42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

started in october, i'm almost at my 50 quarts.

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/4...0524di3.th.jpg

walmart 5 pound bag of mixed vegetables. $4.67 a bag.

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/8...0525wi7.th.jpg

1 bag at a time fits in the dehydrator.

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/4...0526lr8.th.jpg

10 hours later, 1 quart of dehydrated vegetables. sealed with a vacuum sealer, oxygen absorber inside, should last a long time.

only 8 more quarts to go!

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

That is a good idea! Have you used any, to see what they taste like?

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

yeah, i actually did the same thing about 8 years ago. just ran out, which is why i started again.

you can throw them in with barley or noodles to make a quick soup, which is mostly what i use them for. never tried them standalone. they're kind of my 'go to' soup base.

it's going to end up costing me around $250 or so (plus electricity) to do these 50 quarts i'm working on.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Ive done peas and corn in my dehydrator, but thats it. I didnt do much at all though, maybe 1 frozen bags worth total, just to see.

I think I may have OVER dehydrated them, because when I went to soak them to rehydrate, they werent so great. The center of the peas were still very hard and dry(after an overnight soak).

But, in a survival situation, they were more than edible.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

You gotta cook 'em too. :wink:

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

I did, I just soaked em first. Maybe cause I steamed em in a microwave(that souless box!)

Ill try the OP's suggestion of doing it in a soup, that sounds pretty good.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Chad, Nice job and ecomonical considering what #10 cans of freeze dried veggies cost these days.
Toss in a boullion cube of beef or chicken into the qt. jar and you've got an excellent base for any type of soup/pot pie /casserole.
What's your quesstimate for shelf life for this product at cool temps??

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

i made a whole batch of these in 2000 that i kept in the same mason jars in my basement. i'd say i had them at an average temp of around 70-75 degrees or so. the last batch i didn't vacuum seal or use oxy absorbers, i just screwed the lid on them, and they kept fine for 8 years. this batch should last even longer.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

My guess, with proper sealing, correct dehydration and the use of oxygen absorbers (also cool storage and protection from light) that 15 years should be easily obtainable. I know the question wasn't directed at me but that sort of storage is typically confident for 10 years regardless of what you are storing. Being in glass one could periodically visually inspect them and begin to rotate after color begins to significantly shift. Color variation will begin well ahead of flavor/nutrient degradation.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Chad, thanks for the reply, I have a large masonry wood burning stove with plenty of space on top for drying the veggies. This process is very easy compared to canning so I might just give this a try.
Any preserved food is going to be very valuable.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

good luck brewer, i'm sure you'll be happy with the results. i don't trust myself canning, so everything here gets dehydrated.

the nice thing about buying the walmart 5 pound bag is that it fits perfectly in a quart jar. it's like it was made for it!

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Waltons has 6 gallon (24 quarts) of dehydrated veg stew blend for $79.90 plus shipping (SP packed in mylar with oxygen absorbers).

http://www.waltonfeed.com/category/45

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Hey Chad, glad to see someone else who's doing the same thing I'm doing. I have about 80 quarts of dehydrated veggies on hand myself, been dehydrating and storing for about 10 months. One suggestion I'll make is that canned vegetables might dehydrate better because they wouldn't have to be thawed before they're dehydrated, plus you can save the juices in ice cube trays and use the cubes for bullion/broth. I have relatively little freezer space but I have a huge storage area that can accommodate canned goods. Right now canned-goodwise I have about eight cases of canned diced tomatoes, 12 cases of spinach, four cases of mixed greens (mustard and turnip) and a case of diced jalapenos (and these will all be dehydrated in the next couple weeks and put in mason jars). You might want to consider the biggest nutritional bang for your buck, so to speak, which is one reason why I'm stocking up on a lot of green leafy vegetables--a ton of vitamins A and C. I'm getting a food processor in the next couple weeks so I can also dice or shred sliced canned carrots--the smaller the bits, the faster they will dehydrate, as I'm sure you know.

What brand of dehydrator are you using? Over the past couple years I've bought about five different brands of dehydrators on eBay and have found that the Nesco/American Harvester models are the absolute best--they're the only ones with a fan to circulate air for much faster drying time. So altogether I have 12 Nesco dehydrators that I typically set up 4 to 6 at a time to dry as much food as possible, and then rotate dehydrators weekly to keep from burning them out from overuse. You can get Nesco dehydrators pretty cheap on eBay:

http://shop.ebay.com/items/__nesco-d...86Q2ec0Q2em359

Also, I highly recommend buying sets of nonstick tray liners to keep food from sticking to the trays (and they also help in being able to spread food more evenly on each tray), which is especially good with high-sugar foods such as tomatoes, apples, etc. Here's where you can buy them:

http://nesco.com/category_f8acd5f48b..._792a38530ec3/

I'm also tinkering with a recipe for a kick-butt vegetable soup mix using the dehydrated veggies and the hundreds of pounds of rice and mixed beans I have in mylar storage bags that I've vacuum-sealed with this machine:

http://sorbentsystems.com/sinbosealer.html

And using these bags:

http://sorbentsystems.com/mylar.html


If I can help with any advice, just PM me. Maybe I could pick your brain for some ideas as well.


