# Dehydrating cucumber



## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

One of the few things our garden produces in abundance every year is cucumbers. I make dill pickles, and bread and butter pickles, and sweet and dill relish, I cube them in homemade salsa, and we eat them fresh sliced on a plate at almost every meal. But still we have bushels of cucumbers every summer.

I'm wondering if cucumbers can be dehydrated. Would they work as snack chips that way? Could they be re-hydrated later? I'm guessing they would get slimy and gross if rehydrated, but I'm looking for some non-pickle idea for long term cucumber storage and use.


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

you can use them in stir fries. I pressure can them in my soup mixes too.

They deydrate zuchini for chips so I don't see why cuckes won't work too.


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## wvstuck (Sep 19, 2008)

Here is a link.

About halfway down the page is cucumber dehydrating

http://www.backpackingchef.com/dehydrating-vegetables.html


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

Thanks, WVStuck! I hadn't thought of making powder from them once dehydrated. That would be great in soups or dips and the chips or powder would store a long time.

There's only so many pickles and fresh cucumbers we can eat!


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

I've dehydrated them and used them as fillers in dishes during the winter. I like them in spaghetti sauce and lasagna as well as any kind of soup or stew.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

Cyng, they don't turn into slimy mush when you add them to spaghetti sauce? I'd be happy to use them, but didn't think they'd survive the rehydration very well. I know they don't freeze and thaw well. Yuck!


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## lorian (Sep 4, 2005)

Do you ferment any? Fermenting is such a great way to get probiotics in your diet. We do a 5 gallon bucket and keep it in the cellar. Keeps all winter.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

Lorian, is that different than brining? I have a crock for brining pickles, and I also use it to make sauerkraut, but the processes are different. Please tell me how you do it.

And off topic, but I've been growing and eating kefir lately, from kefir grains an HTer sent me. Great probiotics in those, too!


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

I thought I'd bump this thread to report that I dried four trays of cucumber slices and it worked great! They dried quickly and are crispy. We all tried a dried one agreed that they weren't bad as a snack, especially if I would sprinkle them before drying with chili powder, curry powder, garlic or salt.

I'm going to powder this batch in the blender and store them in a jar for later use in soups, casseroles or dips. Thanks again for the great idea - now I won't groan when I see the kids coming in from the garden with another grocery bag bulging with cucumbers.


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## stamphappy (Jul 29, 2010)

I'm thinking the same can be done with the zuchinni. I will try in the next few days and let you know. I have a recipe for Emeril's seasoning; I'll probably sprinkle that on them because I use it for everything from casserole seasoning to popcorn topping.


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## Charly (Feb 20, 2010)

This woman is truly inspiring in regards to dehydrating. Her website tells how she dehydrates cucumbers and later makes them into refrigerator pickles. 

Dehydrate2store.com


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

Now, that woman is truly a dehydrating champion!


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## anette (Jun 20, 2008)

Have you seen the recipe in "preserving the harvest" forum for cucumber ketchup??? I will be trying that this weekend...


anette


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

No, I'll have to go look for that. Anything I can do with cucumbers except pickle them and I'll try it.


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