Drying foods

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I recently tried drying some foods that you normally wouldn't dry like onions. They turned out great. I added them to an omlet and the family didn't know the difference. I used two medium sized onions and the result was about 1/2 pint. Their smell is very strong when drying so I had to put them on the back porch while drying which took about 12 hours. I also dried string beans and when dried they have sort of a nutty flavor. They taste good just munching on them. I was thinking of making some sort of snack mix with them. Corn works well too. I bought about 20 one pound bags on sale and dried them. I also tried potatoes. They discolor but they do reconstitute well.

Penda Zone

-- Penda Zone (PendaZ@excite.com), July 19, 1999

Answers

Try drying frozen veggies,fruit[with out surp],shoostring potato's.or hash browns.

-- HD (home_dad@yahoo.com), July 19, 1999.

(1) You might try drying ground yam (for yam flakes). These used to be available commercially (manufactured by Princella), but I cannot find them here in the islands.

(2) Drying poi works well, too. When reconstituted it doesn't taste any worse than fresh poi, at least to my haole taste buds.

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), July 19, 1999.


I tried drying stringbeans and they turned all black, looking like they had been in a fire. What did I do wrong? What are they supposed to look like? I did blanch them first. If anyone knows, please send me an email (address is real). Thanks.

-- judy (wednesdayschild@hotmail.com), July 19, 1999.

Judy, Dried string beans should stay green. Were yours fresh? Then blanched? I used frozen ones and dried them in my dehydrator which is about 120 degrees. Sounds like the heat was too high and they didn't dry slow enough. Penda Zone

-- Penda Zone (PendaZ@excite.com), July 20, 1999.

Have dehydrated green peppers, onions, mushrooms, and TONS of tomatoes. The tomatoes were so easy, washed, sliced them, and laid them on the screens, then sprinkled them with some salt, garlic salt and Italian seasoning. My green peppers were a little dark too, but when used in soups the taste is great and they worked fine. Have also dehydrated a lot of herbs, works great too.

-- Nancy (HAYSandCO@aol.com), July 21, 1999.


Hey! I dried carrots today, and I survived!! Yeah!

I sliced them really thin, blanched them and they only took a few hours to dry. Very simple. Hooray!

Thanks to all for the inspiration.

-- Deborah (infowars@yahoo.com), September 02, 1999.


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