The skins from a peck of tomatoes covered three trays in my American Harvest food dryer, but I overlapped pieces liberally.

Here’s a way to use a food dryer that raises eyebrows wherever I mention it: Dry tomato skins. I got the idea in a Facebook group about home preserving; one of the participants said that when she cans tomatoes she saves the skins and dehydrates them to use later in soups and sauces. I was canning a lot of tomatoes, so I decided to try it.

Unusual Food Drying

I saved skins from about a quarter of a bushel of tomatoes as I prepared them for canning, diced, in pint jars. When I set the skins on dehydrator trays, I intended not to overlap them, but given how thin they are, I decided they’d be fine even if some stuck together.

I dried the skins at 130F degrees overnight and by afternoon the next day (I didn’t bother to check until then), the skins were dry and brittle.

What to do with dry, brittle tomato skins? I scraped them off the food dryer’s trays into the pitcher of my blender, and pressed them down so they cracked and settled around the blender’s blade. Then I put the lid on the blender and ran it until the tomato skins were powder. Finally, I dumped the powder into a storage container and snapped on the lid.

Using Powdered Tomato Skins

The skins from a half peck of tomatoes dried and pureed into powder only partially fill a small storage container. Will you use tomato powder as seasoning or as soup base?

The skins from a peck of tomatoes aren’t going to stretch far, but if you can a bushel or two of fruit, you’ll build up a compelling store of tomato powder. You might discover that tomato powder makes a great seasoning to set out with your salt and pepper shakers. For more conventional applications, try these proportions.

To make…

…tomato paste, mix one measure of tomato powder with one measure of water.

…tomato sauce, mix one measure of tomato powder with three measures of water.

…tomato juice, mix on measure of tomato powder with one measure of water, and one measure of cream.

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I’ve neglected Food Dryer Home because I was writing a book about preserving food! It includes a detailed chapter about dehydrating produce with many step-by-step sequences and photos. Click here to buy your copy from Amazon.com.

It’s no secret that I’ve neglected my blog about dehydrating food. This is, in part, because I was writing a book.

Canning, Freezing, Drying, Fermenting, Sugaring, & Cold Storage

My book, Yes, You Can! And Freeze and Dry It, Too, from Cool Springs Press, came out in March. It started as an idea for a book about canning produce, but evolved quickly into a survey of most home food-preserving methods.

I wanted Yes, You Can to feel as though you had asked me about preserving produce, and then indulged me by joining me in my kitchen to do a whole bunch of projects. Sure: there’s a linear narrative… we need to preserve some produce, after all. But along the way, there are dozens of digressions: tips, history, stories from my kitchen, and other tidbits to ease the learning process.

Yes, You Can! isn’t one of those dry, gray, “here’s how it’s done” books. It’s loaded with photos that illustrate step-by-step how to complete preserving projects and how to use the foods you’ve preserved. The chapter about dehydrating foods includes instructions for prepping produce, blanching vegetables, and drying vegetables and fruits. It suggests some great snacks to prepare in your dehydrator, and shows how to refill your spice jars from your own herb garden. It even explains how to prepare one of my favorite breakfasts starting with dehydrated shredded potatoes.

I hope you’ll click through to Amazon and see what others have said about my book. I had a great time creating it, and I think you’ll enjoy reading it and working from it.

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If you are a chronic food dryer, you might not be aware: the industry seems to think that making jerky is a seasonal activity. Stange as it may seem, we’re just now coming into the jerky season. And, while a lot of food dryers as busy preserving fruits and vegetables for the coming winter, why not load up the dehydrator and crank out a few trays of delicious beef jerky as well?

I’ve lined up several jerky recipes for the coming months. This one is a bit exotic. I hope you enjoy it!

Hawaiian Beef Jerky

Delicious Hawaiian Beef Jerky Recipe

By Caleb Liu

When you think Hawaii, you may think of tropical. And when you think tropical, you think of pineapple. But that is just one of the many tastes associated with the Pacific Island state. Hawaii is really a melting pot of a state and a melting pot of cultures; much of their food has a blend of flavors.

When it comes to a beef jerky recipe with a Hawaiian flair, it’s no wonder then that there are a variety of flavors that will create a luau inside anyone’s mouth!

