Dehydrating foods

[Southernscotty]

Anyone here dehydrated morel mushrooms?

 

[drjean]

The honey coated bananas are at -3 hours of 48! In each of the videos I watched the banana chips broke in half very crispy. Mine are still somewhat bendable.

I've added 3 other trays now, 2 of cooked rice, and 1 of 2 packages of frozen butternut squash (which I also eat as a snack---sooooo sweet! ) I'm going to try and mid way through the squash drying to shape them into small squares..or better yet, ROUNDS so they don't cut the bags. We will see.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Anyone here dehydrated morel mushrooms?

Not I.

 

[drjean]

You aren't going to believe this but the bananas are still not dried and crisp. :C
It's been... 56 hours.

The rice is done.
The squash is done.
The bananas are not done. And they are sliced normally like between 1/8 and 1/4" thick.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

You aren't going to believe this but the bananas are still not dried and crisp. :C
It's been... 56 hours.

The rice is done.
The squash is done.
The bananas are not done. And they are sliced normally like between 1/8 and 1/4" thick.

Hmmm
Maybe honey just does not dry up?
I know that it turns into a crystalline substance in time, and you use warmth to revitalize it.

 

[drjean]

Hmmm. I heated the honey prior to using it, so it could crystallize, like the videos said... I used the microwave though... could that be the issue? Theirs were snapping in half, so dry!

I have increased the temperature to 140 degrees. I have to go to market today, and will not run it while I'm gone... so poor bananas I will probably freeze them while I'm gone and then back into the snackmaster.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Hmmm. I heated the honey prior to using it, so it could crystallize, like the videos said... I used the microwave though... could that be the issue? Theirs were snapping in half, so dry!

I have increased the temperature to 140 degrees. I have to go to market today, and will not run it while I'm gone... so poor bananas I will probably freeze them while I'm gone and then back into the snackmaster.

Keep us updated on the honey banana dehydration saga.

 

[drjean]

Just finished
3 full days

I :

• was at the store less than an hour and had the bananas in the freezer during that time.
• put them into the microwave then, for less than 1 minute. Some burned.
• put them all on a mat on a tray and back into the dehydrator until 3:30pm when I gave up.
• left them out on the countertop for about 20 minutes while I fixed a meal for my doggie and me.
• know, 3:30pm but hey I'm retired and he needs to eat a lot of protein right now.)
• noticed some were crispy, and the burnt ones dissolved nicely in my mouth like a soft piece of charcoal
• tried another piece, not quite breakable in hand however it broke 2 of my teeth
• decided God does not want me eating honey coated banana slices

 

[drjean]

I'm off to research two items now: dog food and... and.. oh I forgot. Wait. No...
oh yea, oops forgot again...turnips! I substitute turnips (the veggie, the root) for white potatoes etc. They are nice texture with eggs and also mash up pretty well with salt pepper and butter as a healthy side dish.

As for the dog food... the only non GMO dry foods I'm finding are ridiculously priced. AND I MEAN RIDICULOUSLY. Some are as high as a $10 a pound PLUS most are under a "non-GMO" search but they really just say something like "all natural" or "organic" or "grain free". Sorry but farmed salmon is not natural even though they are grain free (if fed non grain products.)

My dog hates wet food. I can't even put au jus from delicious meat that he loves, into the dish (though he might lick it from mine if I let him )

I have made his own food in the distant past. He was very ill and turned up his nose at all the foods I bought him (Royal Canin, Blue.... you name it). My mixture was all sorts of healthy things carrots kale broccoli ginger egg, 1/2 egg shell, kemp seed, and whatnot but that's too difficult to maintain while travelling.

Lately he's been eating Beyond for small dogs... even though he isn't a small dog...but it's the dry food he likes with only 3 ingredients. I tried to switch him to the big dog stuff but it has an added ingredient and he will not eat it. So with this time his being ill, I began to introduce the Super Food by Beyond of salmon, egg, and pumpkin (grain free). Three foods he enjoys. I'm adding chicken or beef (natural no nitrites, hormones, antibiotics) to each dishful of dry. But alas the dry Beyond does not say non-GMO.... while I'm at it, I'd like it to say gluten free as well!

