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+--- Thread: A Food Dehydrator (/showthread.php?tid=1472)
RE: A Food Dehydrator - Vinny - 29-06-2024
(29-06-2024, 10:27 AM)JJB Wrote:He's had some but I buy him dried mini chicken breasts which are chewy and he prefers. Of course he is a true carnvore so tends to eat the 'stripped' chicken thighs which I cook in the air fryer first,before eating his biscuits! Even he realises,wheat and seed oils are bad for him! He loves butter as well,nearly as much as I do!(28-06-2024, 06:35 PM)Vinny Wrote: I've still been experimenting with beef jerky in the food dehydrator and think I have finally cracked it. I marinade the meat first over night and maake sure I add vinegar and honey to the marinade which I think helps preserve the meat longer once dehydrated.
I prefer my jerky with a little bit of 'give' and chewiness to it but have found because it is not totally dry 'snap & rattle' it doesn't stay edible as long?
To counteract this I put a handful in a bowl on the kitchen bench which I can use as a snack when I feel like it. It's perfectly ok for amonth or so. The rest I bag up into freezer bags and bung it in the freezer to be used once the other stuff is eaten.
I still have a bit more experimentation to do with it though! I am wondering whether I add it to some soup whether it wil reconstitute itself once boiled, or if I soak it in beef stock overnight will that reconstitute it?
Meanwhile I am enjoying eatng it as a snack and sometmes pop some in my mouth whilst walking Kato and use it like a flavoured chewing gum!
Does Kato get any?
RE: A Food Dehydrator - Vinny - 18-09-2025
Chuffed to bits with my apple peeler/corer/slicer. I've filled all four sections of my dehydrator with apple slices in no time at all. Whoever invented it was a genius and I hope he patented it and was adequately compensated!
I only expected it to peel and core the apples so it was an added bonus when I found out it sliced them as well!
It's very theaputic to use and I can't wait for to use it again fo the second batch of apples. It took a bit of getting used to and I was just about peeling the apple down to marble size when I first started. It's easy to adjust when you ge into the swing of it. I just put the apple rings into a bowl of wate with two squirts of lemon juice, (just to be safe) and when the bowl was full it was the right amount to fill my dehydrator.
I just wonder whether the dried apples slices will hold onto their sweetness as the apples are a self fertile variety very similar to Cox's Oange Pippin. (Can't remember the name?)
RE: A Food Dehydrator - Bren - 18-09-2025
Vinny our apples taste just a good after being dehydrated. They're an old variety Worcester Pearmain, a lovely strawberry tasting apple but its only drawback is they don't keep above a few weeks after picking so i dehydrate, juice, freeze and make chutney with them.
RE: A Food Dehydrator - Vinny - 19-09-2025
Back on the dehydrating trail again, this time with some bramleys from alottment...............and thereby lies a problem with the gadget as it stuggles with large or mishapen apples.
I like to get some use out of the dehydrator mainly for drying various meats so this fruit drying is new to me? What do I use the dried eating and cooking apples for and do I dry them until they are like crisps or do I keep them slightly leathery?
I still have quite a few of my sweet apples still on the trees so wondered whether to chop and freeze or chop and dry? Apple chutney sounds nice too!
RE: A Food Dehydrator - Bren - 20-09-2025
Vinny i leave my apples leathery and store them in jars, this is what I use mine for.
I eat them like sweeties
take a handful on walk
add to porridge
nice in scones along with some raisins
RE: A Food Dehydrator - Vinny - 20-09-2025
(20-09-2025, 09:39 AM)Bren Wrote: Vinny i leave my apples leathery and store them in jars, this is what I use mine for.I see what you mean Bren. The last load I did were cooking apples and the tart flavour has intensified so much, I can't stop munching them!
I eat them like sweeties
take a handful on walk
add to porridge
nice in scones along with some raisins
Ive just bought some cheese scones so will try them with a couple of 'rings' with butter in them. Whenever I eat pork I useually have Bramley apple sauce with it. As I usually cook prok until its cunchy I may have some 'tart' cooking apple slices with it. Should go well with the belly pork I've just bought?
I wonder whether the sweet apples soaked in water, will soften for puddings etc?
I have given the remaining cooking apples to my daughter but still have loads of Cox's on the trees. As I can't do much outside, I may pepare some more as the gadget is so theaputic to use!
RE: A Food Dehydrator - Veggie - 20-09-2025
The peeler is also good for making chips in funny shapes - spirals, halfmoons, etc.
RE: A Food Dehydrator - Bren - 20-09-2025
Vinny I make apple and raisin scones
I should have made that clear in my post. whoops.
RE: A Food Dehydrator - JJB - 20-09-2025
(20-09-2025, 01:57 PM)Vinny Wrote:(20-09-2025, 09:39 AM)Bren Wrote: Vinny i leave my apples leathery and store them in jars, this is what I use mine for.I see what you mean Bren. The last load I did were cooking apples and the tart flavour has intensified so much, I can't stop munching them!
I eat them like sweeties
take a handful on walk
add to porridge
nice in scones along with some raisins
Whenever I eat pork I useually have Bramley apple sauce with it. As I usually cook prok until its cunchy I may have some 'tart' cooking apple slices with it. Should go well with the belly pork I've just bought?
I wonder whether the sweet apples soaked in water, will soften for puddings etc?
I have given the remaining cooking apples to my daughter but still have loads of Cox's on the trees. As I can't do much outside, I may pepare some more as the gadget is so theaputic to use!
They are a marvel of engineering. I've been processing and bottling apples all afternoon. As you say therapeutic.
RE: A Food Dehydrator - JJB - 20-09-2025
I've not got a dehydrator, if I can find room for it, I might consider one. How long do dehydrated apples keep for?