Below is a recipe for Hawaiian beef jerky. This recipe, as mentioned above contains several different flavor bursts. There is some ginger for spice. Some brown sugar for sweetness. Some pepper and Cayenne pepper for a little fire. Some soy sauce for saltiness. And we can’t forget that pineapple.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb lean meat, thinly sliced

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp ground ginger

• 1 tbsp brown sugar

• 1/4 tsp pepper

• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

• 1 crushed garlic clove

• 1/4 c pineapple juice

• 1/4 c soy sauce

Directions:

1. Slice meat in thin strips.

2. In a bowl, combine all ingredients of marinade and mix well.

3. Place meat 3-4 layers deep in a container, spooning sauce mixture over each layer.

4. Cover tightly and marinate 6-12 hours in the refrigerator, stirring occasionally.

5. Layout on trays, 24 to 36 hours in dehydrator (or follow directions for oven).

Now all you need is a grass skirt and some coconut milk!

REVIEW: Not sure if you can make your own?

Analei V. of Salem always wanted to go to Hawaii. At least she got a taste of Hawaiian beef jerky when she tried a piece of her friend’s Holston Mountain Hawaiian Beef Jerky. The website said that the jerky is sweeter than its other flavors. Analei agreed saying, “There was a real hint of pineapple, which was an interesting combination for beef. I am so used to pineapple being on ham. This was a unique jerky. I didn’t even know you could have fruity jerky! The piece of jerky was huge, too. I am used to thin sticks, but this was an enormous piece. A little hard to chew.” The Holston Mountain Hawaiian Jerky is available on their website in three sizes from $8-$21.

If you found this information on hawaiian beef jerky useful, you’ll want to read this article about beef jerky seasoning salt.

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http://EzineArticles.com/?Hawaiian-Beef-Jerky—Delicious-Hawaiian-Beef-Jerky-Recipe&id=554277

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Today’s guest describes several ways to preserve chili peppers. The ideas are useful, but sometimes short on detail. For example, because he doesn’t have a food dryer, he glosses over using one to dry chilies. I’d encourage you to use your food dryer (if you have one) to dry cut-up sections of larger peppers, or to dry whole fruits of the smaller pepper varieties.

Of course, there are other alternatives as well. If you like pickles, try pickling your peppers. Or, make sweet pepper relish like the one described here: Red Pepper Relish from Your Home Kitchen Garden.

Great Tips For Preserving Chilies

Great Tips For Preserving Chilies

By Ric Wiley

There are several ways of preserving chilies and my favorite has to be drying, but more of that later.

The simplest way to preserve a chili is to freeze it. One of the major problems with this is that the chili then loses its eating quality. If you eat a raw chili, and be very careful here about the strength of any chili you eat, there is a crispy crunchy texture to the chili. If you defrost a chili and try this then you will find that this crispness has gone and the texture is soggy. This may not be a problem depending on what you intend to use the chili for. If it is to cook with then there are no drawbacks to freezing and I often just cut the stalk off the chilies and put them through a food processor to make a firm paste which I then freeze in ice cube trays. Once these are frozen I can put them in a bag and take out as many as I need to cook with.

Another way is to make some chili oil. There are many recipes on the internet for this and I suggest you try one of these but they all follow similar principles. Use top quality olive oil as the base, chop your chilies, add other ingredients and gently cook your ingredients in the oil. When finished allow to cool and strain the ingredients out. Bottle the chili oil. When I make this I only make small quantities as I have read that as the oil has had other ingredients added then bacteria could develop over time. I have seen it recommended that you should not keep home made chili oil more than about one month. Just remember that the more chilies you add the stronger the heat. I one tried adding some hot home made chili oil to a salad dressing. It ruined the salad so just think about what you are going to use it for.

As I have already mentioned, my favorite way of preserving chilies has to be drying and there are a few ways of doing this, some complicated, some easy. You can dry them overnight in an oven at a very low setting but I have never done this as it just seems too complicated. As easier way, (if you have one), is to use a food dryer and set this to the time recommended by your manufacturer. For those of you who do not have a food dryer, you simply space the food out on trays and switch it on. It dehumidifies the food and removes the moisture, preserving it over time. Simple enough to use, but I do not have one and I do not fancy spending lots of money to buy one just to dry chilies.

A shopkeeper in an Asian supermarket I use once told me the best way to dry chilies is simply to wrap a bunch of chilies in newspaper, put it on the top of a cupboard and just leave them. I tried this but one of the chilies rotted and this spoiled several more. If you use this method check them regularly for chilies which are spoiling. Another method is to string the chilies and air dry. Do this by threading the chilies using a needle on to a strong thread and hanging in a warm room to dry.

Whilst both these methods work, I have also tried two more methods. One is to dry them in a muslin bag next to a radiator. This works very well but the chilies dry very fast and become hard, so hard in fact that you cannot easily cut them with a knife. This is fine if you want to grind the chilies into chili powder or flakes for cooking but they are not too good for eating.