Thanks for posting this thread!

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

This is a fantastic idea for those of us that are canning-challenged. So I get the defrosting / dehydrating thing. Once its dehydrated, do you just pour into a mason jar and close the lid.

Or would you just be able to seal them in a vacuum packed bag?

Thanks!

:36_1_32v:

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

The only problem I've had in the past with vacuum sealing dehydrated veggies (sliced potatoes) is that the sharp edges will sometimes punch through the bags.

If you're sealing in 7 mil thick mylar bags, or not pulling a super vacuum (along with using an oxygen absorber), that shouldn't be a problem.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Canned veggies will have a lot of cheap sodium and will have leeched out plastic from the can liner. Also, they have been cooked to death already, killing many nutrients and all the enzymes. Frozen may be a better way.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

i use the nesco dehydraters as well.

i stick with frozen instead of canned because they're not cooked. i think a lot of the nutrients leach out during canning, but then again, if you are making bullion/broth you're probably recapuring some of that.

i too also use the non-stick liners, they make the whole process a lot easier.

i haven't gone the bag route yet, too many jars laying around that need to be used up!

how long have you kept your stuff? my record is 8 years.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

I have not dehydrated much. Can someone tell me when or how long it takes to do apples. I cut them in 1/4 inch wedges and dried them for 9 hours.
Is there a certain way you can tell if they are done? They are not crunchy. I put them in mason jars and vacuumed them about 3 weeks ago. I have not seen mold or anything on them.
I am going to do peas today,
when you do the frozen veggies, do you let them thaw out first? I have them on the trays unstacked,

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

i do them (veggies) both frozen and unfrozen. frozen just takes longer.

i do apples a lot. they take a long time to get completely dry, but you can do it. i usually do apples for 9 hours or so, then let them "cure" off the dehydrator for a day, then re-do them another 4 hours. when i'm done with them, they are almost like a freeze dried consistency.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Ok, I just set the timer for 10 hours at 135 minutes for the peas.

I will do another batch of apples tomorrow like you said!

Thanks for your help.

I can anything and everything I can think of, just not use to dehydrating! Better get it all done, just got my power bill and used less power this month this year compared to last year. My bill was 50.00 higher this month. I fear its only going to get worse! If all else fails, and we get to the point of no power, the solar oven will come in handy with all this dehydrated food!

Have you dehydrated meat? (not beef jerky, but meat chunks)

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

never done meat, i've been a vegetarian for 18 years.

the secret to fruit is dehydrating it until you think it is 100% done, the taking it aff the dehydrator, letting it cure for a day, and then redoing it. fruit develops "spots" where it's sitting that will hold moisture. it needs to be taken off and cured to redistribute the remaining moisture.

good luck!

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Do you put the frozen veggies directly in the dehydrator? I'd think that setting them out to thaw for several hours first would cut the drying time.

I've only been putting dried veggies in mason jars for about 10 months so far. They've retained flavor very well when reconstituted.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

This is a great idea that I think I am going to try.

How do you guys know when you have enough moisture out? Is it easy to screw it up and get moldy food jars?

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Well after Several hours of drying, I went to rotate my trays...... I can now see the use for those liner things! My Peas fell thru the cracks!

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Here's a good primer:

http://www.pickyourown.org/dryingfoods.htm

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Thank you!

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

FYI.......... My 5lb bag of peas fit into 1 quart and 1 pint jars.

I went to Sams the other day to get more bags of frozen veggies, but forgot to get them. I did manage to fill my cart with other stuff!

Sometimes I think my gray roots are sucking the life out of my brain.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Most of the instructions I've seen for dehydrating veggies recommend steam blanching them first. Is there something that happens to commercial frozen veggies that makes this step unnecessary? Chad, after 8 years, was the color of your mixed veggies still good?

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

OK, Chad, I did it. I bought a 5-pound bag of frozen mixed veggies from my local store. Started them from frozen. They really do not take all that long to defrost with 125 degree air passing over them -- maybe 30 extra minutes. Anyway, I got all of it into a quart jar with the O2 absorber, but had 1/2 cup left over. That's close enough. And I am impressed! That jar is a thing of beauty. I'll definitely do more. It's so easy it's ridiculous. And I'm sure it's more nutritious than the canned Vegal that I have weighing down my pantry shelves. Thank you so much for this recommendation.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Must be a good thread. I just picked up a food dehydrator on ebay. Guess I'm gonna give this a shot.

.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Dehydration question: Do any of you dehydrating types use something to prevent browning while dehydrating? Lemon juice or something? Thinking apples or nanas... Expecting my ebay bought dehy machine any day. Joy.

