Dehydrating the harvest?

[cristeen]

Anyone do this?

I just loaded up the dehydrator for the first time and I'm just looking for some hints, tricks, tips, etc. Like if I do a mixed load - do I want to put the savory above the sweet, or the sweet above the savory? Or do I want to do separate batches entirely?

Right now I have grapes, cherries, blackberries, pears, peaches and cherry tomatoes drying, but I'd also like to be able to dry some onions/leeks/garlic, since i have a really hard time keeping those here (they go bad within a week usually).

So anyone else dehydrate the harvest?

[CarrieMF]

I'd definitly do stinky things like onion/garlic/peppers seperatly from the fruits. Be forewarned when you do onion the smell will make your eyes water the same as if you cut them except it lasts longer.lol

Other than that I mix things together except for fruits/herbs & jerky's, yk.

[lmonter]

I tend to do like/similar batches. As in, 7 trays of cherries or 8 trays of apricots (I have an 8-tray dehydrator) or I'll do a bunch of green stuff like peas, basil, parsley, beans, corn in one fell swoop. And just check on them periodically to make sure I'm not burning things (I managed to burn peas in the dehydrator a few weeks ago, ugh).

I just don't want apricot goo/juice on my parsley, you know?

With onions and such in the allium (right?) family, you'll want to put the dehydrator outside or at least in the garage. Otherwise apparently you'll gas/smoke yourself out of your house. Like you know when your eyes tear up from chopping onions? Imagine that in your bathroom even. I'm not tempting fate and attempting those inside, just out in the shed or garage.

This is my first year with dehydrators though, so we'll see what else I manage to screw up... I've got another two months of stuff coming into the house (apples and pears tend to come closer to the first frost), so there's plenty of time for that.

[MissMommyNiceNice]

I like to do pear tomatoes cut in half. They are nice for soups, or you can package them in olive oil for sundried tomatoes. I also love to do beef jerkey. There are just so many things you can do with it. Yum!

[cristeen]

I had considered drying citrus slices when we were swimming in it... but I had no idea what I would use it for if I had. Has anyone done it and found a use for dried citrus?

[notwonamesalike]

Originally Posted by cristeen

I had considered drying citrus slices when we were swimming in it... but I had no idea what I would use it for if I had. Has anyone done it and found a use for dried citrus?

We use dehydrated citrus slices on the Christmas tree. Put a hook through them and hang them up. Beautiful. When the twinkle lights shine through them they look like little pieces of stained glass. I've got a picture here.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3522/...df0a9ee4_o.jpg