So I finally got my hands on an honest to goodness dehydrator! I need recipes, it came with a few for jerkys and the times for veggies but what do you guys make with the stuff you dry and put up?
You might go online for the type you bought and see if you can buy a book -- uses & recipes for using things dehydrated. I'd be good with things like veggies, etc., as they re-hydrate in liquids but, some things a little more to it for good results.
Lotta people on here who use them. I don't have one
I mostly dry veggies. If I get a good tomato year I slice them up and dry them.
Figs - yummy dried! Tastes like candy!
And when I plant okra, I slice it into rounds and dry it until it's crispy then salt it. It is sooo good and makes a great snack. It's kind of like potato chips - you can't stop eating it.
We love our new Excalibur 9 tray dehydrator we bought just a few weeks ago. MUCH better than the old piece of junk we had.
We dry fruits and veggies to have as snacks on the go. We also dry (and vacuum pack) a lot of veggies that we can add to winter soups and stews.
We also bought a great book: The Dehydrator Bible: Includes over 400 Recipes https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0778802132/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
My grandma used to core & slice the apples, then string those lovely rounds on thread and hang in the sun to dry. Good stuff!
Soon it will be "apple season" & my food samplings will be heavy with all varieties. NiCE. Always have some left-overs and enjoy them. I think I will dry some this year.
Have a young fig tree to plant. Friend has 2 huge trees and hate figs, I get a lot of them
Used to have a neighbor who dried figs from her huge tree & always gave me lots....I gave her gallons of goat milk (for her PETS, of course) so she could make cheese. Nice trade. She moved and the new people do cat rescue...not figs.
If I get a good garden in next Spring, I'll have to get one of those things.
Pears! Like candy! I also dehydrate potatoes as shreds for hash browns (a quick plunge in boiling water keeps them from discoloring)- to make hash browns you just soak them 1:1 in hot water for about 10 minutes, then throw them in the skillet. I prefer them as they don't break up and go mushy as easily as fresh potatoes do. I also dry onions, peppers, tomatoes, and all kinds of fruit. I found that plums get MORE sour rather than less when they are dried (at least mine did) but hubby likes them that way.
I like dehydrating eggs when my ducks give me more than I can handle in early summer, for use in winter when they don't do as well. I got some of the solid sheets that are used for fruit leather (they are round and my dehydrator is rectangular, but it's all good). I whisk fresh eggs until thoroughly mixed then pour them into the sheets. Each round sheet holds about 4 duck eggs for me. Then I dry them on the highest setting. They usually take about 10 hours. Then I whirl the eggs in a blender to turn them into a coarse powder. Two tablespoons of powder mixed with 2-2/3 Tablespoons water equals about 1 egg. I use them for baking to make sure that any bacteria that might have proliferated while the eggs were drying will be thoroughly killed in the baking process. (PS: this is NOT a tested and approved recipe. I haven't had any problems doing this, but be aware there are risks when holding raw egg at dehydrator- temperatures for hours at a time)
I've decide to try drying some pumpkin if I can get some cheap. We love everything pumpkin. It is suppose to be really good re-hydrated and I'm trying to get away from using my freezer so much.