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  • From: SJC <indexer AT localnet.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Homestead] was Rhubarb, now dehydrators
  • Date: Thu, 29 May 2008 17:45:39 -0400



What sort of dryer system have you? Homemade or ?
I used a pretty rudimentary system for a long time: exactly what I grew up with: the south roof (corrugated steel) of the chicken house! Biggest problems with that were that food needed to be covered (wind, flies) and that it was outside so had to watch for coons, etc, and cover at night (dew). So was happy to make one with shelves and a glass front, also to use outside. That one I liked, was lots less hassle although of course not as spacious as the roof. The first autumn of its life it went up in smoke along with everything else around here. Now since I rebuilt I actually broke down and bought an Excaliber, which I like a lot. I keep thinking it's tiny, but actually it has 9 shelves 14" square. Just seems small because the others were big, I think....

Works fine and is trouble-free. Does take power but not much compared to canning, and no power required for ongoing storage (not a good idea here where it's easy to lose power for weeks at a clip). Very often I will load trays, put them outdoors in sun all day, and bring in to drier to finish them off. That cuts down quite a bit on the power issue.

I also dry quite a bit just in my oven. Gas stove with pilot, I use the oven for drying things (my oven stays about 90* so can't do high-temp things in it), raising bread dough, clabbering milk/cheese, ginger beer, whatever else needs to stay warm in a cool house. So herbs and other things that can't tolerate a draft and CAN tolerate/will dry at a lower temp go in there as long as I'm not baking in it.

I did talk the other day to someone who said she dries her beans in a drier and has a big one for that. I tie them, still on the plants, to hooks in the attic and forget 'em until the weather outside drives me inside; some snowy day I go up there with a couple of trash bags and get 'em all down by the stove, shell 'em out. Can't think I'd pay $$ to do what the attic does for zero.

So I use whatever's handy/prudent, I guess. I do dry just about all that will do well that way, which is much of what I eat out of season. I keep some things until it looks like I need to do something with them: pumpkins, winter squash, potatoes, etc, then dry what's remaining.
Some things I dry and powder, add the powder to whatever. For instance, lemons were just 10/$1.00 here at one store. I hardly ever buy as they are of course 'imported' here, but did get $2 worth, sliced them and dried the slices, then powdered them. Can be used just like lemon zest and I really don't tell a difference, and I have a full pint of it vac'ed and ready to go, so that makes for handy. I dry the 'leavings' (skins, seeds, etc) from straining tomatoes for juice and powder that, fine in soup or whatever. So can salvage a lot that would otherwise be compost (not that compost is a waste!). Some things have 'new' uses when dried: zuch sliced about a quarter inch thick, sprinkled with onion/garlic powder, and dried are just about as good as potato chips and practically free....When the nice sweet onions are ripe, carmelize a big batch of them, dry that, powder it: good in sauces, mixed with sour cream as spread/dip, etc. Can make better garlic powder (by many times!) than can buy. I usually mix some garlic/onion and often just sprinkle my greens with that; better than a wet dressing, to my mind (unless you're putting bacon in the wet dressing....). Dollops of yogurt mixed with fruit (and sometimes cinnamon or nutmeg) dry to chewy bits better than candy.

So there are many ways to use a dehydrator and dried food. I'm used to it this way and would hate to go without. There are lots of plans around for building them and if I had enough years left in my life would likely have built another big one for the porch, but don't have time left to do all over again. I'm getting along fine with this one, so will just leave well enough alone. My friend in CT found a good commercial drier of some kind in a yard sale, said it's about the size of a fridge; she has it in the garage. Haven't heard yet how much power it uses or how it's working, but there are lots of driers around, keep your eyes open, maybe you could snag one cheap and give it a go.

Susan Jane, on a glorious day in Maine

I have two very full
freezers now, no room for the expected leftovers from this summer's canning.
I've long thought dehydrating was the better way to go (in addition to
canning), no electric issues to deal with once it's dry and stored.

Thanks.

Lisa





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