And while I'm rambling.... I'm a bit leery about Pacific fish no matter what it is because of the Fukushima nuclear plant melting down into the core and the radiated water that travelled to our NW Territories.

I think dogs eat too much chicken.

And there I am: Beyond has wet dog food that is grain free, non-GMO and what are the 3 styles? Chicken & pea, Pacific Cod & chicken with carrot, and Chicken, Alaskan wild salmon & spinach.

You see? My dog has an allergy that when triggered his white cells attack his red cells. So the last offer with the spinach won't do anyway. My oncologist made it very clear I was to never eat spinach because it binds molecularly to iron or by creating an enzyme that does that (I truly forget his exact words of explanation and if I weren't too lazy I'd find them) and the body throws it out... there goes your iron.

With all this said, I think I will buy a can or two of the wet Chicken and Pea grain free non gmo and dehydrate it and see if he will eat it. Maybe if it likes it dry, he will also eat it wet? I would have to keep some in cans (though cans are tough to travel with) and dehydrated won't last but a few weeks.

Any comments or ideas about either the dog food or the turnips let me know!

 

[drjean]

Okay. Today the owner and I
errrr I took the dog grocery shopping
We bought a can each of the non GMO wet food... comparable to the dry food he has but which isn't non gmo (the chicken & pea and the salmon, egg and ? I forget).... He liked them wet! But ah see maybe he won't a second meal of them? He has learned there is a connection to what he eats and how he poops. ROFL no kidding.... I'm sure it's how it makes him feel stomach/intestine in the meantime.

Anyway. I am dehydrating one of the cans... if I could just remember which one. :o But it was easy to slice it off as it came out of the can. It looks very much like the medallion cut of beef...and color as well I must be sure to label them clearly!

I am also dehydrating wieners. (I know, frankfurters or franks..but I don't use those names to avoid confusion in case we meet someone named Frank. He also has a stuffy that's "star" even though it's a jack.) I digress.

I cut the wieners lengthwise... they look like they will be fun to eat actually. They are already cooked Angus beef uncured no additives. Prior to this episode with the dog he couldn't eat such high fat beef. It might be just what he needs---or not. I'll check with the vet to be sure it's ok. Generally I stay above the 90% lean mark, 93% if I can manage it. (He has 2 weeks before he gets another CBC test.) He has lost weight yet he's eating 4x a day, up to 8 cups of food and snacks on top!

 

[SavedByGrace3]

We have 10 trays of zucchini squash in the dehydrator. We have yellow crooked neck and yellow straight neck waiting.. but we may eat that before it gets dehydrated. We love the yellow squash.

 

[drjean]

Yum!

Okay I found a new thing to try: frozen yogurt.
Well I'm not sure it has to be frozen to begin with, but I bought some for the dog (little bits of healthy snack) and I cannot have but a dollop in a cup of coffee and here I sit with a quart of frozen vanilla yogurt. What fun if it will dehydrate and stay in bag without refrigerator. (Going to check this out now...)

Here's something I found online:

1. Spread the yogurt, homemade or purchased, as thinly as possible (about 1/8″?) on parchment paper or the sheets that come with your dehydrator (I have an Excalibur 9-tray and I love it).
2. Dehydrate at 125F for about 6 hours.*
3. Check often after 4 hours since dehydrators are all a little different, your thickness might vary, and how full you fill the machine impacts timing as well.
4. You want the resulting “yogurt rolls” to be totally dry – so that nothing comes off on your fingers when you touch the very center, and if you stick two pieces together, they come right back apart – but still pliable.

*Anywhere from 100F-145F is probably just fine; enzymes and bacteria die at 150F dry heat, so you’ll negate the probiotic benefit of yogurt if you get it too hot. Strict raw foodies would say not to go over 116F, although that’s when enzymes die in wet heat, like boiling. If you’re not in a hurry, I guess I’d shoot for 110F to be safe and gentle on the healthy bacteria.
​

I'll try this when I get back to the house this afternoon.
The wieners are still dehydrating into jerky and will be done today I'm pretty sure... the strips were 6-7 out of each link.​

 

[drjean]

Found this: (I'm trying the vanilla anyway, alone.)

I dried a batch at 115° F and that worked fine. It just took a little longer.