How 'bout tray liners?

???

Tia.

.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Ascorbic acid, vitamin C. Buy at health food store.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

I just ordered a dehydrator, should be here any day now. Here is an excellent video on food dehydration with the dehydrator I am soon to receive.




Parts 2 - 5 are there for the searching.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Same boat as you Plastic! I ordered the Excaliber 9 tray as a direct result of watching the same video series. I'm looking forward to this unit to fill the stockpiled new mason jars I have stacked up.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

For those that have been doing this - how much does a quart of your veggies weigh. sans jar of course? And I'd assume different veggies will have different weights due to how well they dehydrate and pack together.

I'm also curious as to what might be lost nutritionally in dehydrating frozen veggies vs buying "fresh' from the supermarket (or better yet from the farmers' market?)

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

It just came in!!! Oh happy day. Now if only the oxygen absorbers I ordered would arrive I can get down and dirty.

Madcow: That is exactly why I ordered the model I did, saw the video and had to have it.
Leadfoot: I imagine fresh would always be better than frozen, remember to slightly steam certain veggies before drying.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Go ahead and dehydrate. Jar your dehydrated food with lids and bands and add the O2 absorbers later when they arrive. Your food won't suffer that much in the week or so you're waiting for them. Have fun! Go for it!

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

If that is the case then I start tomorrow, nothing in the house right now but corn chips and a couple bottles of soda. Yah, I gots me some shoppin' to do. :bear_w00t:

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

I also use Ascorbic acid.

I have 9lbs of onions in the dehydrator as I type. Did 9lbs of mixed veggies yesterday.

The bushel of tomatoes will probably get done on Sunday.

I bought 100 sheets of "Parchment Paper" for tray liners. Haven't used them yet but I did put one on the bottom to help with clean up.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

9 pounds of corn in the dehydrator right now, should be done around 1 a.m.!! :s9:

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Very interesting thread! So, are mason jars +02 absorbers the preferred packaging media?

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

I am gonna use those yes but also food saver vaccuum bags as well.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Thanks to the responders to my questions. I already have a foodsaver, but also purchased a bunch of jars w/lids for anything that may "poke through."

Would frozen berries work? If not how 'bout fresh berries? I'm into berries... http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...00000000-4.gif

Oh, and is the ascorbic acid a liquid you brush on?

Tia. Again ;)

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

From the manual that came with my dehydrator.

Dipping
Dipping is a treatment used primarily to prevent fruits or veggies from oxidizing. The following are various pre-treatment dips with wich you may want to experiment.

Sodium Bisulfite: When mixed with water, SB is a liquid form of sulther. It is the most efficient and least expensive anti-oxidant. Use only food-safe grade od SB that is made especially for dehydration. (Translation, buy it from us)

Fruit: 1 1/2 tablespoons of SB in one gallon of water. Soak fruit slices for five minutes and halved fruit for fifteen minutes. Rinse.

Veggies: Recommended for steam blanching only. Add 1 teaspoon SB to each cup of steaming water and blanch as you would normally. This is particularly recommended for veggies to be stored in excess of three months.

Ascorbic Acid-Citric Dip: is simply a form of vitamin C. Citric acid is found in all citris fruits. These citric type dips are available in drug and health food stores in crystal, powder and tablet form. Soak the prepared produce in a solution of 2 tablespoons of powder to 1 quart of water for 2 minutes.

Fruit Juice Dip: Citrus juices such as pineapple, lemon or lime, may be used as a natural anti-oxidant. Stir one cup of juice into one quart of lukewarm water and soak for 10 minutes. Note: fruit juice is only 1/16 as effective as pure ascorbic acid and may vary the taste of your food.

Blanching

Blanching is a means of pre-treatment, can be done either in boiling water or by steaming the foods. This pre-treatment is sometimes referred to as "checking" or "crazing". You can use this method moost effectively on tough-skinned fruits (sometimes having natural protective wax coating) such as grapes, plums, cranberry's, ect. By boiling fruits in water for 1 to 2 minutes, the skin "cracks" and allows the moisture to more readily escape, thus drying the fruit faster.

Water Blanching: Fill a large pan over half full with water. Bring to a boil and stir the food directly into the water. Cover and blanch for approximately 3 minutes. Remove food from boiling water and place it into ice water to cool. Blot with a towel to remove excess water before drying.

Steam Blanching: Using the old fashion pan type steamer, fill the lower portion with 2 inches of water. The perforated upper section is then filled with food. Lrt the water rapidly boil approximately foru minutes. Remove food from the boiling water and place into ice water to cool. Blot with a towel to remove excess water before drying.

For your question dealing with berries..... Leave whole. For wax skin. Pre-treat berries by "crazing". So I would say that you should defrost them first. But what do I know!

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Ooooh yeah. Great info. Thanks...

Excellent.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...u812/burns.jpg

The ascorbic acid sounds the best imo...

Now if only my dehydrator would show up.

