Dehydrating Food - Then What?

[Katz25]

I'm just not tryiing to buy a dehydrator, I think a Nesco seems to be what I can afford. Found lots of recipes here and other places. But after you start dehydrating the food how do you store it? Vacuum seal bags , freeze it, I don't know what to do with fruits, veggies and meats. How do you use to store for long periods?

[Christy]

As it happens, I'm up to my ears in dehydrating pumpkins. When brittle-dry, they go through the foodprocessor and are pulverized.

Stored in a glass jar with clamplid, it keeps a very long time in a dark cool place.

It's amazing how much amount of pumpkin turns to pumpkin dust and how little space it takes. Once re-hydrated, it swells up half a cup of powder to two cups of boiling water. Makes for consistency of fresh cooked pumpkin.

Instead of having to store food mousefree and taking up a lot of space and have a limited shelflife, they now take less space, live longer and mice are not able to gnaw through glass.

[Leanna1017]

With dehydrated foods, if you turn them to powder you can store them in Foodsaver bags to save space. If you wish to store the food as it is when it comes out of the dehydrator, Foodsaver bags are not a good choice as they can be punctured by the sharp edges of the food.

 

Most of my dehydrated foods are in old glass pickle jars or canning jars. My dried tomatoes are in a Foodsaver canister until I fill it. My fruit leather is in zipper bags placed in a plastic container.

 

Get yourself a dehydrator. The Nesco models are just fine - I've had mine for years. Stay away from the hard plastic gray colored dehydrator sold in department/discount stores around the holidays. They are garbage and the trays break in a few weeks.

 

I also do lots of dehydrating in my Sport solar oven. It doesn't hold as much as my dehydrator but the sunshine is free.

[Katz25]

With dehydrated foods, if you turn them to powder you can store them in Foodsaver bags to save space. If you wish to store the food as it is when it comes out of the dehydrator, Foodsaver bags are not a good choice as they can be punctured by the sharp edges of the food.

 

Most of my dehydrated foods are in old glass pickle jars or canning jars. My dried tomatoes are in a Foodsaver canister until I fill it. My fruit leather is in zipper bags placed in a plastic container.

 

Get yourself a dehydrator. The Nesco models are just fine - I've had mine for years. Stay away from the hard plastic gray colored ddehydrator sold in department/discount stores around the holidays. The are garbage in the trays break in a few weeks.

 

I also do lots of dehydrating in my Sport solar oven. It doesn't hold as much as my dehydrator but the sunshine is free.

 

 

So does the food lIst indefinately or does it have a shelf life? After you put in jars or seal when opened do you just reseal and its okay? I was thinking of like fixing things for a BOB or storage and wondered how you do that? Do you just always add water and it reconstitutes, if using it to cook with? How do you know how much water to add? Sorry for all the questions just new at this.

[Cat]

I saw this this morning and started pulling up older threads about this. But then I found links that no longer work. So I will try to find some time this week to fix them and try to get you more info.

 

[Jeepers]

You could use small mylar bags. Food saver bags would be okay if you seal a bunch of them and then put them in a mylar bag. Mylar bags also come in reuseable zip lock tops. Then maybe put the bag in a bucket for safety from tears and rodents.

 

You don't have to freeze them or refrigerate them. The key is to be sure to keep the food dry.

 

In my opinion, the best way to store them is in a canning jar. I store mine in the big half gallon canning jars. Even though the jars take up a lot of room it's fine for me because I store them in the basement. Do you have a Food Saver? I use the canning jar lid attachment to seal my jars. You don't have to seal them but it's just an extra step to assure I'm keeping as much air out of the jar as I can.

 

I have dehydrated tons of food in the last two years. All I have is a Nesco that I got from Walmart. It's really been a work horse for me.

 

Okay I'm windy today. I should have said, store your dehydrated food in any jar with a good tight lid. Make sure your food is good and dry before storing. It doesn't have to be sealed in any special way. The Nesco dehydrators are just fine.