The yogurt dried brittle, like bark, not leather. It held its color well. One cup of yogurt yielded ½ cup of bark. It tasted just like yogurt – no change in flavor from the yogurt dried. Tip: Spread yogurt thinly on dehydrator trays. It will dry faster and will be easier to reconstitute in your no-cook backpacking breakfast. I wouldn't pack plain yogurt bark for trail snacks. It is too brittle and needs a fruit companion which was the next experiment.​

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Found this: (I'm trying the vanilla anyway, alone.)

I dried a batch at 115° F and that worked fine. It just took a little longer.

The yogurt dried brittle, like bark, not leather. It held its color well. One cup of yogurt yielded ½ cup of bark. It tasted just like yogurt – no change in flavor from the yogurt dried. Tip: Spread yogurt thinly on dehydrator trays. It will dry faster and will be easier to reconstitute in your no-cook backpacking breakfast. I wouldn't pack plain yogurt bark for trail snacks. It is too brittle and needs a fruit companion which was the next experiment.​

nice... like too see that

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Amazing how much dehydrated food will shrink. We put 7 good sized zucchini into 3/4 of a quart jar.

 

[drjean]

Yep. Cool eh? That's why so many commercial survival supply companies can offer a years' worth in a small package. And do much lighter (I'm not using jars)...

I finished the angus wieners. Of course, they were greasy and I blotted them. If not doing them while I was sleeping I would have noticed they needed this while drying. But I didn't preheat them in pan or microwave prior to ...since they are already cooked / uncured I didn't need to. But I might in the future as that will cause them to weep alot of the fat out first. They look yummy.

I'm about to check the yogurt. I think if it's not fully dry I will draw lines through it for small pieces to eat/bag.

 

[drjean]

Anyone here dehydrated morel mushrooms?

I found this while looking for items NOT to dehydrate.

Mushrooms – If you care about having light colored mushrooms as your final product, make sure your mushrooms are dry before dehydrating them. I rinse my mushrooms in water to remove residual growing medium from them, and they tend to be dark upon dehydrating, but we’re okay with that because most of our dehydrated mushrooms end up within a dish or as a mushroom powder, so we don’t care that the final product isn’t a lighter color.
​

And this:

Although morels can be dried in the oven or even in front of a fan, you will get the best results if you use a dehydrator.

1. 
   
   
   • Clean and Soak the Morels. First, clean the morels. ...
   • Sort or Slice the Morels. ...
   • Place Them on the Dehydrator Trays. ...
   • Dry the Morels in the Dehydrator. ...
   • Cool the Dried Morels and Transfer to Glass Jars.

And this:

How do you hydrate morel mushrooms?
Cover the mushrooms with water: Cover generously with water and gently push on the mushrooms to submerge them into the water. Soak your mushrooms: Soaking time will vary depending on the size and thickness of the mushrooms. Most thinly sliced mushrooms will be rehydrated in 20 to 30 minutes​

 

[drjean]

My yogurt dehydration did not go quite as expected.

I tried to fill the tray as it says to have 1/8" thickness.
I spilled a lot, even though I tried filling the trays both on and off the dehydrator stack itself.

One tray separated (the mixture of yogurt) and the other did not. The one that separated only dried to a gummy texture which was more like a condensed milk candy. The one that stayed mixed dried hard and broke into small pieces. They will be ok for a snack or to drop into a cup of hot coffee. However, not the result I wanted.

I will try again with maybe regular organic yogurt (but they tend to have a different set of additives that my body rejects. I think the frozen yogurt may have had too much sugar ? But if I can get it filled and not separate it'll be good. I might try adding more yogurt to fill the tray back up to 1/8" once it begins to dry? They took 30 hours at 110 degrees (so as not to kill the good bacteria.)

 

[drjean]

Well I had my assistant chop up fresh organic apples to dehydrate. She did a good job and a little thicker slices than I had done, but they will be good to crunch once done.. however it's been over 30 hours at 135 degrees... not crispy yet. I persevere.

 

[drjean]

Ok I shut the apples down this morning... 40 hours? I set them out in air for a few minutes to see what they would do, hoping like with the bananas they would crisp up.

Well half crisped and half began to absorb moisture. I bagged them up... looked for a desiccating bag but didn't find one. I'll eat these as snacks on my trip to Disney this next weekend.