Drying Produce.

Oh, that's so cool! I've never tried drying fruit. I know it is different from drying veggies. (I think you have to dip fruit into lemon juice before you can dry it but I'd have to look that up to make sure.) I've done some canning and used to make strawberry jam and jelly every summer but haven't done that in years. I've never heard of onion jam and am not sure I'd be willing to try it if I had some.

@DaddyEvil Hmmm I was never too involved in the drying process (unlike canning which I was made to do, but am thankful now, I love home canned stuff!) -- but that could well be right. Actually I came across the dehydrator the other day maybe momma and I will have a try at it. Oh yum. What a lovely thing to make. Now you got me hungry. Hm? As for onion jam? I think it's like a ketchup type thing, like a .... uh,... meat dip? You know how I like a big piece of meat to dunk in some dip.....

@DaddyEvil That's cool about freezing watermelon. Actually I wonder if it wouldn't be nice a cooling eaten frozen. I wonder if dried watermelon gets like watermelon "jerky" lol Yup, can't get my mind off the meat I guess lol

Uhm.. do you mean do they taste the same after drying as they did before drying? Yes, they do. We use the dried veggies in soups or stews. Once they re-hydrate they taste exactly the same. (You just add them into whatever you're cooking, providing there is enough liquid to re-hydrate them and cook like normal.)

@DaddyEvil wow..sounds great. I will also try doing this

@amitkokiladitya You just need to remember to space the slices of onions or carrots evenly around the tray, trying not to let any touch the pieces beside them. When you think they are done you pick up one and see if it breaks when you try to bend it. If it bends, it isn't done drying and could mold, causing anything else in the same bag to mold, even if the other pieces are dry. Drying fruit is an entirely different technique.

@DaddyEvil I would love it but I live in Connecticut!! Thank you for the offer though

@BelleStarr Do you really live in Connecticut or are you just telling me that but really live across the street from me? If you don't like veggies and fruit you could just say that.

We only have the freezer at the top of our fridge. We've gotten far too much produce to fit it all in there. There will be a total of nine weeks of free produce. Every box has had a large bag of onions, of several different types, a bag of baby carrots, a bag of celery, a bag of potatoes, a bag of oranges, a bag of either peaches or nectarines, a bag of apples, a box of blueberries, 2 or 3 sweet potatoes and either cucumbers or zucchini. This past Saturday we also received two cantaloupes and two heads of cauliflower. Things that keep well without us needing to do anything with them we just store away. Things that won't keep for very long I dry or we eat. I've also taken a few things we don't like to work and give it to anyone that will take it. There is still one more Saturday to go. If you live close to Springfield, Mo, I'd be happy to bring you a box or two of blueberries, a couple bags of apples, a couple bags of potatoes and all the celery. (Well, except I did dry two bags of celery, so you'd only get five bags of that.)

@DaddyEvil I still have two bags of those I dried last year. With the new ones this evening I am going to prepare a "pico de gallo" (salsa fresca), I will also stuff some with tuna and mayo to serve as appetizers.

@LadyDuck Are you stuffing Bell Peppers? I like putting sausage and hamburger with rice into Bell Peppers after I blanch them, then bake them in the oven.

I started drying tomatoes this morning. I've never tried drying peppers.

Yes, ma'am, it is... Aren't they doing that in your area? (I thought it was country wide.) I've dried green onions along with tomatoes, garlic, five types of onions (not including the green onions), carrots and celery. Then I tried my hand at making orange, lemon and lime zest. (Can you tell I've been having too much fun? )

@DaddyEvil I'm sure all your fun is worth it. If they are doing it, I haven't heard about it. I know the farmer's markets are active here.

@DaddyEvil I'm glad you have enough to get you through for a long while. I look forward to knowing whether they still have it. I know we have Farmers Market here.

Dried apples are delicious! If you decide to try that you'll need to remember to peel them and slice them fairly thin then dip the slices into lemon juice so they don't turn brown and look unappetizing.

