# What and how are you dehydrating? How are you storing it?



## Urinal Cake

Replaced my DOA Hydrator and have already dried a busy of plum tomatoes ready to dry a few pounds of fresh cranberries. Looking to store some fat foods for my Gamma containers...
Thanks,
Cakes


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## Jameson

My Dehydrator is at my parents home. But when I lived there I did Bananas, Watermelon, tomatoes, and grapes! I just sealed them in a Jar.. They where so good and didn't last long haha :vs_closedeyes:


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## indie

I put everything in glass jars. For dehydrated stuff, I like to save spaghetti and other store jars since they can't be used for canning. 

One of the big foods around our house is zucchini. I shred it and make a solid layer on my dehydrator trays. It can be reconstituted with water and used in recipes just like fresh, which means zucchini bread year round without wasting freezer space (and dealing with subsequent freezer burn, yuck).


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## Targetshooter

I dehydrate , beef , turkey , venison , tomatoes , peppers , onions , bananas , taters . I put the meat in vacuum packed bags , the other things I use zip lock bags , onions , peppers I chop up and I put in jars . There are a few other things I am going to try this winter .


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## Urinal Cake

Targetshooter said:


> I dehydrate , bananas .


How do YOU do your bananas?


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## Targetshooter

Urinal Cake said:


> How do YOU do your bananas?


I like to slice them long ways about 1/4 thick and I do some just sliced up 1/4 thick , they take about 3 hours in my dehydrator .


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## Urinal Cake

Targetshooter said:


> I like to slice them long ways about 1/4 thick and I do some just sliced up 1/4 thick , they take about 3 hours in my dehydrator .


Plain, no other steps prevent browning etc.?


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## Targetshooter

Urinal Cake said:


> Plain, no other steps prevent browning etc.?


I just keep a eye on them .


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## Sonya

I just bought a dehydrator 3 weeks ago and so far have done cubed potatoes, broccoli/cauliflower mixes, mushrooms, green beans, carrots, cooked navy beans, beef heart and beef liver for the dogs, and chicken breast.

Started off storing it in jars but quickly realized mylar with oxygen absorbers would be better for medium term storage. I didn't want to buy dozens and dozens of jars and have to deal with the weight/space. Things like mushrooms and vegetables get put in smaller mylar bags so they hold no more than 4-5 servings. I like variety and don't want to open a number 10 size can and be stuck eating it every day for weeks.

All meat is boiled before dehydrating, but I have read that pressure cooking it is much better so I plan to buy a pressure cooker this week. Found good instructions on how to do chicken and actually end up with a non-tough finished product. Basically that involves soaking it in a fat free brine solution, then pressure cooking, then slicing against the grain. Same principle may work for other meats.

The Food Method: The Secret to Dehydrating Chicken for Camping Trips


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## Joe

We have an Excalibur dehydrator. It is the bomb! We dehydrate apples, tomatoes (roma type), green beans, squash, onions, peas, and corn. We than vacuum pack our dried goods in pint jars. Glass jars do probably take more room and are heavier yet they keep the rats and mice out. Joe


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## hawgrider

Bananas can be dipped in lemon juice to keep from browning while dehydrating. Same with apple slices.


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## Sonya

Also if folks are new to dehydrating a mandolin and/or chopper is a good thing. For $15 bucks or so they have combination kits.

It ensures all of your fruits/veggies are the same size for even dehydrating, plus it is much easier than chopping by hand.


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## Annie

Now that the veggie garden is more or less winding I've been buying those big bags of produce from Costco. Like celery, onions and carrots. Then I dehydrate what doesn't get used up in ordinary cooking that week. These are great for fast soups and stews.


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## Sonya

Does anyone know if the temperature has a big effect on the drying time? I bought some frozen peas and put them in the dehydrator at least 12 hours ago, some of them still don't break when cut.

Tried to use a lower temp, around 115, thinking it would preserve the vitamin C better. Probably doesn't matter since they will be cooked when rehydrated anyway. Maybe that is why they are taking forever?

Also if folks need liners for drying small foods, like peas and carrots, and don't want to special order any just pick up some plastic canvas (a fine plastic screen/grid used for some sort of cross stitching) in the craft section of a big box store. It is easily cut to fit the drying racks and works perfectly.


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## Back Pack Hack

Apples, eggs, peas, corn, carrots, green beans, potatoes, salsa, strawberries, beef...... all in an Excalibur.

How I store it depends on when I plan on using it. If soon, it goes in a ziploc bag and in the fridge. For long-term storage, mylar bags in food-grade buckets.



Sonya said:


> Does anyone know if the temperature has a big effect on the drying time? I bought some frozen peas and put them in the dehydrator at least 12 hours ago, some of them still don't break when cut.........


Not everything turns brittle as glass when dehydrated. I do mine at 145°F for 10-12 hours. Ambient humidity also affects drying time.


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## azrancher

Urinal Cake said:


> Plain, no other steps prevent browning etc.?





Targetshooter said:


> I just keep a eye on them .