 

 

Most fruit should be eaten dry. They usually get mushy when rehydrated. Throwing a hand full of dried blueberries in muffin or pancake batter is very good.

 

If you want to eat veggies as a side dish you rehydrate them in a bowl of boiling or hot water until they plump back up. If you are using them in soup, stew or crock pot, you can add them in the dehydrated form and the cooking broth will rehydrate them.

 

The amount of water needed to rehydrate depends on the veggie.

[LindaLou]

I always add oxygen absorbers in to my dried stuff in either canning jars or mylar bags. I have done FoodSaver bags inside of mylar also but think I have better luck with the mylar pushing as much air out and I can, throwing an oxygen absorber in and sealing it with me sealer (if you don't have the mylar sealer you can use the FoodSaver sealer or an iron). The oxygen absorber seems to get it just like if you FoodSaved it. There is lots of help on YouTube.

[Mt_Rider]

Couple more important points about dehydrating. Make SURE it's dried as much as it needs. Fruits are more leathery and veggies generally are brittle and shatter. A reference book will give you differences. Will also tell you if you need to blanch [dip in boiling water/etc] before drying.

 

I put mine in something air-tight and add the silica crystals to absorb more HUMIDITY. [NOTE: this is different from the oxygen aborbers] I shake things up a few times for a couple days just to make sure ALL the pieces have gotten to equal dryness. Check thicker pieces specifically.

 

The other point is keeping them OUT OF THE LIGHT! I have some dried carrots that have been in my kitchen cupboards for several years. [ I keep forgetting to use them.] I always keep the cupboard door closed, yet they have faded in color (also in nutrient?) drastically! The mylar bags will prevent that, I think. I keep most things in plastic bags and inside a tight plastic tote box ....and in the cool and mostly dark basement.

 

 

AND...you'll be surprised to taste some veggies and find that you like lightly-salted zucchini "chips" or whatever.

 

MtRider [...my currant favortite: dehy spinach, powdered and used in a lot of dishes. :yum: And goooood nutrition! ]

[LindaLou]

Hey Christy, did you blanch or cook the pumpkin before you dried it? I am thinking not because it is a squash but wondering. Also, once you ground it up did you add seasoning to it, like with mace, cinnamon, pumpkin pie seasoning etc?

[Jeepers]

I forgot to add that I do add an oxygen absorber to the to the jars that I'm not dipping out of. Plus I use the Food Saver attachment.

 

Also, I store the jars in the canning jar box that they came in. With that and keeping them in the basement, they are kept pretty dark. Good point Mt_Rider.

 

I found on the web that dried food, properly processed, can last up to 8 - 10 years in temperature around 70 degrees F.

https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/information_center/storage_life_of_foods.htm

 

At the bottom of this site it tells about the texture and taste of reconstituted veggies.

https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/information_center/all_about_dehydrated_vegetables.htm#link2

 

This site has a chart about how to reconstitute the food.

http://extension.missouri.edu/p/GH1564

 

Hope this helps.

[Christy]

Hey Christy, did you blanch or cook the pumpkin before you dried it? I am thinking not because it is a squash but wondering. Also, once you ground it up did you add seasoning to it, like with mace, cinnamon, pumpkin pie seasoning etc?

Yes, cooked it, mashed it and pressed most moisture out. Two colanders on top of eachother weighed down produced a LOT or water.

I didn't season them cos some might be used for pumpkin pie, some for bread, pancakes or soup.

It's pulver now and I'm pleasantly amazed at how little space it takes.

Did this with potatoes last year and ended up mashed-potatoes-dried-in-glass. They take more space cos they're not pulverized but still less then you'd think.

 

All in all, the dehydrator is getting some fair use now.

 

Did you add spices to your zucchini before you dried them?

 

I've baked a rather nice pumpkin-chestnut pie. If you jump in the car now you're just in time for an after dessert taste

[LindaLou]

I didn't season my zucchini before I dried it but sometimes season it after it is dry when I am going to eat the zucchini dry as chips.