My favorite method of drying chilies is to simply put them in a tray and dry them on a windowsill. This is near a radiator but this is not always on. The windowsill gets sun on it for about 5 hours a day, (when it is sunny). Every couple of days, I simply stir the chilies up with my fingers and this also allows me to spot any which are spoiling. I remove these. The chilies are finished when I feel they are dry enough but still feel leathery. At this stage I simply keep them in an old biscuit tin and use them as needed. One thing I do though is keep the green stalks on the end of the chilies as these help to draw the moisture out from the middle of the chili. I cut this off when using the dried chilies.

Whichever method you use just make sure that surfaces and any utensils you use are clean as you do not want to introduce any disease to your harvest. You can also start the drying process off by leaving the chilies on the plant and not watering but only do this at the end of the growing season when production of new chilies has stopped. By leaving the chilies on the plant they will start to dry out naturally. Just watch them for mold or rot though and harvest immediately this is spotted on any plant.

To find out how easy it is to grow your own chillies, harvest and preserve them, check out http://www.highdensitygardening.com/home.html

Ric Wiley is an internet writer and gardener. His latest website about High Density Gardening can be found at http://www.highdensitygardening.com/home.html

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Store-bought beef jerky comes in many varieties, and some are very tasty. However, jerky you make at home is likely to be far tastier than any you buy in a store. Today’s post explains how to make beef jerky and includes a recipe for a simple jerky marinade.

Making Beef Jerky at Home

Simple, Inexpensive, & Delicious!

By Warren Ransom

Beef jerky is nothing more than dried meat, a shelf stable and nutritious, tasty treat. As moisture is removed, flavors concentrate, and any additional seasonings added to the meat take on a life of their own. Making beef jerky at home is an incredibly simple process, and requires no special equipment. Beef jerky can be stored for long periods of time without going bad, and makes for a healthy, tasty snack any time. Most people think beef jerky is only found in hermetically sealed bags in the grocery store, however making jerky at home, out of any meat, is accomplished with just a few steps and may be tailored to any taste you prefer, from smoky, to sweet, to spicy.

Before modern food processing, man made jerky out of any available meat, with no more than the sun or a campfire. As long as the meat is lean and prepared properly, it can easily be made into jerky. These days, a person can better tailor the results to any taste preference, and making jerky at home is as easy as preparing the meat, marinating it and setting it out to dry. These days, jerky is surprisingly popular, and every grocery store seems to carry some. It can be found in convenience stores, and in some areas it is even sold by the side of the road. Store bough jerky can be an expensive item, however, and often the meat has been treated with additives. Also, any time you buy a prepared item at the store, you should expect to pay a premium over home made items. An easy way to keep costs down, and ensure your jerky is just the way you want it, is to make it yourself. Jerky is also an easy way to preserve game meat such as venison or elk, which many people may hunt and find themselves with an abundance of meat.

Making jerky at home is easy. There are a few simple rules of which you should be aware to ensure both a safe and tasty product.

Most importantly, the meat should be lean. Fatty meat will go rancid and will not dry properly. Fat in the meat will result in a subpar product that won’t last very long out of the refrigerator (or even in it). Commonly, beef is used for jerky, in which case the best cuts to use are flank steak or round steak. Various game meats such as buffalo, elk, venison, caribou, and many others can also be used as long as lean cuts are chosen.

Some people swear by a dehydrator, which is a multi-tasker than can be used for much more than just drying meat. While a dehydrator can make excellent jerky, it is by no means necessary and an oven will easily suffice. A smoker can also make excellent jerky, while imparting a stronger smoky taste, which many people appreciate. Sun drying is possible, but risky if proper safety measures are not taken, and can also take a much longer time to dry your meat effectively.

The easiest way to prepare the meat is by freezing it to the point of firmness but while it is not yet fully frozen. Cut the meat into strips no more than a quarter of an inch thick, half to three quarters of an inch wide, and six to eight inches long for the perfect working size. You should cut the meat across the grain to ensure a proper finished texture, and again, make sure than all visible fat and gristle has been removed.

Seasonings are multiple and varied. In the olden days, beef was merely treated with salt and pepper and dried, which actually results in quite a satisfying end product. Meat is more commonly marinated these days, however, but there are still many dry rubs and other methods used that can make great beef jerky. Some folks engage in what is called a ‘quick cook’ method to start the process, whereby the meat strips are dropped in a pot of boiling water for a minute or two, which may kill any bacteria that may be on the meat and prepares the meat for a dry rub. While this is one method, often simply marinating the meat for a period of time results in more depth of flavor and is just as safe; however both choices produce tasty beef jerky.

