[Salkeela]

I found this thread: LINK
 and wonder has any one got anything to add on the topic of drying food.  It just seems so sensible.  I bought my self Mary Bell's Dehydrator cookbook:
Amazon description
and it is very encouraging.

Any thoughts appreciated.

[Sally A]

there was another post similar to this more recently, possibly from David and it mentioned drying apple, have a search, I know it's there somewhere.

[David.]

there was another post similar to this more recently, possibly from David.

http://www.chat.allotment-garden.org/viewtopic.php?t=10333

Yes, and we now have one. Have only read good reviews of the Mary Bell book and that will be next purchase.

[Salkeela]

Thanks for that.  I searched for dehydrator not dryer and missed that one.

Any further thoughts on the produce?  Successes/Failures?

I've currently got a few bitsa pieces in the oven just to see if that has any chance of working, but it would remain limited I think.  Seems like a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

[David.]

I've currently got a few bitsa pieces in the oven just to see if that has any chance of working, but it would remain limited I think.  Seems like a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Oven drying seemed like a waste of electricity to us.

Found:

a good dehydrator site here:
http://www.dehydrators.co.uk/

a good (2 year long) discussion going on here:
LINK

Searching using your term "food dehydrator" will find sites selling various models.

Will report back on ours when we start using in earnest, probably strawberry season (as we should have nearly 500 plants this year), then tomatoes (if they don't fail like they did last summer).

[Salkeela]

Thanks David.  Brilliant links.  I'm inspired.  Now just to think which one!

[Fat Hen]

I use this to great effect with my chillis.

http://www.qvcuk.com/ukgasp/frameset.asp?nest=%2Fukgasp%2FIsItemNumberRedirect.asp&country=uk&txtDesc=dehydrator&Submit=Search

[wildeone]

I use this to great effect with my chillis.

http://www.qvcuk.com/ukgasp/frameset.asp?nest=%2Fukgasp%2FIsItemNumberRedirect.asp&country=uk&txtDesc=dehydrator&Submit=Search

  out of stock

[Dabhand]

Iv'e got a dehydrator but have as yet only dried a few things, Apples are great, I've just bought an apple peeling machine, which peels, cores and slices apples in about 10 seconds!!! Its brilliant and will be a real boon when theres a glut at the end of the season.  I'm going to dry some and blanch and freeze the rest.  Also carrots, parsnips and any other veg. dried and then whizzed up in the blender to make powder which is very concentrated and tastes great added to the water in the slow cooker for soups and stews..

[David.]

I bought my self Mary Bell's Dehydrator cookbook

Got a copy this week and discovered that you can dehydrate Jerusalem Artichokes!

[Dabhand]

Hey that's good, I never thought of those, I've got some in the garden.  I bet they'd be tasty powdered down for stock

[Salkeela]

Update.

I've been having great fun experimenting with this.  So I've been dehydrating stuff and then using it to cook the next night (just to see if it is worthy of dehydrating more).

So far we have dehydrated: apples, bananas, mango (eeuch!), melon, carrots, onions, garlic, tomatoes, yoghurt (an experiment) and have done some apple winder things (YUM).

I've put some stuff (mostly onions and toms) in jars to store more long-term to test keeping qualities.  Trouble is no matter how many apples I dry I can't get to keep any.  The youngsters like them so much that they all get sought out and eaten!  I don't even treat them first now, nor peel them - just core out, slice and straight into the dryer.

I'm hoping to dry stuff in season and store for use through the year.  So I must try some of the jer. artichokes next.

[WG.]

Try the mango in a curry  

[David.]

Trouble is no matter how many apples I dry I can't get to keep any. The youngsters like them so much that they all get sought out and eaten!  I don't even treat them first now, nor peel them - just core out, slice and straight into the dryer.

I've just had one of my good ideas  - rehydrating dehydrated apple in pure apple juice to get extra flavour in apple wine and cider!

[Contadino]

You can use a glut of eggs by making fresh egg pasta and drying it.  We've stored it as long as 3 months and it's still good.  Our neighbours say it'll last up to 6 months.

Other than that, you can also dry seeds (broad bean, pea, chick pea, squash, etc..) for use the following year.

I don't have a fancy machine.  Our solar dryer was fabricated from an old bedside cabinet, some anti-fly mesh and a replacement leg.  In the summer we dry stuff in it, and the winter we air-dry/mature cheese in it.

Edit:  Oops, having just reread that it reads like I cunningly used a prosthetic limb.  Sadly no, just a replacement bit of wood for the broken leg on the bedside cupboard.