Uses for dehydrator...need ideas

[farmerlor]

When I'm canning my beloved tomatoes I run them through the kitchen aid sieve and collect all the skins and seeds. I then throw that into the dehydrator and dry it until it's dry, dry. Run it through the handy dandy food processor and you have instant tomato powder that you can use in your taco seasonings mixes, throw it into breads, soups....possibilities are endless.
When I'm canning chicken or beef, you can cook down some of the stock if you have leftover that didn't fit into a jar to go into the canner and make your own bouillon (think I spelled that wrong). It's wonderful and CHEAP. You can use that beef bouillon and some dried onion to make a wonderful chip dip....like using the French's onion soup packets!
I know others have raved about the fruit leathers but let me just add my enthusiastic rave too. I usually use applesauce or applebutter as a base and then whir some peaches or bananas or jello or cherries or grapes into it and toss it into the dehydrator. Yummo stuff even for us oldsters.
The kids LOVED my jerky made in the dehydrator. You can just mix up some meatloaf (I'm not kidding here, use your favorite meatloaf recipe) mold it into some strips and toss it into the dehydrator. Excellent stuff.
Please, please don't ever dehydrate onions, garlic, broccoli, cabbage, leeks, or cauliflower indoors. It will haunt you for weeks. Just when you think it's gone you'll go to pull a jacket out of a closet and there it is again!!!

 

[yourbadd]

Gonna have to try the zucchini candy!!

 

[angimw]

I borrowed a dehydrator this fall and made crazy use of it with the million tomatoes we had. I also love it for fruit snacks for the kids. BUT I just used a tool to see how much electronics cost and if I use my dehydrator 4 times per month, 9 hours each time it would cost me $18.00!
Are newer ones a bit friendlier on the electric bill?

 

[Cindlady2]

angimw....How much would it have cost you if you bought everything you dried? Dried products in the stores are expensive!

I love my dehydrator! Along with everything others have mentioned, I also make chicken mash every month. I clean out my frig. and freezer of stuff that needs to go. Put it through the processor, cook it up, add layer mash and corn and whatever else I think they need. I make a thick paste and dehydrate it in chunks.... chicken chow for a month! Just scoop out a days worth, add water and a nice morning mash, THEY LOVE IT! I get rid of left overs... they get good food, and I only have to do it once a month!

*Tip... Save those little preservative packs that come in some pills, vitamins, and other dried foods. Add them when you store your dehydrated goods. I've done it for years! Also pantry moths can be a problem with dried goods, even if you think the package is "bug proof"... get pantry moth traps to store with your dry goods. It can catch them before they get in to lay eggs, could save allot of aggravation later!

 

[GardenWeasel]

Had a devil of a time with pantry moths last year, seems they were coming in in my brown rice and oatmeal. Now those go from shopping bag to freezer for a week. Also made homemade traps by putting brown rice and mule team borax in a tuna can, worked very well set in the back of cabinets. Since this is the dehydrater thread I made a yummy sweet potato pie leather from my bumper crop of sweet potatoes and am drying grapes this week. My husband loves trail mix and dried fruit is way more than I want to pay.

 

[freemotion]

In hot weather you can pre-dry a lot of stuff in your car, on trays with the windows opened ever so slightly. Then just finish them up in the dehydrator. This is what I do.

 

[musiclee]

I have recently been learning about drying eggs, cheese, and boullion. I haven't tried any of them yet. A lot of these I saw on YouTube.

Deborah
thescholarlyredneck{dot}com

 

[Cindlady2]

In hot weather you can pre-dry a lot of stuff in your car, on trays with the windows opened ever so slightly. Then just finish them up in the dehydrator. This is what I do.

I did that when we had an old van we were deciding wether to fix or not. Just try to keep the food out of direct sun or it will fade.

 

[Cindlady2]

I have recently been learning about drying eggs, cheese, and boullion. I haven't tried any of them yet. A lot of these I saw on YouTube.

Deborah
thescholarlyredneck{dot}com

Cool, do you have a link?

 

[Marianne]

Wow, lots here that I hadn't thought of drying.

I no longer have my dehydrator, but I remember the racks having holes in them. How do you dry things that are basically liquid at the beginning? Line the trays with something like wax paper?

My dehydrator was just a little countertop thing, but I was going to make a bigger one to dry potatoes this year.