Food Dehydrators

[OllieMartin]

Yay, I left work early to collect it from the PO.

It doesn't seem so loud to me.

Mines all loaded up with tomatoes ready to go on over night. I'll let you know how it goes

That's the first thing I'm going to do in it, what did you do to them, anything in particular?

Eeeeeeeee, toys!

[Scottishnewbie]

havent used mine yet as not had a chance...anyone got any stories to share yet?

thinking of doing apples tonight though

[OllieMartin]

Just found this list of dehydrator recipes.

Some good jerky and sun-dried tomato recipes on there.

Dehydrator recipes for dinner or lunch

[SMS6]

Yay, I left work early to collect it from the PO.

It doesn't seem so loud to me.



That's the first thing I'm going to do in it, what did you do to them, anything in particular?

Eeeeeeeee, toys!

deseeded them all - sprinkled them with sea salt and chopped basil leaves - spread them out on the racks and off we went.

Set it going over night - agree it's not that noisy. I think 10 hours might have been slightly too long for my toms but they were mostly small cherry ones.

just wondering now whether to store some of them in oil or just keep them as is.

[Snadger]

Yay, I left work early to collect it from the PO.

It doesn't seem so loud to me.



That's the first thing I'm going to do in it, what did you do to them, anything in particular?

Eeeeeeeee, toys!

You have got to be joking. I must have a duff one then mine started in the kitchen until OH ordered it OUT!
It then spent a while in the spare bedroom ...............but I can't get to sleep for the damm thing , even in the other room.

It's heading for the garage next...............and if THATS still too noisy I'll rig an extention up and put it in the hut outside!

[OllieMartin]

deseeded them all - sprinkled them with sea salt and chopped basil leaves - spread them out on the racks and off we went.

Set it going over night - agree it's not that noisy. I think 10 hours might have been slightly too long for my toms but they were mostly small cherry ones.

just wondering now whether to store some of them in oil or just keep them as is.

Ah, I just put mine in plain. Might throw some salt on them though as I didn't de-pip them so they'll take a while to dehydrate.

From what I read, storing in oil can be a problem because if any air is captured on the tomatoes the oil can go rancid. Apparently dipping them in white wine vinegar first can help. Am going to try this myself.

[SMS6]

Ah, I just put mine in plain. Might throw some salt on them though as I didn't de-pip them so they'll take a while to dehydrate.

From what I read, storing in oil can be a problem because if any air is captured on the tomatoes the oil can go rancid. Apparently dipping them in white wine vinegar first can help. Am going to try this myself.

How'd it go Ollie? Did they dry okay with the seeds in?

You have got to be joking. I must have a duff one then mine started in the kitchen until OH ordered it OUT!
It then spent a while in the spare bedroom ...............but I can't get to sleep for the damm thing , even in the other room.

It's heading for the garage next...............and if THATS still too noisy I'll rig an extention up and put it in the hut outside!

I'm wondering whether yours is faulty Snadger, Mine is hardly noisy at all. Certainly could only be heard in the kitchen when you were in there, not any where else in the house.

[Snadger]

Because the toms I've dried in the past always seemed on the small side once dried, I've dried the last lot of large San Marzano (which I grew specifically for drying) whole. I did nick them with a knife in case they exploded and I always use a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt over them.
They did take longer, but boy were they bite size!

I still have loads on the plants, fully formed but at the green stage which hopefully will still ripen.
I've tried lots of varieties but these San Marzano are my ideal drying tomato. They are open pollinated also, so I've kept a few for seeds for next year.

I don't think there's anything wrong with my dryer and its nice to know my hearing is still quite acute. We live on a single story so any noise reverberates around the house.

Next lot are to be dried in the garage.....by order of her indoors!

[OllieMartin]

How'd it go Ollie? Did they dry okay with the seeds in?

They went pretty well.
I put them on during my lunch break from work. They looked half done by the time I went to bed and I knew there was a chance they'd over-do during the night. Some of them went a bit crunchy, but most of them are great.
I didn't season them at all, which I will do another time. I've stored them in oil after dipping in vinegar and we'll have to wait and see if that stops the oil going rancid.

[Scottishnewbie]

i dried some mushrooms yesterday and they were great. tried some banana chips/lices today but think they were maybe a wee bit over done. how do you know how long to keep it on for?

and incidentally, ours isnt too noisy either - makes no more noise than our dishwasher so becuase we are used to that, we hardly are noticing the dehydrator

[Jeanied]

YaY!!! Dehydrator arrived today thanks to a neighbour who took it in for me when I was at work- and got my discount, thanks to OllieMartin! I just love the vine! Now I have to figure out how to use it...

[Scottishnewbie]

cut your stuff in slices or chunks (not too big - they recommend 5mm); lay them out side by side & swtich the machine on. Go to bed and they'll be dry by the morning!

[Jeanied]

Well -I am proud to report that I have three trays of tomatoes dehydrating in the kitchen - my first use of the new machine from Westfalia. I can see what Snadger means - it sounds like there is a hairdryer running in the kitchen. Market Kitchen on the food channel featured dried apple rings and fruit leathers on their programme a few days ago- but they used an oven for ages! How expensive is the machine going to be, running all night? What do you think?

[Scottishnewbie]

Well -I am proud to report that I have three trays of tomatoes dehydrating in the kitchen - my first use of the new machine from Westfalia. I can see what Snadger means - it sounds like there is a hairdryer running in the kitchen. Market Kitchen on the food channel featured dried apple rings and fruit leathers on their programme a few days ago- but they used an oven for ages! How expensive is the machine going to be, running all night? What do you think?

says it used the same as a light bulb so definately way less than having your oven on! off to dry some apples today - any tips from the programme?

[Jeanied]

Hi SN - tbh I don't remember much that was new from the segment on the show - they did some dipping in lemon juice to keep fruit from going brown and I can't swear to it but I think some sugar coating was mentioned (sugar syrup as a coating maybe?). Here is the recipe for blackberry and apple fruit leather they featured - this was spread out on a lined baking sheet and came up as a whole floppy rectangle which was rolled and sliced into an artight jar after it had cooled from the oven. Looked good!
Apple and blackberry fruit leather: Recipes: Good Food Channel