Tyvm.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Comrade, in return for the information, I request a uniform with lots of medals, ribbons and fringe. Plus a maid, a car and driver, and another maid to keep me warm at night.

:10_1_20:

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...Medals2005.jpghttp://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...NS_468x303.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ou812/maid.jpg

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

You are to kind Comrade.....you have my total loyalty.


:36_1_32v::36_1_32v::36_1_32v:

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Maybe here, but it seems crazy to me. While I'm all for using inert materials like glass for storage, if the food is truly dehydrated there should be very little exchange/leeching. I'd reuse plastic food/beverage containers (even type 1 plastics, which are meant to be used only once). As for O2 absorbers, why do you care if your stash lasts 20 years instead of 10? I have store bought dried onions, garlic, and tons of powders/spices that are >5 years old sitting in their original containers that I use in my cooking. Not sure why this would be any different.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

We have been dehydrating canned veggies (mostly Vegall that we bought on sale with doubled coupon and sweet peas for use as stew base) and placing them into a half-gallon mason jar. So far, fourteen 14.5 ounce cans plus a pound of dried baby lima beans fit into one half-gallon jar with room for an O2 absorber. That is a considerable weight/space savings in the pantry.

As far as the O2 absorber, I look at them as a tool to insure no bugs get into the food, not as a way to keep it fresh. Without O2 and the resulting vacuum seal, nothing is going to eat the food inside.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

My dehydrator came in this week. I'm gonna try some test batches this weekend, see what works. Then I'll go great guns on whatever looks good. Costco has a sale on "baby potatoes"- just wee 'uns. I'm gonna try them whole or halved as they're that small. Gotta try some berries, veggies, etc. Just going to store these test batches in tupperware, long term comes when I know what I'm doing.

Biggest worry: how do you tell when it's done? What if the centers are still liquid?

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

i tried the little potatoes once. for me, they turned into hard little rocks. i've had better luck buying bigger potatoes and slicing them.

dehydrate them until you can tell there's ZERO moisture left. with fruits, that will be hard. there's alwys some residual moisture left in fruits.

veggies usually take 8 hours or so, longer with fruits. i personaly do fruit at least 12 hours or more.

good luck, once you get the hang of it it's an awesome way to make your own long term food storage soluton at a low cost price point. and remember, farmer's market season is almost here!

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Good advice, thanks!

The Chad's the man!

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

:biggrin:

let me know how it goes. i'm totally into dehydration and i'm always looking for new tips, things people have figured out!

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Wife came home yesterday with 20 pounds of white taters and said for me to get them done today.:wink: (Damn wish she would get a job, been working me to death.)

So far this week we have canned 2 cases (pints)of apples, dehydrated 6 lbs of apples, and 9 lbs tomatoes.

Hugo whence ya start you will be dehydrating everything in sight! :biggrin:

PS: Made works fine, but the limo is stuck in the mudhole in the driveway.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

I'm dehydrating some taters as we "speak." Peel, slice to about 1/8" thick, steam 6 minutes, rinse with cold water, toss in the dehydrator (a cheapie 4 tray American Harvest Snackmaster Elite). They should be done sometime tomorrow.

If you decide to do potatoes, I think that blanching them is necessary to nuke the enzymes that would otherwise cause browning as they dry. I didn't know about that step when I did my first batch last year, and they turned out a yucky brown.

Hugo also asked "how do you know when they're done?". I dry them till I think they're done, then try to bend one of the thickest slices I see in the dehydrator tray. If it SNAPS rather than bending, it's dry.

Does anybody out there use bisulfite (WATCH OUT if you've got asthma) or ascorbic acid (rather than steam blanching) on potatoes?

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Blanching works so wonderfully well with potatoes that I haven't been tempted to do them any other way. I sliced some Yukon Golds with a mandolin slicer (inexpensive piece of equipment that makes short work of the job and yields uniform slices) and dehydrated them after blanching back in July 2006. I vacuum sealed them in canning jars without oxygen absorbers. The last of them sit on the shelf the same beautiful pale yellow color as the day I put them up.

This past week, I dehydrdated potato dices (one quarter inch cubes.) They're more work to slice, but because of their shape you can get more into a jar than you can with slices. If anyone knows an easy way to dice potatoes, let us know.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Leaning towards dices m'self. Blanching too. Great info...

I'm assuming that's quarter inch pre-dehy?

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Do you blanch them in boiling water (how many minutes?), or steam them?

I don't have a mandolin here at home, but that does sound useful.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

The ones that are in the dehydro (9 trays) right now that I did today I used the "crazing method" (steaming them for 6 minutes). No brown yet.

http://www.the3006cafe.org/stuff/dehydratora.jpg

Yeah the mandolin is a must to get uniform slices.

