Some questions about dehydrating...

[Carmen]

I"ve been looking into canning, and while I think I'd like to do some basic water bath canning, I'm frankly way too scared of giving someone botulism to do any of low acid foods. But I enjoy growing many different veggies and thought maybe dehydrating the excess is the way to go. I probably wouldn't dehydrate fruit b/c I don't like the taste of dried fruit. But I have a few a questions!

 

1) Dehydrating pretty much eliminates the risk of botulism, this correct?

 

2) How long do dehydrated veggies last? How should you store them? Can they be kept at room temp? Do they need to be vacuum sealed, or is a zip lock bag sufficient?

 

3) When you reconstitute the veggies, do they return to aproximately the same size they were initially? What is the taste like? Say I dehydrated red pepper pieces, they put them on a pizza. Would they taste comparable to the fresh?

 

4) I think I'd like to start with a cheapo dehydrator, then later invest in a better one if I want to continue. I've often seen them at thrift shops. How can I tell if it works? I saw one and plugged it in and it made no noise at all, and there seemed to be no switch to turn it on. What kind of noise do they make? If I see one for sale without an instruction manual, is that a problem? Do they all work pretty much the same?

 

Thanks so much for any help you can give me!

[LindaLou]

I will answer what I can.

 

1. Botulism is not a concern in dehydrating because you remove the moisture in which it thrives. One problem you might encounter is mold if you don't fully dry your stuff.

 

2. I store the majority of my dehydrated stuff in Food Saver bags with an oxygen absorber (it may be over kill but that's what I do). I have read that using this method your dehydrated stuff an last for a very long time (I have heard 30 years but who knows). I put my Food Saver bags into a 5 gallon food approved plastic buckets (I get the Home Depot ones and mark what is in each bucket) and put the lid on and keep them in the pantry. Room temperature if fine for dehydrated stuff. I stay away from extremes so I don't keep the buckets outside. I do keep a lot of stuff in Ziplock bags that I am going to use in the near future. I have some stuff that I have had for over a year and it is still fine (but I live in a very dry climate). Another thing I do, especially with tomatoes, onions, garlic, celery, etc., is I dry it and then throw it in the blender to grind it to powder. I store it in Ball jars with an oxygen absorber and use it when I need it. Tomato powder is a great thickener and all the powders are way cheaper than store bought. (Did I mention that I might be the oxygen absorber queen, haha).

 

3. Reconstituting you vegetables...the flavor is there but you don't get the size (at least that is my experience). I reconstitute a lot. In fact, I just ran out of onions the other day and grabbed some dried in the Ball jar, reconstitued and used in the recipe I needed them in and they were terrific. A lot of time, with onions, baby carrots, mushrooms, green peppers, etc., if I am doing a crockpot recipe I don't even reconstitue before throwing them in and the water and time of the recipe reconstitues them great.

 

4. As far as buying a dehydrator, you get what you pay for. I would go with one with a timer. My SIL bought one without and has not been happy with it. The dehydrator should make some noise as there is a fan running circulate the air. I have always used a 9 tray Excaliber. I had read unfavorable reviews about the round dehydrators but that is just someone's opinion. As far as I am concerned, whatever you get, as long as it works, is better than nothing. The main problem with dehydrating as compared to canning, you don't get the shelf life with meat when dehydrating that you would with canning (of course I say that only having used my dehydrator for jerky).

 

Hope this helps.

[Violet]

Please, be sure you buy a dehdrator with a fan, heat source, and adjustable thermostat. Those Ronco ones are really bad. Some other brands are awful, too.

Also, if you get an opaque one they are better since they don't let light in to destroy nutrients, etc.

The best ones for the value is the Nesco or American Harvest.

They sound like a fan running because that is what they have in them. No, you don't need the manual. You can get a great downloadable book online. I am too tired to look for it tonight, sorry. Usually the Univ. of Idaho has one online. Same one we sell here.

[out_of_the_ordinary]

What are oxygen absorbers? Where do you buy them?

[Ambergris]

Let me tell you, those Ronco dehydrator trays are a misery to wash!

[amyd]

I have one of the cheap Ronco dehydrators from a thrift shop, It sounds like a fan running. I just throw the racks in the dishwasher. I see them fairly often at the thrift store, and plan on picking up another one for the extra racks.