Good Morning All. I am new to dehydrating and was wondering what your favorite thing is to dehydrate or have any tips for me. I have found that so many things I buy go bad before I use them and dehydrating seems to be an answer to that problem. So far I have had success with dehydrating jalapenos, cilantro, and orange slices. The jalapenos and orange slices I ground to a powder for use in soups and stews and baking this winter. I live in SE Texas and have plans to grow some things that I can dehydrate later, like onions, jalapenos, herbs. I haven’t tried jerky yet. Thanks for any input.
Our veggies turned out great this year, especially tomatoes.
Now, all vines are cut and removed. Remaining green tomatoes are turning red and good for salads.
We’re enjoying pasta putanesca, tomatoes bisque and tomato soup (with mandatory cheese sandwiches) and have put away enough of each to last through next April...
Welcome, Uptowngirl!
My favorite thing to dehydrate are the ‘Juliet’ variety of tomatoes for Sun Dried Tomatoes that I dry with Italian Seasoning on them, then put in ziplock bags and keep in the freezer. We like them on salads, in soups and casseroles, just for snacking, or re-constituted with EVOO for use on pizza or bruschetta.
https://www.totallytomato.com/product/T00400/9
Beau is a major hunter so we always have TONS of ground meat around here, so making Jerky is a ‘thing’ at our house. I would encourage you to give it a try.
We have a Presto dehydrator that I treated us to a few years ago. LOVE it. #06301
https://www.gopresto.com/product/category/dehydrators
I’ve done garlic, but the hardneck garlic has bigger cloves so it’s worth slicing them up and doing that.
However, windows do need to be open for that. The first day or so will burn your eyes out.
I have done quite a bit if turkey jerky in the past, and every year I dehydrate San Marzano tomatoes and keep them in 3 or 4 Ziplocs in the fridge bin. I do that when I get sick of canning.
Peppers and tomatoes are good to dehydrate, so are onions. Throw some in a soup, or top a casserole. Cantaloupe makes a really good dried fruit. Cherries are good, but tedious to pit and halve, so I don’t do them often. Some people like to make fruit leathers from pureed fruit poured onto a suitable sheet.
Jerky: Get lean meat (venison is great) and use a really sharp knife to remove all the fat and connective tissue you can, then slice into 1/4” thick strips. Make a marinade from two parts ketchup, one part each soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce, and whatever spices you want, plus a dash of liquid smoke. Use plenty of black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. I like hot jerky, so I’ll substitute sriracha for half the ketchup and put in a fair amount of cayenne. Marinate 8-12 hours in the refrigerator, stirring from time to time.
I use a 5-tray Excalibur dehydrator, and 5 lb. of London broil will make a batch of jerky. About one and a half cups of marinade is plenty. Dry the stuff at 155. Turn the strips over after a few hours and switch trays around as needed. After 10 hours or so, check the jerky and remove the finished pieces. The thicker ones will need more time, at least until you can’t feel them compress when you squeeze them. I prefer jerky to be a bit flexible, not brittle.
I keep the jerky in the refrigerator in Zip-loc bags, since it either gets moldy or goes brittle at room temperature.
I have had success with drying herbs.