155 degrees for 2-3 hours then down to under 120 for the rest of the run. It's called 'the living food method'. Supposed to leave more of the good stuff in the food. The Idea came with the instruction book.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

I steamed the potato slices. My mandolin slicer maker them somewhat thinner than 1/8 inch, so I steam them no more than 5 minutes or so. Boiling water with the thin slices has been a problem for me -- don't want them falling apart.

With the potato dices I brought the water to a boil and dumped in the dices. It takes a little while for the temperature to come back up (during which time the dices are still cooking after all) so after the boil returns, no more than 2 minutes or so. You'll find that the potatoes are actually edible at that point, although not optimal.

In both cases, drain the water and plunge the taters into ice water.

By the way, I save my potato water to use in soups, gravies and sauces. Waste not, want not.

Go here for some great recipes using your dehydrated potato slice to make scalloped potatoes and meat and potatoes casserole.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

I saved the link to a pdf. Will look at it later.

Thanks.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

OK, I just checked in on my spuds. I must have screwed the pooch somewhere cause some are turning brown.

How about some input on exactly the process anyone has used doing sliced taters.

You know, Ascorbic acid? Lime juce? and that sulpher crap.
Steamed?
Crazed?
Or just par-boiled?

To bad "mighty spuds" got banned. I'll bet he would know.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Just checked mine...6+ hours into the dehydrating process. Still nice & white/yellow colored.

I peeled mine, rinsed them, sliced to ~1/8" thick. Arranged them in a single layer on the walls of a high tech pink plastic colander, and also single layer inside a Chinese bamboo steamer (2 trays). Covered colander with a pot lid that fit. Set colander and Chinese steamer over pots of boiling plain water for 6 minutes. Removed both, set colander under running cold water for a minute or so, dumped Chinese steamer tray contents into the colander & rinsed/cooled the contents. Drained off excess water. Spread into single layer on dehydrator trays, started drying the buggers.

After 6 hours at ~150 �F, some slices are almost done. I'll let it go till tomorrow AM to make sure.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

I'll be in the trenches with you all in the morning. Bought some fruit, mixed veggies, and tatties on the way home. Chomping at the bit but no time till manana.

Didn't find ascorbic acid but found real lemon juice.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...300_176643.jpg

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

The only thing I can think of was there may have been some overlap.
How big is your Chinese steamer? It seem that it would be real slow going. I may have been trying to do to many, (9 trays) and got sloppy with the steaming. It appears that I have about a 10% loss.

Thanks for the info. I'll have to find me a big steamer.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Hehe... you said... http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...0000000000.gif http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...lies/0-133.gif

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

NO TIME???? You say NO TIME??? Sleep is over rated, you know!

It will be hard to find ascorbic acid in stores (except as Vitamin C tablets, with fillers & orange flavoring crap added). Health food stores may sell the powder. I just bought a 8 oz bottle off Fleabay today for about $11, shipping included.

See:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=220345593435

Also got 5# of citric acid for ~$20. See:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=250365609629

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

My Chinese steamer has 2 trays, each 9 inches diameter. Not a huge surface area, but it works OK. I end up doing 2 "batches" of colander + Chinese steamer to fill my dehydrator trays.

With my last batch, I had some browning of the drying taters - that's why I increased the steaming time from 4 minutes to 6 minutes. Just to make sure...

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Ah, I wondered where the sources of ascorbic acid were.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

As long as the slices aren't falling apart from cooking, I can't see how there could be a problem with steaming them longer. Better safe than sorry. The link I supplied earlier suggested boiling the slices 8 minutes. That was total overkill for me -- couldn't handle the cooked slices without their falling apart.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Hugo way to go! Don't forget to give us a complete report with pictures.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Bulk foods has Ascorbic acid. I have two pounds included in my order that will be here Monday. Ascorbic acid is a good prep item to prevent Scurvy.

http://www.bulkfoods.com/search_resu...hParamTxt=4704

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Tanks, good link! :coolbeer:

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Remember that ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) will itself react with oxygen over time. Any amount above what you plan to use in the next month or two should probably be stored in a sealed mylar pouch or mason jar with oxy absorbers.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Thanks, but the lemon juice seems to be working quite well.

I, er... couldn't wait. Got a load of fruit on. Nanners, strawberries, raspberries, and a kiwi. Just to get a handle on things.

Tomorrow will be potatoes and after that a bag of frozen mixed veggies like at the beginning of this thread. My results will likely dictate my direction after that.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Congrats on breaking in your new dehydrator!

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

This weeks results.

First attachment is the string beans pressure canned. (no photo of the 16 lbs of apples)

Second attachment is from left to right. (all dehydrated)

12 lbs of taters in two 1/2 gallon jars. (they are not brown as the photo looks)

10 lbs on maters in a 1/2 gallon jar.

