Store bought dried onions
 

Do they have the same moisture content as the ones packaged for long term storage? I wan't to pick some up at Sam's and package them in mylar, but i'm not sure if the one's for LTS are dried more.

Re: Store bought dried onions
 

Try:
http://www.herbalcom.com/store.php3?...30035073d6da2d

Re: Store bought dried onions
 

Thanks, but i'm trying to avoid shipping. (Cheaper and more convenient for certain things)

Re: Store bought dried onions
 

I've dried my own in the dehydrator. If you try that, do it in the garage or on the porch because the onion smell will take over otherwise.

Re: Store bought dried onions
 

Hey thrifty_bob, were you happy with the results? How did you do it? Chopped fine then dried? What kind of onions? Sweet, vidalia, Mayan, yellow, white, red? I'm just looking for some pointers. Sometimes really good sweet onions are on sale at places like costco for a good price.

Re: Store bought dried onions
 

They had the Vidalias on sale for 29 cents a lb, and I'm not one to pass up a sale like that, so I bought 20 lbs and cut them with my french fry sized cutter on the mandolin, which makes about 1/2" sized pieces. I just spread them out on the trays, on my el-cheapo $5 garage sale no-fan dehydrator, and it took about a day per batch is my guess. I think that was a lot quicker/easier to do and more convenient to use than making rings.

They turned sorta carmel brown colored, and you could eat them like candy they were so sweet. I just put them in a couple 1 gal plastic bags. Not sure how long they'd keep because I used them all up within 4 or 5 months putting them in pasta sauces. The only problem was when I dried them there was one heck of an onion smell, so I did it in the garage (it was last winter).

Re: Store bought dried onions
 

This may shock you but I just happen to have a pictorial here in the dehydration section...The pictorial shows the whole process,I just put a couple pics here...BTW,my dehydrator is slow,others dry at higher temps,IIRC mine is 117 degrees.
http://eastcherokee.proboards58.com/...ay&thread=1801


20 drawer dehydrator,$3.83 at the thrift store ;D

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...dehydrator.jpg


6 trays of 1/8th to 1/4 inch slices white onions,start 6 pm Sept 28,2007

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...boo/trays1.jpg


1 tray of tomatoes
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...Picture001.jpg
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48 hours in.A few onions still arent done.If time/money is an issue then dont waste time with onion slices,make rings and dry them in 24 hours.Tomatoes were dried at 36 hours.Tomatoes are perfect,onions did indeed brown some.

I will still let both do more time to dry the few onions that need it,wont hurt others to remain in dehydrator while onions finish.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ions480031.jpg

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ions480029.jpg

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About 8 onions worth of slices per ziplock bag.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...bagged0021.jpg

Re: Store bought dried onions
 

Oh,and grind em up in the blender makes EXCELLENT onion powder.I just got some 10 cent/pound onions and powdered em,hard to pass up these bargains when you can dehydrate things.

Celery also makes a great powder.

LOL,this is not a DEA photo!

These are sandwich size ziplock bags.Approximately 20 lbs of white onions yield 1 and 7/8ths pounds dried onion powder.Dried about 5 days,they need to be crisp!Into blender 2-3 handfuls and pulse on high 5 -10 times,then on high about 30 seconds to powder.

That is 10 bunches of cilantro,yields 1/8th ounce or a quarter bag of powder.I ground up stems and all just like the onions.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...powder0061.jpg

Re: Store bought dried onions
 

Yours are very pretty, but its got to be a lot quicker/easier just making chopped onions with the mandolin and just spreading them out on the trays, especially with a dehydrator like yours. Not much point making and laying out rings, IMO, because you get a lot less onion on the tray and then you end up chopping or powdering the dried onion anyway before using them. Because mine were already chopped, all I did with them after was put them in the bag, and to use them, I didn't even rehydrate them first, I just added them to the sauce and they rehydrated absorbing some of the excess tomato juices.

I will try drying tomatoes this year, too, from the garden. In the past I've made huge qtys of canned tomato based sauces and salsas to use them up. Thanks for the ideas.

Don't mind me... Ex Cost Accountant/Efficiency guy here, LOL. Too many years trying to figure out ways of making widgets better for less. No point trying to escape. I am what I am.