The banana chips are great, I have used either lemon juice-water (not much lemon) or the Sodium Bisulfite to keep them from browning, did it last week for my apple slices although you really don't need to.

*Rancher*


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## redhawk

I have dehydrated venison jerky, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, apples, bananas, grapes, fruit leathers, plums, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, peppers (both sweet and hot), tomatoes and squash. I store them in class jars except the jerky, that I vacuum seal...JM2C


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## Sonya

FYI here is a good comprehensive list in chart form for all fruits and vegetables, it specifies how to prepare, which ones need ascorbic acid or other dips, blanching, dehydrating and rehydrating time etc... I may even print it for quick reference. Charts start on page 7: http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/uga/uga_dry_fruit.pdf

Also for mid-long term storage folks may want to buy desiccant packs. I bought 100 five gram packs for $10 on ebay including shipping. 5 grams should work for a 2 gallon bag, and I will put them in the half gallon bags with dried vegetables. eBay -- Desiccant Packs

One thing I have noticed, even with research we start out doing it one way then make improvements on how we prepare stuff for storage, when that happens we aren't all that happy with the first bags we did anymore. I will probably open and repackage some of my earlier packs with desiccants and new absorbers because I am just not sure they shrunk down properly.


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## Urinal Cake

Sonya said:


> FYI here is a good comprehensive list in chart form for all fruits and vegetables, it specifies how to prepare, which ones need ascorbic acid or other dips, blanching, dehydrating and rehydrating time etc... I may even print it for quick reference. Charts start on page 7: http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/uga/uga_dry_fruit.pdf
> .


Excellent info, thanks for sharing this with us!


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## Sonya

Bought some onions on sale for the dehydrator. Any thoughts on raw or blanched? It is raining so I can't put the dehydrator outside, I think I want to do blanched to avoid the odor. 

Anyone else cook them first and if so does it work better than raw when rehydrated?


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## Targetshooter

Sonya said:


> Bought some onions on sale for the dehydrator. Any thoughts on raw or blanched? It is raining so I can't put the dehydrator outside, I think I want to do blanched to avoid the odor.
> 
> Anyone else cook them first and if so does it work better than raw when rehydrated?


I do them raw , I slice some very thin and some 1/4" do the thin one first they take about 90 mins. , the others take about 3 1/2 hours .


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## Urinal Cake

Sonya said:


> Bought some onions on sale for the dehydrator. Any thoughts on raw or blanched? It is raining so I can't put the dehydrator outside, I think I want to do blanched to avoid the odor.
> 
> Anyone else cook them first and if so does it work better than raw when rehydrated?


I did them raw, but I wasn't happy with the results, as I chopped them on a cuisenart.
Next time I will slice them on my mandolin and dry them that way.


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## Sonya

Targetshooter said:


> I do them raw , I slice some very thin and some 1/4" do the thin one first they take about 90 mins. , the others take about 3 1/2 hours .


If done raw, do they rehydrate well enough to be used raw in hamburgers and such? Other than hamburgers they usually get added to stuff that is cooked anyway.

I probably would do raw if it wasn't raining, but the odor would be too much in the house.

I dehydrated celery the other day, I read that if it is blanched it rehydrates better than raw and even after blanching it was much smaller when rehydrated. Wondering if onions are similar.



Urinal Cake said:


> I did them raw, but I wasn't happy with the results, as I chopped them on a culinary.
> Next time I will slice them on my mandolin and dry them that way.


That is where a little chopper comes in handy. It dices up potatoes, onions, whatever you want in whatever size you want. The cheap plastic kits can only chop one slice at a time, but it still goes fast and everything is perfectly uniform without getting mushed the way it would in a food processor.


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## Targetshooter

Sonya said:


> If done raw, do they rehydrate well enough to be used raw in hamburgers and such? Other than hamburgers they usually get added to stuff that is cooked anyway.
> 
> I probably would do raw if it wasn't raining, but the odor would be too much in the house.
> 
> I dehydrated celery the other day, I read that if it is blanched it rehydrates better than raw and even after blanching it was much smaller when rehydrated. Wondering if onions are similar.
> 
> That is where a little chopper comes in handy. It dices up potatoes, onions, whatever you want in whatever size you want. The cheap plastic kits can only chop one slice at a time, but it still goes fast and everything is perfectly uniform without getting mushed the way it would in a food processor.


the thin ones I chop up , the 1/4" I put in vacuum pack and use them to make onion rings " I put them in butter milk to rehydrate" mmmm good ,I don't get very much onion smell when I dehydrate them just open a window a little about one inch .


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## Urinal Cake

Sonya said:


> Also if folks are new to dehydrating a mandolin and/or chopper is a good thing. For $15 bucks or so they have combination kits.
> 
> It ensures all of your fruits/veggies are the same size for even dehydrating, plus it is much easier than chopping by hand.
> 
> View attachment 28201


Thanks Sonya, I bought one of these for $9 on eBay!


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## Sonya

Interesting idea in this video, this woman cuts them in rings and blanches them.