6 lbs of mixed veggie soup mix in a 1/2 gallon jar. (I could fit another 1 1/2 lbs in there)

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Thanks for the heads up. I didn't know it was that reactive. The good thing, is I've been putting all this dry bulk stuff in Mason jars with oxygen absorbers. Also thanks to Techguy for the lead on getting 1/2 gal jars ordered though Ace Hardware. I've had 7 cases delivered to my local store and 4 more on the way. The bad news is, they went up to $10.49 a case. Two weeks ago they were $9.99. I goes to show, that when word gets out, these merchants catch on and bump the price.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Holy slow. Things are happening but I'm looking at 24 hours+ for my fruit. Maybe my machine is a dud? Bought a cheapie just to see...

House smells great though.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

This thread is making me want to buy a dehydrator. I think i'm going to get an excalibur, i'm just not sure if I should get the 4 or 8 tray unit. I don't really want to spend more then I have to, but I also dont want to regret buying less then I need. Is the 8 tray dehydrator overkill for most people?

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

As I said in post #60The taters took about 20 hours to dry. I got up this morning and they were poker chips. It's a slow go my friend. But well worth it.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Thanks for that. I thought previous posts kind of hinted at 6-8 hours but now I see 24~ish may be more realistic.

Yeah, I may already be regretting my cheapie but I wanted to try it b4 committing to El Sexy Grande. Do the larger units have temp controls etc? Links?

The house smells so good I may always keep my cheapo unit fulla fruit.

El Cheapo Especial:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1.../Picture-4.jpg

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

I bought a 'refurbished' 9 tray Excalibur directly from them. The box was marked "Blemished" but I couldn't find a thing wrong with it. They still have them for $159.99 at their site.

Item #: 2900 3900 R

Excalibur Factory Refurbished products are restored to our exact manufacturer specifications in our certified refurbishing center by us the original manufacturer- Excalibur.

These are NEW and have not been USED. These Dehydrators have been returned to us for various reasons: use in sales displays, cancellations, and as simple as people exchanging for a larger or different color unit.

Our Quality control department thoughly inspects and tests each unit. They are also serviced, if needed, at our factory.

Refurbished products may come with minor blemishes but -- most are so small that you will not even notice them.

By purchasing directly from the Excalibur Factory you have the added advantage of our FREE 10 year limited manufacturer warranty and customer service support to answer all your dehydration questions if they arise�

2900/3900 R Features and Specifications

� The Ultimate in Versatility-- Removable Door and Trays � a must if you want to use every other tray for larger items or No trays at all for items like- making yogurt, raising bread, warming soups, blooming rice, drying flowers and more�

http://www.excaliburdehydrator.com/-...gular-prod.htm

I am more than happy with it.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

It would be overkill for me. I have a smallish garden and there are times that I want to dehydrate 5 pounds of potatoes or a handful of bell peppers just so they wont go bad. Don't need the big model for that. I have a 5-tray Excalibur that handles a 5 pound bag of frozen veggies perfectly. The real question you have to answer is how big a production do you intend to make of dehydrating food? I find that the effort required to prepare and fill five trays is quite enough effort for me. I don't want to even think about what would be required to fill 9 trays.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Yes, 1/4 inch pre-dehy worked well for me. Rehydrated, I should be able to use them in soups, hashbrowns, etc. I tried larger sizes (lazy, you know) but was unsure that the centers were getting really dry.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Great thread guys!!! Keep the tips and pics comming! :applause_ This thread has lead me to purchase a 9 tray Excaliber and it should be at my doorstep in the next couple days.

I've always threatened to purchase one for making deer jerky (avid bowhunter) but never would come off the money. Now that I've seen what you guys are doing with these things in your homes justifies to me what a great investment this is.

Thanks again!


Banana's be warned I will dehydrate you soon! :banana: :banana: :banana:
mwaaahhhahahahahhhaha

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

I wish I saw that before I just ordered mine from amazon. It was $199 plus shipping. Oh well.

Do you find that the 9 tray unit is overkill? I wonder how many pounds of meat it can do in one run.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Thanks for the videos. Nice to hear her plug Peter Schiff and Max Keiser. :biggrin:

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

The amazon price is fair. I believe that you will receive the "extras" that are not included with the refurbished one. I needed 50$ more than a jerky gun, as I use thin sliced flank steak for jerky.

The large number of trays is a big plus when doing a lot of large sliced items. But to be able to get 9 lbs. of veggies (frozen) when on sale (like this week corn @ 1.69 per pound) is where it is handy. One shot and it is done, not two.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Hey Hugo!

It's sunday morning are you in church?

We want a update! ;-0

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Well, everything is almost done but I can't help but feel that my nanners would have been done long ago if I didn't have my strawberries and raspberries in there. Those raspberries take a loooooong time. In hindsight I may be leery to dehy such an assortment next time. It seems like it may be quicker to do all the same item per batch? Anyone else find this?

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Can't you get canned corn for under a $1/lb?

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Just wanted to say thanks to all involved in this thread. I don't have a dehydrator yet and I can't get my wife on board to start doing this, but I'm working on it!

In the meantime I enjoy reading about the success of others and looking at the pictures.

