Dehydrator hints

[possum]

I have just got a dehydrator with my reward points.

What is particularly good to dry (and later use)
At the moment I have a batch of beef jerky in it

[eccentric_emma]

onions. i just did a batch and they are delicious. very sweet and smelly but lovely! i would also recommend tomatoes, pretty much any fruit. also a bit of an unusual one - try dehydrated potato crisps - slice them as thinly as poss, dip them in lemon juice to preserve the colour, (with your favourite herbs added if you like - we use garlic and oregano) then dehydrate until crispy.

[Lady Willow]

Google "raw food recipes" and you'll find loads of great ideas.

[eccentric_emma]

ooh yes loads of great raw food recipes for a dehydrator. i recently did linseed and tomato crackers and they were lovely.

[starchild]

gosh I must be teerribly boring and unadventurous; my dehydrating has amounted to fruit and veg!

Successes were apples - huge success actually, plus dried apple costs so much to buy and is slathered in sulphur dioxide, bananas, grapes, courgettes, tomatoes.

That's all I've done so far - they are fabulous things

[ina]

I love pears and peaches, if you can get them... We had a huge pear tree when I was a kid, and dried them in the attic, on strings.

[Lady Willow]

I've got loads of raw food recipes for the deydrator (including onion bahjiees!!!). If anybody wants some, PM me with your email address

[possum]

I've got loads of raw food recipes for the deydrator (including onion bahjiees!!!). :

You make them in the dehydrator or you dry them aftewards? If so how do you re-constitute them?

[Lady Willow]

I've got loads of raw food recipes for the deydrator (including onion bahjiees!!!). :

If so how do you re-constitute them?

You don't.... they don't dry out to an absolute crisp, they are ready to eat from the dehyrator. They're not keepers, you make 'em and eat 'em.

[Odsox]

I can add mushrooms and pineapple to the list.
Mushrooms I dry till they're really brittle then crumble into soups/stews, pineapple till it's leathery .. keeps for ages.
Peas I did this year, mainly because I was overwhelmed with them.
And tomatoes ... just as good as 'sun-dried'

[starchild]

Peas!? How interesting; what do you use dried peas for - do you use them just like 'dried green split peas' for soups and things?

delish!

[Odsox]

Peas!? How interesting; what do you use dried peas for - do you use them just like 'dried green split peas' for soups and things?

delish!

Ah .. you must be young then !

Dried peas used to be a common winter vegetable before the freezer took over.
Just soak and cook like any dried bean (haricot or chick pea etc)
Can't say that they taste like peas, but added to soups and stews they're quite acceptable.

[starchild]

thank you Tony! Youngish, I guess, but definitely young at heart ;)

They sound gorgeous and I would never have dreamt of dehydrating them...........thanks for the inspiration.

[Odsox]

onions. i just did a batch and they are delicious. very sweet and smelly but lovely! i would also recommend tomatoes, pretty much any fruit. also a bit of an unusual one - try dehydrated potato crisps - slice them as thinly as poss, dip them in lemon juice to preserve the colour, (with your favourite herbs added if you like - we use garlic and oregano) then dehydrate until crispy.

I had never thought of onions .. I always have trouble keeping onions after the new year as they always either rot or sprout like mad, so that might be the answer.
Potato crisps are intriguing, I might just try some later in the year. I think my potatoes are to 'new' to do that yet, I'll wait until they roast OK .. about September onwards

[Wombat]

Corn kernels go well, so do potato cubes. I have read you can dehydrate soup.....

Nev