# Favorite item to dehydrate, and why?



## thestartupman (Jul 25, 2010)

What is your favorite item to dehydrate, and why is it? Is it because of taste, cost, ease of processing??????


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

Can I lump the veggies together? : ) 

I make a lot of soup and it is wonderful just throwing a handful of carrots in, a tablespoon of celery, break up some slices of potato, tossing in some green beans or zucchini on a whim when I think it needs something else. So much faster and I'm putting more veggies in my soups as it's so easy. Zucchini and green beans don't turn to mush in soups when they've been dehydrated which is a big plus. I didn't dehydrate many onions this year, so am using fresh, but next year those will go in the mix above.


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## redneckswife (May 2, 2013)

Any kind of fruit..with luck, some of it actually makes it past me removing it from the trays,lol.

I can always use up any of it on multiple things(breads, smoothies,fruit leathers,cakes,candies,muffins-can you tell I'm a mother of 7 kids,lol). Plus when our fruit trees & vines are ripe, we don't have to try to hurry up and eat it all before it spoils.

I can't wait till the peaches, grapes, apples,figs,,blackberries & plums come into season again:sing:


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## Farmerjonathan (Mar 11, 2013)

Apples, bananas and meat-aka-JERKY! :rock:


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## Homesteader (Jul 13, 2002)

Oh so hard to choose. Fruit leather, and bell peppers and mushrooms particularly in the veggie area!


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## catzkids (May 11, 2011)

Deer jerky!


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Mushrooms!!!! I love the fact that when dehydrated properly they last a very long time. They can always be on hand to add some zip to whatever you want them in. They even crumble easily for adding to gravy or mixing into mashed potatoes.

Onions are a close second. For all the same reasons.


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## mrs whodunit (Feb 3, 2012)

Potatoes.

I dried lots of sliced potatoes last year. The girls ate almost all of them in sandwiches .... they soak them in hot water and then put ketchup the bread with softened potatoes. Crazy


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## cjean (May 1, 2007)

mrs whodunit said:


> Potatoes.
> 
> I dried lots of sliced potatoes last year. The girls ate almost all of them in sandwiches .... they soak them in hot water and then put ketchup the bread with softened potatoes. Crazy


Wow! That is so innovative! Lol.

Tomatoes are my favorite. They are so flavorful when dried, and you can eat them just like that, or dry them extra crispy and use the powder to thicken soups, pizza sauce, etc. Plus, they are the only fruit that I truly like :teehee:.


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## shellybo (Nov 9, 2013)

I like to dehydrate frozen vegs since all of the prep work is done! The jars with the dehydrated vegs look so colorful and pretty. Really like dried apple chips and love pineapple since it tastes like candy


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## redneckswife (May 2, 2013)

Danaus29 said:


> Mushrooms!!!! I love the fact that when dehydrated properly they last a very long time. They can always be on hand to add some zip to whatever you want them in. They even crumble easily for adding to gravy or mixing into mashed potatoes.
> 
> Onions are a close second. For all the same reasons.


For some reason the mushrooms never crossed my mind. We love our mushrooms in just about everything. Thank you for mentioning that..I think I know what I'll be dehydrating later in the week:hobbyhors


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

I buy bunches when they are on sale. Funny though, they never last very long once dried. We eat them pretty quick.


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## rjayne (Sep 20, 2004)

Zucchini dried in slices. We use them in place of lasagna noodles. It makes a good low carb dish.


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## GrannyG (Mar 26, 2005)

Tomatoes are my favorite...cut into slices, sprinkle with kosher salt, black pepper and basil....dehydrate....wonderful to grab a few and crush over salad in winter, can be eaten as they are for a yummy snack, great to crush up in BBQ rubs......


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## FaithFirst (Nov 2, 2013)

Danaus29 said:


> Mushrooms!!!! I love the fact that when dehydrated properly they last a very long time. They can always be on hand to add some zip to whatever you want them in. They even crumble easily for adding to gravy or mixing into mashed potatoes.
> 
> Onions are a close second. For all the same reasons.


Have you tried drying Morels? I would think they would dehydrate about the same as say a button mushroom. Inquiring minds want to know! I love them and don't have easy access to them anymore.


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

Onions and garlic. I mostly grind them in my coffee grinder to make fresher tasting onion or garlic powder.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Haven't tried drying morels yet. Last bunch I found was less than 15 which got fried up that day.


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## cfuhrer (Jun 11, 2013)

I LOVE IT ALL!!

Green onions- easy to process versatile and oh so yummy.
Diced veggies of all sorts for soup additions or for grinding to flavored powders/salts.
Fruits because that is about the only way my sun eats fruit.
Jerky!

My dehydrator spends more time running than not.