HC, you make me want to visit for coffee with your descriptions of how good your house smells!

:565:

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Put a pump spray attachment on the bottle, works fantastic!

Didn't find ascorbic acid but found real lemon juice.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...300_176643.jpg[/QUOTE]

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

How to dehydrate and store food PART 1

How to dehydrate and store food PART 2

How to dehydrate and store food PART 3


How to dehydrate and store food PART 4

How to dehydrate and store food PART 5

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Okay, my dehydrator sucks. I am trying to do veggies now and there's not enough heat and the so-called "convection circulation" is a joke. I had to line the trays with wax paper so the veggies don't fall through and now everything sucks ass.

My current opinion now after having tried El Cheapo Especial is that it sorta works, works like sh*t when you line the trays, and I imagine something with a temperature control and fan would be sexy.

I'll start looking for a deal, but it may be awhile. Busy time just now.

--I wouldn't bother with El Cheapo Especial... fwiw.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Hugo,

When it comes to kitchen equipment, you def get what you pay for. I *finally* convinced my SO of that and started buying a little more expensive appliances.... totally worth it. The Excaliber dehydrator is worth every penny.... I have 2 other cheaper models that I still pull out and use when I need to, but when something needs to be done "exact" according to temp and time, I use the Excaliber.

I could not recommend it enough.....

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

I thought it might be, but I was wrong. During harvest season last year, I kept mine full ALL of the time... as a tray came out, I filled it right back up.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Sure, but it has been heated way above 212 degrees already. A no no for preserving the good stuff long term.

I'd like my corn to have more than just bulk value.

I have to agree with MagpieFairy here. The Excaliber blows the air sideways not up or down. That makes for much better drying when using tray liners. Mine doesn't have a timer and I don't really miss it. It does have a temp control though.

Magpie has stated the truth, when it comes to kitchen appliances, get the best you can afford. My reasoning is that soon they (great ones) will disapear from the general market from lack of demand.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Starting on potato slices now. I wanted dices but then I may have needed the wax paper; a big no-no with my machine. Blanching now, we'll see what happens. I have a feeling things will work if I avoid the wax paper.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

For what it's worth HC, the trays on the Excalibur models come with plastic screens that have a fairly fine mesh. That would be the end of the wax paper story unless you wanted to dehydrate spaghetti sauce or make fruit leathers.

Hugo, why don't you see if they don't have some plastic screen over at the Ace Hardware store? You could easily cut it to fit your trays and it would probably work better than the waxed paper.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

I just picked up a Nesco American Harvest FD-1010 off Fleabay for under $80. My current Snackmaster works OK, but does not have any way of adjusting temperature (potato slices get brown if I leave them in too long). The new one has nearly 3x the power, plus an adjustable thermostat. Should be fun to play with. I could have probably used an adjustable timer to shut off the older unit to prevent browning, but I needed a second dehydrator anyway.

At least that's my story & I'm sticking to it!

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Excellent advice and I would except I've decided to get a unit with a temp control and a fan. http://cgi.ebay.ca/Dehydrator-Limite...1%7C240%3A1308 I'm not sure if I'm keeping El Cheapo Especial. I had to throw out my previous machine load of veggies.

The bottom tray of tatties dehydrated well while I was out today while the other trays were uninspiring. I've rotated trays but I worry that things may be so slow that cooties may get my food before it is adequately dehydrated.

Next payday maybe as I kinda bought some silver this payday... Shhhhh... don't tell Mrs. Chavez.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

The ole nine tray Excaliber was on my doorstep when I got home yesterday. :banana: Just waiting on my foodsaver to show up and I gonna get started on some taters and jerky.

w00t!

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

what do you have, hugo? i thought you had the same one as me...maybe it's broken.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Last week I purchased a Ronco dehydrator from Target for $40. With no fan it dries food slowly. I had an extra 120mm computer fan, so put it on stilts(4 long screws) and place it on the bottom of the Ronco, so that it is about 1" above the element. My computer powers the fan, so the Ronco needs to be right next to it. Drying time has been reduced by about 1/3.

I also built a large dehydrator out of a box fan, baking sheets, and a large cardboard box. Arizona air is pretty dry, so this may not work well in higher humidity locations. I used four soup cans as support for each level of baking sheet.

Completed
24lbs Sams club frozen strawberries, 8lbs frozen broccoli

I have another 24lbs of strawberries, as well as 20lbs of broccoli that need drying.

Thawing the berries leaves a lot of juice in the bowl. I collected one gallon of juice from the first 24 lbs of strawberries. I plan to use the juice to make a 12% alcohol dry strawberry wine.
http://i42.tinypic.com/el33pf.gif

http://i41.tinypic.com/wccyo3.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/r7rx8i.jpg

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Bump......

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Thank you. I was looking all over for this thread. Lots of good info in here!

