Food Dehydrator

[clockworktomato]

So last week I went to Wild Oats and paid almost $4 for a small bag of dehydrated organic mango slices. And I thought "Gee, I could buy a mango for 99 cents and dry it myself and get twice as many mango slices out of it

Comments

[cynica]

when I was in high school my mom was crazy about the dehydrator, but I found them to be too dry to really be useful to EAT. Now, dried lemon slices, that'd be perfect. But maybe she was doing it too thin or something.

[clockworktomato]

Ooh, excellent -- I'm getting the impression that thick slices are best, then, as I like my fruits to still be quite chewy.

And yes, I hadn't even thought of lemon slices until I was running through the mental list of "things I buy too many of and don't always use before they spoil," and lemons are on that list.

[kikibelle]

Alton Brown did an episode of "Good Eats" on dehydrating food. I'm pretty sure that he did not recommend getting a dehydrator, rather doing a DIY thing with (furnace) air filters, a box fan, and bungee cords. But to me, that just seems like a massive pain in the ass.

[clockworktomato]

Oh, Alton! My love for him is endless, but air filters, a box fan, and bungee cords!? That would cost as much as the food dehydrator and take up far more counterspace! XD

I am definitely intrigued by the episode, nonetheless! I can reap ideas on what to dry! Thank you!

[raaven]

I've had experience with a couple of different food dehydrators. The racks are often difficult to clean. They take up counter or table foot-print space, and electricity. The bottom trays get done faster than the top trays, so you either have to rotate them, or check them all regularly. Or have some stuff extra-crispy and some more chewy

[clockworktomato]

Oh my, thank you!!!!

I'm getting the impression that the oven might just be the way to go -- at least for a start to see if I can make dried fruit as tasty as that in the bins at Wild Oats. I've got ten apples sitting at home begging me to do something with them!

And ooh, sugaring the citrus would be wonderful, as it would sweeten tea at the same time it flavored it. Powdering the pulp, too -- that's an excellent idea I hadn't even considered!

[raaven]

Another idea to consider: the bin-fruit you've been getting may or not be sugared...it's kind of shocking (to me) how much of it is. So to get the same taste, you may want to sugar yours as well.

I am SUCH a dried fruit fan - the only thing I can usually eat fresh in any reasonable amount of time is grapefruit. So most of what I buy is pre-dried (because it's cheap at Trader Joe's and because I'm lazy about doing it myself).

[nothinganything]

Yeah, we had one when I was a kid!

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What. I have no idea.

[andrewhime]

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