(15-03-2022, 09:36 AM)Small chilli Wrote: [ -> ]Kale crisps are lovely. With salt garlic and mixed dried herbs.
Sure the recipe is in one of the links for timing and how to. Think I made up the garlic and herb coating myself. Think it only take 5 - 6 hours. Definitely easily done in a day.
I have learned to put a lot less salt on than they say in the recipe.
I think I have made these in the microwave before?
I've made Kale crisps found they work out better for me using black kale instead of a curly variety. Apple slices are my favourite I've got one jar from last years apple crop left.
Its arrived, unpacked and been turned on. About as noisy as the washing machine which is in the same room and not noticeable with the door closed.
Looks new - no sign of being a Display model. Included 2 copies of the Instruction book, - handy for when I lose one.
What I've learned so far!!
1. Its best to load the trays from the top down. When you push a tray in, it can catch on the items in the tray below and push them into a heap, when you've spent hours spreading them out neatly. Similarly, if you pull a tray out, it can pull items from the tray below with it. The items in question were kale and chard leaves that were a bit curly and didn't lie flat on the tray.
2. Make the items you want to dry as flat and thin as possible (See 1.)
3. Lovage dries faster than chard/spinach which dry faster than kale.
4. At a temp of 125 F/ 52C, Lovage takes 3 hours to dry, the rest take 4-5 hours.
5. A 5 tray Excalibur is not as heavy as I feared but it does have a big footprint.
6. It isn't too noisy although its nice to have it in another room.
7. I over estimated how many leaves I could dry - its about 4/5 chard leaves to a tray. Gave the stalks to the chooks as I was too lazy to chop them up for drying.
8 5 trays of leaves fill a 1lb jam jar when dried.
(15-03-2022, 10:41 PM)Veggie Wrote: [ -> ]What I've learned so far!!
1. Its best to load the trays from the top down. When you push a tray in, it can catch on the items in the tray below and push them into a heap, when you've spent hours spreading them out neatly. Similarly, if you pull a tray out, it can pull items from the tray below with it. The items in question were kale and chard leaves that were a bit curly and didn't lie flat on the tray.
2. Make the items you want to dry as flat and thin as possible (See 1.)
3. Lovage dries faster than chard/spinach which dry faster than kale.
4. At a temp of 125 F/ 52C, Lovage takes 3 hours to dry, the rest take 4-5 hours.
5. A 5 tray Excalibur is not as heavy as I feared but it does have a big footprint.
6. It isn't too noisy although its nice to have it in another room.
7. I over estimated how many leaves I could dry - its about 4/5 chard leaves to a tray. Gave the stalks to the chooks as I was too lazy to chop them up for drying.
8 5 trays of leaves fill a 1lb jam jar when dried.
And what do you intend using them for?
I have about 80 jars of chutney still in the understairs cupboard
I'm much the same with jam, Scarlet.
This was my trial run, to make sure it worked - it did! I really wanted it to dry toms, beans, courgettes, apples and other fruit - the things I grow too much of.
Picked a couple of bunches of bananas today - 10 bananas in total. It takes 4 bananas to cover a tray.
Most of a small punnet of mushrooms also cover a tray.
Just adding these for my own record really - otherwise I'll forget!
An update - I didn't dry the bananas for long enough and they're soft and sticky and not at all appetising. Not sure that I'll try them again.
Knowing what you know now, would you be bothered again?
Wouldn't bother with bananas again (unless I was given a bucketload) but mushrooms, courgettes and lots of green stuff have dried well.