Making Beef Jerky

Most dehydrators will come with instructions for drying jerky, and they usually vary from machine to machine. For most people, the oven is a convenient way of making jerky at home, and is simple and readily available. For this, you will need a wire rack for the meat to dry on and a cookie sheet or low pan underneath to catch the drippings. Generally speaking, set your oven to 140 degrees and let it get to temperature. Prepare and marinate the meat according to your instructions (a great, simple beef jerky recipe will follow this article). Place the strips of meat on the wire rack and place in the oven above the sheet or pan and leave the door of the oven open a crack. The beef jerky should be ready in six to eight hours, and you will know when it is done when it has turned very dark, and when it is bent, it will slightly crack but not break.

If you happen to have a smoker, this is a good option as well since the additional smoke flavor from the smoker will enhance the taste of the jerky in a way that liquid smoke just can’t. Only a small handful of coals should be fine or eight bricks of charcoal if you don’t have any wood handy. Remember to keep the heat down to about 140 degrees as you are not trying to cook the beef, just dry it out. You may have to add some coals as time goes on, as it should take six to eight hours for the beef jerky to be ready.

Storing your jerky

When your jerky has dried, let it cool completely before removing from the rack. Then place it in zip-lock bags or air tight jars. It will keep many weeks in the refrigerator, and will last years in the freezer. Just grab a piece for an anytime snack, or put it in a pocket or bag for an on-the-go treat. Beef jerky is simple and inexpensive to make at home, and a highly nutritious treat for anyone, anywhere.

Easy Basic Beef Jerky Marinade:

1 1/2 lb Lean Boneless Beef
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
1 ts Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 ts Onion Powder
1/4 ts Ground Black Pepper
1/4 ts Garlic Powder
1/4 ts Liquid Smoke
Vegetable oil cooking spray for rack

In a medium-size glass, stoneware, plastic or stainless steel bowl, combine soy sauce, Worcestershire, onion powder, pepper, garlic powder, and liquid smoke. Stir to dissolve seasonings. Add meat and mix until all surfaces are thoroughly coated. Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or until next day, stirring occasionally; recover tightly after stirring. Dehydrate according to instructions above.

If you are looking for beef jerky recipes, jerky making tips, and easy how-to instructions, The Jerky FAQ at http://www.jerkyfaq.com is a complete guide to making jerky at home, or finding beef jerky online.

Warren Ransom is a personal chef and manages a number of websites devoted to food and dining.

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I’m not a fan of mushrooms, but like them or not, this video provides a great look at a food dryer in action. All popular convection food dryers use systems of perforated drying trays – some are round as these are, others are rectangular. You can apply the methods shown in this video to many vegetables and fruits as well.

Dried Mushroom Chips

These are plain white mushroom chips made in a food dehydrator. They are great as a snack as is, or can be used in other recipes

Duration : 0:4:47

Read more…

Technorati Tags: chips, dehydrator, dryed food, mushroom, mushrooms

This guest post explains how to use your oven to dehydrate vegetables. If you’re planning a kitchen garden this season, plant vegetables you can dry and store to use during the off season.

Dehydrate Vegetables for Long Life

By Judy Williams

Dehydrate vegetables in a food dryer so you can store them to use during the winter. If you don’t have a dedicated food dryer, use your oven.

Drying or dehydrating vegetables is one of the oldest known methods of food preservation. The really great thing about it is that you can do it at home with equipment you have on hand.

You should pick your produce at its peak and work as quickly as you can to preserve its colour and taste.

Prepare your vegetables as if you were going to serve them. Wash them well, trim, cut, chop, slice, whatever. Thickness will play an important role in how long your veggies take to dehydrate, so bear that in mind when preparing.

Next you must blanch the vegetables. This will preserve the colour and flavour of the vegetable. Most vegetables have an enzyme that, left active, is what makes them spoil so quickly. Blanching the vegetables stops the enzyme action.

Follow available guidelines for blanching (available at www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com). Once blanched, chilled and drained, you are ready to dry or dehydrate your vegetables for long term storage.

The Rules

Of course, there are heaps of rules…but let’s start here.

There are three methods used to dry or dehydrate vegetables. Sun dried, commercial dehydrator or oven.

Sun drying is the least reliable method for areas with variable temperatures. Unless you live in a climate that is a consistent 90F with low humidity for a guaranteed 3 days in a row, you risk your produce.

Once the drying starts, it cannot stop until finished. So DO NOT let your vegetables cool again until they’re done. Having said that, lots of places do have that sort of weather…but more places don’t, so sun drying is a bit of a gamble for most.

