Adventures with my dehydrator.

[NotWorriedAtAll]

This is my first adventure with my new dehydrator. Kale chips/crisps. I am quite excited because it worked so well. They are very crunchy. I dehydrated them at 40C for 20 hours and then for an hour at 70C. I just washed trimmed and patted them dry before dehydrating them. I can add salt and oil when I use the crisps. They are in a jar now so n my cupboard.

 

[Windy]

They look nice.
I've made them in the oven before, with a bit of chilli, salt and a tiny bit of oil, cooked at gas mark 2, until they're crispy, and eaten them straight away.
I quite fancy buying a dehydrator, I like to go camping and was thinking I could dehydrate cauliflower rice to have with curry etc. So it'll be interesting to see how you get on - what made you buy one @NotWorriedAtAll?

 

[Leadinglights]

View attachment 19751This is my first adventure with my new dehydrator. Kale chips/crisps. I am quite excited because it worked so well. They are very crunchy. I dehydrated them at 40C for 20 hours and then for an hour at 70C. I just washed trimmed and patted them dry before dehydrating them. I can add salt and oil when I use the crisps. They are in a jar now so n my cupboard.

That sounds like something to try. I have used mine for fruit in the past also chillies but they did rather contaminate it despite a thorough washing of the racks.

 

[NotWorriedAtAll]

They look nice.
I've made them in the oven before, with a bit of chilli, salt and a tiny bit of oil, cooked at gas mark 2, until they're crispy, and eaten them straight away.
I quite fancy buying a dehydrator, I like to go camping and was thinking I could dehydrate cauliflower rice to have with curry etc. So it'll be interesting to see how you get on - what made you buy one @NotWorriedAtAll?

I have been making crackers and biscuits and my own version of weetabix (ketobiccies 😛 ) and I wanted to be able to make shelf stable versions so I don't have to make them from scratch every time I want them.

I enjoy cooking but I would like to have more time for my crafting and recipe book compilation so I need to be able to have days when I don't have to cook all my meals from basic ingredients so I have spare capacity for other cooking and crafting and exercising. Also I want to reduce my fat intake down a little bit so I can start losing weight now. If I can have stuff like kale chips and crackers and dips at hand I can manage that easier.

I've been pondering buying a dehydrator for years but Aldi had one for sale online for under thirty quid with five racks and a digital timer and temperature control so it seemed like the time to make the decision.

 

[NotWorriedAtAll]

That sounds like something to try. I have used mine for fruit in the past also chillies but they did rather contaminate it despite a thorough washing of the racks.

I joined a facebook group about dehydrating for a couple of weeks to get some tips and they advised using baking paper under strong flavoured foods and juicy fruits to prevent tainting racks. I have re-usable baking sheets I cut up for putting under cakes and pastry and I have offcuts I think I will use in the dehydrator.

 

[AndBreathe]

View attachment 19751This is my first adventure with my new dehydrator. Kale chips/crisps. I am quite excited because it worked so well. They are very crunchy. I dehydrated them at 40C for 20 hours and then for an hour at 70C. I just washed trimmed and patted them dry before dehydrating them. I can add salt and oil when I use the crisps. They are in a jar now so n my cupboard.

It's easy to achieve the same aim as this using an airfryer. It only takes a few minutes.

To be honest, our airfryer has a dehydrator function amongst others. I used the dehydrator function quite a bit at the outset, but rarely now.

Dehydrated orange, lemon or lime slices are excellent for drinks as the dehydration process really intensifies the flavour. Similarly with ripe tomatoes, or raspberries or strawberries (although they take an age).

 

[NotWorriedAtAll]

It's easy to achieve the same aim as this using an airfryer. It only takes a few minutes.

To be honest, our airfryer has a dehydrator function amongst others. I used the dehydrator function quite a bit at the outset, but rarely now.

Dehydrated orange, lemon or lime slices are excellent for drinks as the dehydration process really intensifies the flavour. Similarly with ripe tomatoes, or raspberries or strawberries (although they take an age).

I have a halogen oven which is an air fryer by another name. For me it isn’t practical to use instead for various reasons but it is a good alternative method for people who don’t want to have another kitchen appliance.