@JudyEv You're welcome. Many fruits are like that. If exposed to air and not eaten promptly they will turn brown.

@DaddyEvil Thanks for the tip. I didn't think about them turning brown while drying.

@DaddyEvil We bought that one in the 80's. I think we ended up tossing it out. Sounds like you got a good one.

@kareng All I know is that it has worked for ages and I hope to get years more service out of it.

The one I have is a cheap one I purchased ages ago. I don't even remember for sure where I bought it from... but it works just fine. (No, it doesn't have temperature settings or anything fancy like that. It just plugs in with vents in top and bottom to regulate how much air passes over the veggies drying on the trays.)

@DaddyEvil oh gross they should have just thrown that produce out not given it to people who would have to throw it out.

The free produce stopped last month, although we didn't pick up the last two or three boxes we could have gotten. We started getting stuff that was rotten the day we picked it up. I've sent a lot of produce through my dehydrator this summer but bananas were not one of the things I tried to dry. I wonder what went wrong with your bananas?

@shaggin That's what we said.

@DaddyEvil all thats great food

I only eat green beans, not shelled ones. I did dry orange peels, lemon peels and lime peels a few days ago. We use them in different things we cook. I've thought about trying to dry apples but haven't done that yet.

@bunnybon7 Yes, ma'am, it is... Would you care to come for a visit and have some with us? (Enjoying your company for an extended stay would be very nice, in my opinion. )

@DaddyEvil That is a detailed explanation!! I would have to read it thoroughly to answer the "passage reading" questions!

@DaddyEvil ha ha I wasn't serious. Good explanation with images. I am delighted at interacting with you after a long gap.

I use a machine that slowly pulls all moisture out of whatever I put onto the trays. (I'll add the photo here for you.) It doesn't get hot enough to cook anything. It is only removing the moisture from it. There are seven parts to the machine. In the bottom of it is a coil of metal with an electric plug coming off it. There are closeable vents to regulate how much air moves through the device below the metal coil. On top of that are five stackable trays you put produce on and then a top piece that also has closeable vents in it to release the air going through the machine. You open and close the vents on top and bottom depending on what you're drying and how thick the slices of it are. Let's pretend for a second... When drying tomatoes I slice them about a quarter inch (6 mm) thick, after removing the core. I lay the slices out in a tray making sure the slices aren't touching but as close together as they will fit, otherwise. I open the bottom vents about half-way. (I usually leave the bottom vents open half-way while drying vegetables. I open the bottom vents all the way if/when drying fruits.) Depending on how much moisture the vegetable has I open the top vent half-way for less moist vegetables like onions, celery and carrots and open the top vents all the way for tomatoes. As whatever vegetables in the bottom tray get closer to being dried I rotate the trays from bottom to top so they dry more evenly. (This part takes a bit of practice. When you do it right everything should come off the dehydrator at the same time.) The whole process usually takes 12 to 24 hours, depending on the moisture content of what you're drying. After drying, I store the vegetables in Ziploc bags. The dried vegetables usually last up to a year, sometimes more.

@DaddyEvil Really? I've never heard of that . . . but we don't have too many farms locally. I will say people here are too greedy and gobbley . . . people would totally take too much advantage of a program like that. Wow, just kept in ziplocs like that ! So you reconstitute (is that the word) it in the liquid from your soups and stews . . . how does it tastes? Makes me want to get a dehydrator to try that out. Were you the one who does beef jerky too? And that's 2 onions in 1 baggie? That really shrunk, but I'm sure the onion flavor must be so concentrated - oh so good I would think! That is awesome, DE . . . glad you shared that with me!!!!

