A Food Dehydrator

Wouldn't bother with bananas again (unless I was given a bucketload) but mushrooms, courgettes and lots of green stuff have dried well.

So you think it was worth the investment in space and pennies? Do you have masses of jars of dried stuff?

I didn't say that. I failed drying tomatoes - couldn't cut them thin enough. Didn't try drying any apples or other fruit. I don't have masses of jars of stuff and I could have been a lot more committed to drying than I was.
Its quite big and awkward to move around. Luckily I have space for it in the utility room so its stayed there.
I've also just acquired a smaller dehydrator, not tried it yet, but it could be useful for drying a few odds and ends. We'll see.
Are you thinking of getting one?

You don’t want to cut tomatoes to thin for dehydrating. As they are mostly water the shrink a lot. If they are to thin to start with they will be like paper when they come out and will just stick to they trays and fall apart.

I didn't say that. I failed drying tomatoes - couldn't cut them thin enough. Didn't try drying any apples or other fruit. I don't have masses of jars of stuff and I could have been a lot more committed to drying than I was.
Its quite big and awkward to move around. Luckily I have space for it in the utility room so its stayed there.
I've also just acquired a smaller dehydrator, not tried it yet, but it could be useful for drying a few odds and ends. We'll see.
Are you thinking of getting one?

I'm always thinking  
I think a dehydrator is in the same league as an airfryer  -  a nice thought but footprint space is very limited.  TBH I'm a bit like Scarlet, I have shelves full of jam and chutney that are unlikely to be eaten any time soon. Dehydrated stuff would probably be the same.

You don’t want to cut tomatoes to thin for dehydrating. As they are mostly water the shrink a lot. If they are to thin to start with they will be like paper when they come out and will just stick to they trays and fall apart.

I felt that they were too wet to start with, maybe I should have poked all the pips out of the middle and just left the outer bit to dry.

I dug out my dehydrator today and gave it a good clean. Even though I didn't have much success with veggies and fruit, I thought I would give meat a go?

I dcided to try and use some beef mince to make jerky. The only mince I had was a high fat content which isn't ideal,nut beggars can't be choosers! I  only made one tray full as a trial and used 500g /1 lb of mince heavily salted.
I patted it into place on the tray and set it away.I had forgotten how noisy it was so set it up in a room I seldom use. I took it out of the tray after 3 hours and turned the 'slice over. Tried another half an hour but still wasn't happy. After a total of 4 hours I finally got the consistency I wanted which was foldable so I could eat it with butter.
It is ok, and to the chewiness I desire but will need to be used fairly quickly as I didn't dry it out completely preferring the softer texture.

In the future I am going to putchase stir fry strips of beef, pork and chicken and try those with various marinades? These I will fully dry as I have a hiing/camping/fishing holiday later in the year and being lightweight and nourishing these will be ideal for me to take with me as theshop bought beef jerky is far too expensive.
Photo's below of various stages.

More dehydrating today. I bought some stir fry beef strips and dehydrated those with some steak seasoning on them. I also bought a pork tenderloin cheaply. I sliced it thinly and used a dried teriaki mix on it and allowedit to marinade for a while.
I am pleased with the texture and taste,particularily the pork jerky
I bought a couple of large chicken breasts this evening which are already marinated in a BBQ sauce. Tomorrow I will slice these thinly and dehydrate these as well.
Its strange that I have found a new use for a piece of kit  I bought maybe 20 years ago for a different reason!

Loaded up the dehydrator with BBQ flavoured chicken breast today so I'l see which jerky I prefer?

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!

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?