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Here is a link on dehydrating veggies.....
I havent looked it over good yet....
http://www.howtogardenadvice.com/har...egetables.html

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Tons of great info. Thank Merlin though, hes the one that directed me here from another thread. I had totaly forgotten about this thread.

I plan on canning a few pounds of dehydrated veggies this weekend.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Thank you Merlin!

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

You are very welcome. I was totally impressed with this thread the first time around and I'm glad it got bumped. Just came up from the basement where I checked in on the 9 quarts of dehydrated frozen veggies I put up this past few months thanks to the information in this thread. Those 9 quarts represent roughly 45 pounds of frozen veggies and fit into a very compact space. Thanks to Chad for bringing up the whole idea of canning frozen veggies!

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

I did a bunch too.... Thanks to Chad. I even did frozen blueberries. They turned out really good. like little raisins! I am getting ready to do spinach to night. I dont care much for canned spinach. I think it was too much of being forced to eat it as a child!
I thought spinach powder from the dehydrated spinach would be good to add to foods for extra UMP of nutrients!

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

I never dehydrated carrots and after watching that video above I think my jaw dropped a bit.

That was very neat to see how small they get, but do they really rehydrate back to looking just like a regular baby carrot? That I found a bit hard to believe.

Ill be doing lots of Peas, Corn, Carrots and probably potatos this weekend. Im wondering if I can make my own oxy absorbers. I know the theory and operation, just need to practice.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

I haven't looked it over real good yet either but I have a question for you since you are the resident canning expert (I don't mean that sarcastically; we've all learned a lot about canning from your posts.) Anyway, I noticed, looking through the instructions on the various vegetables, that some call for blanching and some do not. Brocolli and carrots for instance do not call for steam blanching. Would not all veggies have enzymes that need deactivating if you want them to last a long time?

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Thats a good idea! that would be good for making sauces,dips and gravies.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Well, spinach powder would certainly be a welcome addition to pasta, soups and even bread dough. I've dehydrated spinach when it became obvious that I had to do something or else or it would go bad. But I've never made a major project out of dehydrating spinach. I dehydrate basil, cilantro and parsley too. :wink:

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Ok.... On the Carrots I pulled out Mary Bell's Complete Dehydrator Book
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...SH20_OU01_.jpg

Page 66
Carrots
Do not use old or woody carrots for drying. To preπ�re, cut off�ends. Depending on how you intend to use the carrots when dried, peel, dip or cut them into slices or even shred them. Shredded dried carrots are good for baking and are suitable substitute for shredded dried coconut. Use a food processor fitted with a shredding blade to make quick clean work of shredding.

Recommended Techniques:
Peeling (optional)
or slicing

Pretreatments:
Dipping (optional)
Blanching( optional)

Tip: Steam Blanch small pieces of carrots for 3 minutes; larger pieces for 5 to 7 minutes

On the Broccoli,

Because homegrown broccoli can have worms, soak the head for 30 min in a solution of 1 part salt to 4 parts water, which will force any worms in the begtable to float to the surface.
To prepare for drying, trim the broccoli head, remove any yellow bud clusters and cut the florets from the stems . If desired, peel the tough outer skin from the stems with a vegetable peeler and cut the stems crosswise into 1/2 inch pieces. Blanch the stems before drying. Dry the florets and the stems separately. Broccoli leaves can also be dried then pulverized and used as flavoring agent much like celery powder.
she says to water boil blanch broccoli stems for 2 to 3 minutes or steam blanch for 3 to 5 min.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

The Problem with [electric] food dryers

http://goldismoney.info/forums/showthread.php?t=385392

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

So, when in doubt, and probably every other time too, blanch? What can it hurt, right?

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Seems like the best bet.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

The problem is that there's no supporting evidence for the claims your making. And dehydrators use only a fraction of the electricity of other appliances you're probably not going to stop using. I'll stick with my 12 Nesco American Harvester dehydrators.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

500 watts of power for the plastic thingy. That's 12 Kilowatts per day.

When the power goes out try plugging it into a tree.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Is the end product of three quart-sized mason jars of dehydrated food every 24-36 hours not worth 12/kw per day?

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

Can you put spices on veggies before dehydrating them? Just to give them a little extra flavor? Will it hinder the drying process?

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

You probably could. I don't see why spices would slow down dehydration.

The only problem I'd see is whether the volatile oils in spices (oregano, paprika, thyme,garlic,.....) would evaporate/oxidize during the drying/storage process. It might be better to store the dried spices for long term storage (glass/mylar/oxy absorbers), and combine them with dried veggies when they're cooked.

If you want to make "prepacked" soup/veggie mixes, I'd probably dry the veggies, add spices, store it in sealed mylar bags with oxy absorbers.

Re: 42 quarts of dehydrated vegetables!
 

I dehydrated 3 different kinds of squash yesterday. I dipped them in lemon juice and they came out really good. I was thinking of maybe putting some vinegar in the dip and possibly Redmond's salt on them, they would taste some what like vinegar and salt potato chips.