Need tips on using a food Dehydrator
@theproperator (2429)
United States
October 16, 2007 7:43pm CST
So, I bought a dehydrator for $5 in a thrift store. It was practically brand new; I brought it home, cleaned it, and stuck it in the pantry... where it sat for the last year. It seemed like a great idea, but I don't really know how to go about it all.
A friend of mine inspired me to pull it out to try to dry some fruit for snacking on. I have a batch of apples in there right now. They seem pretty easy to do, but now I need advice on using it for other foods.
Are there any fruits that work better than others? Am I supposed to put anything on the fruit?
How do I do jerky? I know there are seasoning packs you can buy, but can't I just use products from the spice asile? And (important question here) do I cook the meat first or not?
Any other tips you have for me would be much appriciated, too.
Thanks.
1 person likes this
3 responses
@krebstar5 (1266)
• United States
17 Oct 07
Jerky is a really fun thing to make the in food dehydrator. The best thing is that you don't have to cook the meat first. You simply have to marinate it. Yes, you can buy a jerky mix, but there are plenty of other things you can use from your pantry. My mother used to use soy sauce, brown sugar, crushed garlic, liquid smoke, red pepper flakes, and pepper. You need to use really thin meat and allow it to marinate for at least an hour or more in your fridge. Then just place the strip in your dehydrator and let it work it's magic.
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@theproperator (2429)
• United States
18 Oct 07
Great, I thought I had heard somewhere that you didn't have to cook the meat first, but that's something I wanted to be really sure of! :-)
Are there any meats that work better than others? Imean, I know most jerky is from beef, but I have no idea what kind of cut I should use...
@hoghoney (3747)
• United States
17 Oct 07
Hey great question here, I have a food dehydrator and I have never used it because I am not to sure how. I will have to keep a watch on here so that I may also get some tips along with you. I hope that you can get some great tips on what to do. Good Luck. Hugs!
2 people like this
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
17 Oct 07
You can dehydrate just about any thng you want to. You just have to make sue that all the moisture is dryed out. You can tell by how the product feels when you squeeze it. If it gives it needs more drying. especially meats. My daughter-in-law deydrated strawberries, cherry tomatoes, grapes, mushrooms. Dehydrating foods was the first way to preserve vegetables and fruits. They used to string green bean. My grandmother would tell of cutting corn off the cob and putting it in a pillow case and hanging it on the clothes line to dry shaking it up 3 or 4 times a day untel it was dried. Slice bananas down the middle length wise and just put them on the racks. You can do bell peppers too. Onionss taste great deydrated too.
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@theproperator (2429)
• United States
18 Oct 07
Oh, I used to love banana chips as a kid! I'll definately have to try that.
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