your trays(silpat is the name of the expensive ones and I would not cut them up!)
Also, fruits and veggies with a high sugar content tend to dry much better and with less pre-prep than veggies without it.

But fruits that turn brown should be dipped in either citric acid(aka orange or lemon or even lime juice) or even a very light mix of vinegar water.
When I do my hash browns I often put a bit of lemon juice or a shot of vinegar into the processing water as it helps you not get "black" potatoes... even after blanching they will sometimes get a few 'black" spots and they are just not appetizing.

 

I was lucky. I went to Bass Pro Shops and walked away with a LEM 6 try Excalibur Food Dehydrator for 80 bucks.

The manager dropped the price because it was their last one and it was a floor model. My military discount helped even more!!

First on the dehy list was hash browns, came out great. Vacuum sealed them with O2 absorbers and stored away.

Makes great beef jerky. Have fun, it is addicting!!

 

Just a hint on dehydrating-once you dry your foods you should put them in a nice mason jar for a few days to watch for moisture build up in the jar.. just in case of "not dry enuf" which does happen every so often. After a week of waiting if the foods are dry enuf then vac-pack them. It would suck to open your vac-packed foods and find mold.

 

How long can dehydrated veggies stay in mason jars, provided the lid is tightened down tight? I'm trying to not go buy a vac sealer, but...

 

Way to go!

 

I've still got about 1 cup of dried green beans that were done in 08 and I didn't vac-pack them and they are still fine. So I would say that as long as you are not opening and closing them constantly they should be ok... adding a small piece of dry ice before closing the lid will drive out any oxygen too. once it stops "smoking/steaming" you just tighten the lid. Or just add some of the oxygen absorber packets. That would work for long term..
I only leave some of the dried stuff in the mason jar to make sure that there is no moisture build up and that everything is dried. You will see in about 2 or 4 hours if your foods are going to off gas any moisture it will condense on the glass.

 

Excalibur

Hi there, I also have an excalibur and have used it for years but I've never even come close to using it to full potential. I mostly dry apples, pears and green peppers out of the garden. You got me thinking, never thought of using frozen veggies. Some times I can be really dense!! :surrender:

 

waxed paper

Moose, I tried fruit leather once and I used waxed paper....it worked fine as I remember...........I also bought 2 of the sheets excalibur sells just for that.

 

Cool -- thanks!

 

Just use plastic baggies for your fruit rollups, your tomato sauce/paste, etc.

 

Has anyone ever dried mushrooms? How did it work?

 

Boy, those frozen french style green beans sure dried fast!

 

Baby bellas have been on sale here lately and I just dried my first batch and they did great!
I do give mine a bit of a wash(alton brown said that it was an old wives tale that they "suck up water") and then I sliced them quite thickly and put them in the dehydrator at 120°F we put them in about overnight(it is still cool here and it keeps the boy's room warm--whoo hoo double duty) They dried quite crispy for me and one box of fresh mushrooms(only 8 oz) dried down to fit in a small canning jar. They rehydrated a bit chewier then when they were fresh but the mushroom flavor was more enhanced. But drying will do that with some things.