Guess the rings mean using dryer racks without screens (no tiny pieces that fall through) which makes them dehydrate faster, and she says blanching also makes them dry faster. They would be easy to chop up as desired when using.

I think I will try it that way.


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## Targetshooter

Sonya said:


> Interesting idea in this video, this woman cuts them in rings and blanches them.
> 
> Guess the rings mean using dryer racks without screens (no tiny pieces that fall through) which makes them dehydrate faster, and she says blanching also makes them dry faster. They would be easy to chop up as desired when using.
> 
> I think I will try it that way.


Her temp she used was 130 , I use 160 mine take 3.5 hours , maybe it's the dehydrator I am using , I have a Cabela's 12-Tray Pro Series Dehydrator : Cabela's


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## Targetshooter

Sonya said:


> Interesting idea in this video, this woman cuts them in rings and blanches them.
> 
> Guess the rings mean using dryer racks without screens (no tiny pieces that fall through) which makes them dehydrate faster, and she says blanching also makes them dry faster. They would be easy to chop up as desired when using.
> 
> I think I will try it that way.


Her temp she used was 130 , I use 160 mine take 3.5 hours , maybe it's the dehydrator I am using , I have a Cabela's 12-Tray Pro Series Dehydrator : Cabela's


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## Sonya

Targetshooter said:


> Her temp she used was 130 , I use 160 mine take 3.5 hours , maybe it's the dehydrator I am using , I have a Cabela's 12-Tray Pro Series Dehydrator : Cabela's


You probably have a better dehydrator.

Lots of people do try to use lower temps with vegetables though, primarily to preserve the B and C vitamins which will be destroyed at higher temps. I also try to steam veggies instead of blanching in boiling water, but sometimes forget.


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## Miss.Wesson

Sonya said:


> FYI here is a good comprehensive list in chart form for all fruits and vegetables, it specifies how to prepare, which ones need ascorbic acid or other dips, blanching, dehydrating and rehydrating time etc... I may even print it for quick reference. Charts start on page 7: http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/uga/uga_dry_fruit.pdf
> 
> Also for mid-long term storage folks may want to buy desiccant packs. I bought 100 five gram packs for $10 on ebay including shipping. 5 grams should work for a 2 gallon bag, and I will put them in the half gallon bags with dried vegetables. eBay -- Desiccant Packs
> 
> One thing I have noticed, even with research we start out doing it one way then make improvements on how we prepare stuff for storage, when that happens we aren't all that happy with the first bags we did anymore. I will probably open and repackage some of my earlier packs with desiccants and new absorbers because I am just not sure they shrunk down properly.


This was incredibly helpful information - thank you. I actually printed it and gave a copy to a like-minded friend as well. Dehydration is the one method that I'd like to perfect, (Already have preserving under my belt I think :laugh so it's great to see a good comprehensive list like this to help out.


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## 7052

Welcome Miss Wesson to the board!

We dry many things around here, from the herbs we grow to to some fruits and veggies. The things I like dehydrating the most however are eggs! I started a thread on how to make home-made powdered eggs if you are interested.

http://www.prepperforums.net/forum/food-health-fitness-survival/39289-home-made-powdered-eggs.html


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## RJAMES

Apples and pears - I dust with a little sugar and put in plastic zip lock bags after dried. I use them before the next crop Every year I think I put up too much and every year I get them used.


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## Miss.Wesson

Egyas said:


> Welcome Miss Wesson to the board!
> 
> We dry many things around here, from the herbs we grow to to some fruits and veggies. The things I like dehydrating the most however are eggs! I started a thread on how to make home-made powdered eggs if you are interested.
> 
> http://www.prepperforums.net/forum/food-health-fitness-survival/39289-home-made-powdered-eggs.html


Wow - thank you. I currently have 7 laying hens who produce way more eggs than I can eat (end up giving away or bartering with a friend for her home grown avocados) so I will definitely look into this - especially useful for when 'the girls' stop laying over winter.....!


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## Urinal Cake

Egyas said:


> Welcome Miss Wesson to the board!
> 
> We dry many things around here, from the herbs we grow to to some fruits and veggies. The things I like dehydrating the most however are eggs! I started a thread on how to make home-made powdered eggs if you are interested.
> 
> http://www.prepperforums.net/forum/food-health-fitness-survival/39289-home-made-powdered-eggs.html


Anybody know what temperature to use when drying eggs this way?


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## Notold63

I freeze dry most of my food but do use a dehyater for jerky.


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## Urinal Cake

Urinal Cake said:


> Anybody know what temperature to use when drying eggs this way?


3 Ways to Dehydrate Eggs for Powdered Eggs - wikiHow


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## 7052

I dry mine @ 145 degrees.


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## JustAnotherNut

A question for those that dehydrate meats....have any of you done so without using salt or other seasonings? Do you use raw meats or pre-cooked?

I am looking at possibly doing some for adding to soups or stews and for pet food as well, so I'd rather add any seasonings after the fact.


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## Notold63

Mostly meat for jerky, the rest I freeze dry.


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