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

cfuhrer said:


> I LOVE IT ALL!!
> 
> Green onions- easy to process versatile and oh so yummy.
> Diced veggies of all sorts for soup additions or for grinding to flavored powders/salts.
> ...


I never thought of "veggie powder." The only one I do is green pepper because I like the taste but not biting into a whole piece.

I wonder if a veggie medley would make a good popcorn flavoring. I've been looking for one I like and have like various veggie flavored snacks. 

Any recipes?


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## HoofPick (Jan 16, 2012)

My favorite thing to make is apple leather. This year I turned about 80 pounds of apples into sauce and filled my 9 try excalibur 4 times. That yielded about 140 3" wide fruit roll ups. They are a great grab and go snack.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

It would be jerky, but I make mine in the smoker. Dried pears, so good....James


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## semimoonman (Oct 31, 2012)

Tomatoes and any jar of fruit butter/sauce that's been hanging around the pantry for too long 

(Apple-Pear-Ginger from 2009? Delicious fruit leather.) 

)Overcooked Peach Butter which has a consistency too close to baby food from 2011? Delicious as fruit leather.)


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## cfuhrer (Jun 11, 2013)

where I want to said:


> I never thought of "veggie powder." The only one I do is green pepper because I like the taste but not biting into a whole piece.
> 
> I wonder if a veggie medley would make a good popcorn flavoring. I've been looking for one I like and have like various veggie flavored snacks.
> 
> Any recipes?


Not-a-one.

I wing it, grinding them in my mortar and pestle by the tablespoon full as I need them.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

We make our own version of Mrs. Dash....James


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## Westexas (Apr 10, 2013)

Great ideas, guys! Thanks for all of them and for starting this thread. Love jerky and dried pears, and will definitely be trying be trying some of these others soon!


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

thestartupman said:


> What is your favorite item to dehydrate, and why is it? Is it because of taste, cost, ease of processing??????


1. Beef Jerky

2. Because it is a reminder that my son still needs and appreciates me.

3. Taste is amazing, cost is a little spendy, but I use all organic ingredients, and the process is super easy. Oh, and I LOVE the smell!!


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Apples. It'd the snack food my kids grew up on. I found dried apple slices were GREAT teethers when the kids were tiny (I have pictures someplace of an 11 mo old DS going to town on a dried apple)! They still eat them by the handful, kids are 14 and 11.


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## CajunSunshine (Apr 24, 2007)

Mushrooms! I harvested about ten pounds of deeeee-licious Oyster mushrooms that I found growing on the trunk of an old half dead pecan tree (I left behind plenty for the critters to enjoy). I dehydrated most of the harvest, froze some, sauteed some to go with my steaks, and made a huge pot of cream of mushroom soup. Yum yum!



.


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## CajunSunshine (Apr 24, 2007)

jwal10 said:


> We make our own version of Mrs. Dash....James


I would love to know how you make your blend!



.


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

I'm still learning what my Excalibur can do; and I too would love to know what ingredients you use, James, to make that salt substitute.

So far I do NOT like fruit leathers as they are too chewy for me to enjoy. 

David uses it often to dry his Passion Flowers, though I hang the "leaves" out under the shed and they dry fine out there.

Have not tried jerky as yet, but will for sure.

I love the idea of mixed veggies because I use to buy a lot of those to create my pot pies with. This coming year we will be raising a garden with this in mind. (Have not raised a veg garden for years because we still have some in the freezers; but they are near gone now....Hooray!)


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## prepper82 (Nov 28, 2013)

I love taking ground turkey and making home made turkey jerky. My wife got me a dehydrator last Christmas and it works great. I also drying bananas and apples into chips but sometimes eat to much and get a stomach ache from all of it rehydrating in my stomach lol.


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## danarutan (Mar 13, 2011)

Mushrooms, peppers, deer jerky, and apple slices with a little cinnamon and sugar! One great thing about the mushrooms is to put them in hot water to rehydrate to put on pizza or whatever then save the water you drain off to use in gravy, soup or whatever. I like to wait till Aldi's has them on sale for 99 cents or less and buy about 12-24 boxes and fill the dehydrator.


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## cesium (Jan 9, 2008)

Ground beef (cooked) and refried beans. When we backpack, we take a pack of large flour tortillas, rehydrate the beans and beef, and make burritos in the woods. They taste great after a long day of backpacking.


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## Marilyn (Aug 2, 2006)

Mushrooms because they look so good dry and rehydrate perfectly.

Pumpkin Leather because it's so tasty and the perfect road food.

Diced Jalapenoes because they smell so good during dehydration, and taste so good later.


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## shar (May 3, 2006)

I love to dry grapes, we have a never ending supply of raisins, so lots of oatmeal cookies, rice pudding and handfuls just to snack on.


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