Re: Store bought dried onions
 

Yes,weve made chunks in the food processor and they do dry quicker.As for the slices we have a bit stored as slices,and as chunks too.

The slices I show is flat out the slowest way to dry,the individual rings dry much faster.

And do they ever stink up the house,LOL!

I dont have a space problem,we also have a round Ronco style and a square style dehydrator.We spent a whole month a while back running all 3 of em 24/7 for a month,thats a ton of dehydrated food.

Also folks new to this,dont think it has to be fancy.The cheapy Ronco works,as does the Round style with a fan up top.I think the square plastic one for almost 200 bucks is waaaaay over priced.I have one but only because they all came from the thrift store.Its no better than a 60 dollar round style Ronco without a fan even.Only thing with the cheaper ones is you have to rotate the trays.not a deal killer in my book if you have to do this on a budget.

For those folks with money to spend the best out there right now is the Excaliber,nothing else comes close,think Rolex for comparison.

And Bob,you will LOVE those tomatoes,dehydrating really condenses the flavor,even crummy store bought 'maters taste great!

Re: Store bought dried onions
 

This Is Celery....
http://eastcherokee.proboards58.com/...rd=dehydrating


8 bunches of celery after 24 hours in dehydrator,in a soup bowl

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...powder0021.jpg


Notice how small those slices from the processor got

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...powder0041.jpg


1/4 pound or 4 ounces of amazing powder in a sandwich size ziplock bag.Powdered in blender on high.This is STRONG flavor

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...powder0131.jpg
============================================

Wash and chop 16 bunches of celery...

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ooboo/7003.jpg


Into dehydrator....

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...oo/celery6.jpg


6 trays was all it took.I saved the celery hearts for Thanksgiving preps

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...boo/clery7.jpg


Took me 50 minutes to clean,chop,make trays and clean up.

A tray after dehydrating,took 48 hours. These were about 3/4 inch to 1 inch slices (2.5 cm.)
Sure do shrink down!

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...celery0022.jpg

This is the final product,1 quart and 1 pint of slices,half a ziplock of pieces/leaf for more celery powder.12 ounces or 3/4 pound total of dehydrated celery from 16 bunches.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...celery0241.jpg

Re: Store bought dried onions
 

Another great pictorial, mightyspuds. Thanks a bunch.

16 heads gave you 12 ounces of dehydrated celery. So each head gives you .75 ounces. To make 1 pound packages of dehydrated celery, you'd need about 21.333 heads. Let's say 22 heads of celery for one pound of finished product.

I have an excalibur dehydrator that I have't used yet. I figured it would be cheaper to dehydrate my own vegetables than to buy them dehydrated. And that may be true if you look at the price of small quantities of dehydrated product, like a few ounces to a pound or so container. But it turns out it isn't really true if you are buying very large bulk quantities.

For example:

AAOOB sells a 20 lb box of dehydrated celery for about $98. That would be about 440 heads of celery. I don't know what celery sells for per head in the grocery stores right now, but unless you are growing your own celery, it would be far cheaper to buy it in large bulk quantity than to buy fresh celery and dehydrate it yourself. And that's not even counting your electricity cost, washing water, and labor.

Now if you are growing your own, your costs are going to be much less to dehydrate your own versus buying it already dehydrated in bulk. But considering the amount of electricity and time and labor for dehydrating 440 heads of celery to make 20lb, you still won't beat the $98 dollar 20 lb box from AAOOB.

Re: Store bought dried onions
 

Costs should be close.You have shipping to add too.

If you dry whats on sale,and thats key to this,you will be about the same.I got my celery somewhere in the 20 cent/bunch range.Thanksgiving sales at Winco.

I pretty much ONLY dry sale items.Like 10 cent a bunch cilantro,or 10 cent a pound onions.

Electricity is minimal.As for my time,its time well spent on the spiritual level of putting up your own food.I do have time,its a luxury we afford ourselves.

I agree though,its possible to sometimes save buying it over doing it yourself.Specially good idea if you can split that 20 lbs box order,thats a mighty big amount of celery.Im a price watcher too,LOL!Dehydrated potatoes are cheap to buy too in bulk,we buy them rather than do our own.

Great comments,lots of good points being brought up.