You can purchase food dehydraters in a range of sizes, but unless you are going to be doing an awful lot of this, it’s probably better to wait or buy one with a group of friends to pass around. They aren’t very expensive, but they are usually used for quite short periods of time.

So, we’re left with the oven. It’s almost certain that you have one, so nothing new to buy. It is time consuming and a little fiddly, but it’s such a great result!

Oven drying

A home oven will only dry small quantities at a time (up to six pounds of produce, depending on the number of racks you have) so don’t be preparing bushells of veggies at a time!

Set the oven at the lowest temperature and preheat to 140F (60C). If you are uncertain of the temperature, put a separate oven thermometer on a rack you can see. Check your temperature every half hour or so.

Lay out your vegetables on stainless steel screen mesh or wooden frames covered in cheescloth. Do NOT use cookie sheets as the air must circulate around the food. Having the food sit next to metal sheets may also transfer a metalic taste. Using other types of metal materials may react with the food so please don’t.

Load up the veggies. Doing trays of items similar in size will keep the drying even. For instance, doing pumpkin, carrot and potato might be a good mix. Try not to mix strong flavoured items as the flavour may transfer from one vegetable to another.

Keep the oven door open about 3 inches or so during drying. It is vital that the temperature is maintained at 140F (60C) and that the moist air can escape. Move the trays around frequently to ensure even drying. No oven has even heat throughout.

Keep a close eye on your drying vegetables. Don’t let them scorch and keep them moving.

Depending on the vegetable you are drying it will take between 4 and 12 hours to dry. Once they’re done, the vegetable pieces will be hard and should shatter if hit with an instrument.

Store in a water tight container. To use, just add them to soups and sauces as they are, or reconstitute (cover them in a container with water 2:1 ratio) for approximately 2 hours before using.

Judy Williams (http://www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com) splits her time between being an executive and an earth mother goddess.

No Dig Vegetable Gardens represents a clean, green way to grow your own food. The site covers all aspects of growing, cooking and preserving your harvest.

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The first fruit chips I made in my toaster oven/food dryer were sweet, chewy, and delicious. I’ve never been a great fan of raw bananas, but it would be easy to snack all day on banana chips.

For years, I’ve wanted to have a food dryer. Out of sloth, I suppose, I haven’t gotten one. But while contemplating what to plant in my small kitchen garden this spring, my urge to have a food dryer grew intense: I decided to try dehydrating food in my oven.

On my way to the kitchen, it dawned on me: my toaster oven has a temperature-control knob. I wondered if I could set the temperature low enough to dry food without cooking it. Low and behold, the temperature knob had a setting marked DEH. It was designed to be used as a dehydrator!

Banana and Strawberry Chips

I cut 3/8 inch lengthwise slices from several strawberries, and then cut a banana into disks of about the same thickness. I laid these out on aluminum foil, slipped the foil into the toaster oven, and set the oven on DEH. Then I went to bed.

When I awoke six hours later, the strawberry and banana slices were dry on top, but very sticky underneath. With some effort, I peeled them off the aluminum foil, flipped them, and returned them to the toaster oven. Two hours later, I snacked on strawberry and banana chips.

I was amused to learn that I far prefer dehydrated bananas over fresh. Mine hadn’t dried crispy, and the slightly gummy chewiness was a huge improvement in texture over that of a fresh, raw banana.

More into the Food Dryer

While snacking on my first batch of banana chips, I cut up two more bananas, this time setting the slices on waxed paper that I had spread with a light coating of olive oil. The heat of the toaster oven’s DEH setting didn’t seem enough to damage waxed paper. In fact, mid afternoon, I had no trouble peeling the banana chips off and flipping them—and they came off easily that evening.

My enthusiasm for drying food has never been greater. While I continue to experiment with my newly-discovered food dryer, I encourage you to check your own kitchen gear. Running a conventional oven to dry food isn’t energy-efficient, but it will work. Alternatively, a toaster oven with a temperature control feature may hold the temperature low-enough (anywhere from 95F degrees up to about 150F degrees will work, depending on what you’re drying) to dry food without cooking it.

Conventional and toaster ovens develop hot spots, so you’ll have better results with a convection oven. You might also consider building a solar-powered food dryer; links at the end of this post lead to plans that may help you get started. Of course, the most efficient food dryer is a machine specifically designed to dry food. You’ll find many highly-praised models in my Food Dryer Store, powered by Amazon.com.

• Building A Solar Food Dehydrator In My Backyard. | The Good Human – After seeing a diagram of what one might look like in a magazine, this weekend I spent some time building my first solar food dehydrator. And while it was somewhat of a success, there are some changes I will be making on the next …

• How To Make and Use a Home Food Dryer | Mother Earth News

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