Posted on 01/26/2014 3:18:53 PM PST by Kartographer
I posted a thread yesterday about dehydrateding and then vacuum packing your own food.
I like may preppers have been disappointed by opening cans of dehydrated food to find the can is as much as half empty.
I am making a batch of vegtable soup today and I am using a jar of dehydrated Roma Tomatoes. Below you will find pictures of these tomatoes that I put up in March of 2010.
I put mine in the garage for the same reason the noise, but I have the added plus of plenty of dry high desert air getting push through it.
Thanks
Guess I’ll have to get up in the attic and dig it out.
I’m in Abq Kart :-) and yes, it helps. In winter it’s not that cold, but the extra warmth in the garage is nice!
You’re welcome. Honestly there is nothing to it except checking to make sure stuff is dry enough. The sweet potatoes we parbake for around 20 minutes or they’re very tough to slice. We give our pups those as snacks and they love them.
You can save a lot of money when produce goes on sale and they keep forever. Good luck if you decide to do so!
On a sunny day my garage can get down right blammy once the sun heats up steel garage doors, which they face due south. I have work on projects out there many times in my shirt sleeves.
I saw a friends dehydrator working once...It seemed to take forever and the volume was small.
There must be a better model...suggestion and approximate cost?
Can you make it pay to do this if you have to buy the food not grow it? Electric cost?
Thanks for help... anyone else?
Excaliber dehydrators....I just got one and am loving it
I dehydrated some ice for use next summer, when summer heat hits I’ll be ready.
Interesting about parbaking sweet potatoes...I just tried sweet potatoes last week and was not happy with the results....at what temp do you bake them?
Interesting about parbaking sweet potatoes...I just tried sweet potatoes last week and was not happy with the results....at what temp do you bake them?
We use them in the dog food we make for our 2 Pommies and their treats. Also hubby has done the pre-bake and then we’ve cubed them and he throws them in stews after dehydrated.
I saw a friends dehydrator working once...It seemed to take forever and the volume was small.
There must be a better model...suggestion and approximate cost?
Can you make it pay to do this if you have to buy the food not grow it? Electric cost?
Thanks for help... anyone else?
As Kartographer said, we’re in the high desert with the very dry air but I don’t notice much difference in the utility bill when we’ve used it a lot.
I do as he stated, dehydrate frozen stuff when it’s on huge sales or when we pick stuff up cheap at the farmer’s market near the end of the day or when stores are having big produce sales.
I think it saves money all in all, but it could be dependent upon where you live and how much electricity costs wherever you are. We do the plain Ziploc bags for our dog treats and then use the vacuum sealer thing for bulk veggies and fruits. Hope this helps!
You can get kits to grow all sorts of mushrooms. I just pick the Morels in the Spring.
. Be sure and be outside if you grind the cayenne peppers or have a gas mask handy ;)
We use two American Harvest with 5-6 trays one is 20+ years and the other is older,be sure and get a few of the solid trays and the smaller grate inserts
Thanks I will check it out.
Is that a small unit? Looks like it might fit in the kitchen.
I will check out this brand too.
Thank you all for the suggestions.
I learn so much from Freepers!
Just to let you know I have finished my “bug-back” plans.
One of these threads mentioned being away from home when TSHTF and I realized I could be across the causeway and have a river to cross to get home. Well it has been an adventure planning for that trip in an inflatible (sp?) as well as personal and dog life jackets etc. If he were not with me all the more reason to get back! Planning a launch site and safe landing, considering the wind and water flow, has been informative too! Special pack for the car when leaving the island is complete!
Just thought you might be interested.
Yes its small comes with 5 trays and you can buy more if you need them.
The mandoline assures uniformity of drying , when used with larger fruit/vegetables (apples,bannana, citrus,etc.).
Therefore , almost all dehydrated product gets done at the same time.
Also, you can dehydrate in season , and cheap frozen vegetables and fruits, especially if they are of a uniform size.
Dehydrated product will be approximately reduced to about 1/3 their normal size, be lighter in weight.
Dehydrated peas ,carrots , onions, and other root crops are sweeter in flavor as sweetness is condensed; especially true with citrus fruits and berries.
Size for travel can be further reduced by using a grinder ,or mortar and pestle and made into a powder , and placed in plastic freezer bags.
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