[Katz25]

I didn't season my zucchini before I dried it but sometimes season it after it is dry when I am going to eat the zucchini dry as chips.

 

 

I love squash of any kind any way, this sounds wonderful to me!

[Katz25]

Thanks everybody for all the information. No I don't have a vacuum sealer or a jar sealer. So maybe when I get a jar full I could just put the oxygen absorber in the jar and seal as tight as I can, I don't know any other way. I figure the darkest place in my house in the back closet, so I could put the jars in a box with lid and store them there. The food sounds like it is really good fixed this way, it's just learning how and finding ways to use it. Thanks everyone!

[Jeepers]

Katz, you don't need a vacuum sealer. I just use it because I happen to have it.

 

You don't even NEED an oxygen absorber if you don't have any, but they will help and are pretty cheap. If you put one in your a jar it should pull the lid down just like it was canned. I don't put them in anything until I have enough stuff to do all at one time. Once you open the package of absorbers, they start to lose their effectiveness. So, If I have a package of say 12 absorbers, then I wait until I have 12 containers to use them in before I open the package. At least that is what I try to do.

 

Just put your dried food in a jar with a lid that won't let any air in. Canning jars are good because they have the rubber compound on the lid and it helps grab onto the top of the jar. You don't have to put the lid on real tight. Just screw the lid on a little tighter than you would a jar of used mayo or mustard.

 

Putting them in a closet sounds like a great place to store your goodies.

 

 

PS

I was going through all of this last year.

[Katz25]

Katz, you don't need a vacuum sealer. I just use it because I happen to have it.

 

You don't even NEED an oxygen absorber if you don't have any, but they will help and are pretty cheap. If you put one in your a jar it should pull the lid down just like it was canned. I don't put them in anything until I have enough stuff to do all at one time. Once you open the package of absorbers, they start to lose their effectiveness. So, If I have a package of say 12 absorbers, then I wait until I have 12 containers to use them in before I open the package. At least that is what I try to do.

 

Just put your dried food in a jar with a lid that won't let any air in. Canning jars are good because they have the rubber compound on the lid and it helps grab onto the top of the jar. You don't have to put the lid on real tight. Just screw the lid on a little tighter than you would a jar of used mayo or mustard.

 

Putting them in a closet sounds like a great place to store your goodies.

 

 

PS

I was going through all of this last year.

 

 

Thanks so much for the info. I do have some oxygen absorbers and jars, so that's what I'll do. Thank you for all your help!

[Jeepers]

Any time.

[Andrea]

Yep, glass jars are perfect for vegies. I usually use old Ragu jars for my vegies. For my fruits, if we're not eating them right away, I usually store them in the freezer. We like dried fruits, mainly apricots, chewy and I've had some grow furry on me, so anything that's not dried to the brittle stage, gets stored in the freezer. I have one of those pump-n-seals but I rarely use it on my vegies.

 

Also, before you go gangbusters on drying a bunch of the same vegie, make sure your family likes them! I dried pound after pound of carrots when I first started dehydrating only to find that no one would eat them, including me! So, all of those ended up feeding the compost pile (even my friends chickens didn't like them!) I've also found that I don't care much for dehydrated celery but I LOVE the dried celery leaves - they give that great celery flavor without the chewy, stringy, bitter flavor and texture of the dried celery itself. I also don't care for dehydrated asparagus.

 

Dehydrated vegies we use regularly are:

 

sweet pepper strips

tomatoes

mushrooms

spinach

mixed frozen vegies (not great but okay thrown in a casserole or soup)

potatoes

shredded cabbage

onions

garlic (I seldom dry my own onions and garlic. I can buy them in bulk quite cheaply)

zucchini chips and shreds

 

Dehydrated fruits:

 

apricots

apples

grapes

figs

 

Have fun dehydrating! And I agree, the Nesco is a great product for the money! The dehydrator's you can find cheaply at yard sales without the fans I use for herbs. They don't get as hot which is great for preserving the flavor of herbs but not so great for safely dehydrating vegies.