Hi SirJoe
Over a year ago I purchased an Excalibur 9 shelf dehydrator ---- one of the best purchases of my life. I dehydrate jerky for gifts and fruits and veggies for us and to gift. Most importantly --- no garden veggies ever go to waste now. Usually after canning tomatoes and eating them all of August I get sort of tired of the routine and many go to waste. Not now, now a single tomato.
I slice and dehydrate them, both standard size and grape tomatoes. Some I will sprinkle with salt, or lemon pepper or a non-salt mix I make, People who like stewed tomatoes go crazy for these. And I make a tomato roll-up. I just clean them, core them and simmer until thickened. Then I run through a food mill and pour the applesauce consistency tomato puree on my silicone sheets and pop them in the dehydrator. My daughter who works many hours and dislikes cooking ---- will grab a bag and at least get a nutritious snack on the run. Sometimes I don't even run the mixture through the dehydrator. Most people don't mind that the seeds are still in the veggie roll ups. Sometimes I add green pepper and onion to the mix.
With the green pepper, onion and tomato mix, I can make a roll up that can be re-hydrated and added to soups, chili, spaghetti sauces etc.as well as eaten for a snack. It's all good!
Most veggies will not re-hydrate well enough to pass as fresh, but are great for cooking.
I've done apples, bananas, pears, pineapple and peaches, oranges, lemons, limes Home made is so much better than the sugar coated dehydrated fruits that are sold commercially. And I always have lemon zest on hand.
Of course I shop for sales and when I can get lemons or limes at a good price, I slice them up and dehydrate them. When I serve iced water in a pitcher to guests, I always throw in a few slices of lemon or lime. You'll get a nicely flavored water over the course of a few hours. If you place the slices in water for a long period --- say 8-12 hours, you'll likely have limeade or lemonade by then. The longer you leave them in the water, the more intense the flavor.
I've also done mushrooms, peas, lima beans, celery, green pepper, onion, carrots. Broccoli is great --- whip up a broccoli cheese soup in middle of winter.
Seriously, if you can afford the dehydrator ----- a single veggie need never go to waste. All of our friends/family that are nutrition conscious love to drop by and get a baggie of goodies to take with them..
No, I don't work for Excalibur, but I've got to say that I LOVE mine. It has enabled me to economically keep veggies on hand that I may not ordinarily have and I get them on sale at the store or straight from our garden. Mostly I wanted to be able to use every piece of produce that we grow. And dehydrating is the ticket if you want to save space. It is less labor intensive than canning and takes up so little space comparatively. I'll be I got 20+ carrots in one 1-qt mason jar. I place dehydrated veggies in jar, throw in an oxygen absorber, seal with my Food Saver vacuum sealer and it will keep for a very long time. I just gave a friend some of the tomato slices that I dehydrated last summer. They looked the way they did when I placed them in the mason jar a year ago!
There is a ton of info on the internet as well as many good books on the subject. You can even dehydrate meals like chili
I have a book specifically for dehydrating foods to take hiking/camping.
The possibilities with a good dehydrator are almost endless.
But BE SURE to buy a dehydrator with a fan.