I believe this was part of the farmer's stimulus package. The government paid them for the produce and then offered it to anyone who wants it. After the produce, onions, carrots, celery, tomatoes... etc., are dried then they can be placed in Ziploc baggies and put into a cabinet. Dried veggies will keep for up to a year like that. We use most of the dried produce in soups or stews during the winter. It saves us money since we get the produce when it is cheap and use it when veggies are high priced. You can also soak the dehydrated veggies in water for a few hours and use them just like fresh produce, too. These baggies have two dried onions in each baggie. The onions were originally about 4 inches across before drying.

That makes sense @DaddyEvil

@rebelann *smiling at you* Thank you... Were you thinking I was going crazy, Ann?

Because we only have the small freezer built into our refrigerator. There isn't enough space in it to store everything we usually buy. We end up eating some freezer items as soon as we buy them. With dehydrated foods I can store them in Ziploc baggies that I put into storage containers on a shelf and most of them stay good for up to a year or more.

When you dry your vegetables, do they lose all moisture? Dehydrating vegetables should remove almost all the water from them so they can be stored for up to a year. That is part of my dehydrator. It consists of a bottom tray that has vents you can close or open, depending on what you're drying. It also contains a metal coil that you plug into an electric outlet so the vegetables are warmed to help them dry out faster. You don't want them so warm that they cook, though. On top of that tray are others that you lay the vegetables out on so they don't touch and will dry evenly. I think I have a picture of my dehydrator put together. Let me look.

@nitirrbb7 You should be able to find a dehydrator on Amazon. That's where I bought mine years ago. Yes, over a year... Once the water is removed from your vegetables they can be stored in Ziploc baggies. If you've done everything right then the dried vegetables will still be usable for that long. We use the dried vegetables in soups and stews. You can also let them soak in water for a few hours and then use them like fresh vegetables, too. When you dehydrate vegetables they lose much of their weight since you are removing the water from them. Each baggie shown in this photo contain two onions each. (Before cutting and drying the onions were each about four inches (10 cm) across.) Questions aren't silly if you don't know the answers to them.

@DaddyEvil Thanks DE for all that information, I am not sure we have dehydrator sold over her, may be if we search I can. You said the vegitables can be stored for a year I mean how can that be, here at the most they can go for 3 days. Is it that climatic conditions do matter? And if all the water is removed from the vegitables that's only possible if you dehydrat them wont they become dry, sorry to bother with all these silly questions.

This is the first time I've ever heard of the government doing this. (I believe this is part of the stimulus package for the farmers.)

@emnuhpe Normally, my daughter and I purchase our vegetables direct from the farmers. Every year we purchase produce before it has been planted. (This is called "purchasing on speculation".) It gives the farmers money to purchase the seeds/plants to grow. Usually, much more seeds/plants than they give to each family. (That means they will have extra produce they can take to market and make a profit from it.) If the farmer has no crops because of drought or other natural disaster, then we get little or nothing in return for our money. (We have never lost our money in this way but it could happen in the future.)

@DaddyEvil Things like this should continue to be done.

@DaddyEvil that's genius! Would love to see the photos soon.

I know you're a busy woman, Toni... I wouldn't expect you to know everything about everything . In years past Pretty and I always bought a share in the local Farmer's Co-op. That means we paid an up-front price ($100) for a given amount of produce before the farmers in the Co-op have planted their crops. As the farmers harvest their crops they send us our share once a week. (We usually go to a central location and pick up the boxes/bags of produce.) We always get too much of several different crops so I bought the dehydrator so we can still be using those crops during the winter when nothing is growing. I just started drying tomatoes today. I'll post a photo of them for you.

Some veggies freeze well but others don't. We don't have a big enough freezer to store that much produce so it is easier for us to dry everything that we can and only freeze what we must. Tomatoes lose a lot of their flavor in the freezer but cook up just fine after being dried. I started drying tomatoes this morning.

Did you get in on any of the free fruit and veggie giveaways in your area? There is supposed to be another one starting here this coming Saturday. With just two of us in my house it is entirely too easy to end up wasting food if we aren't careful.

How do you dry eggs?

The photo at the top of this discussion is leaf garlic. I dried the leaves, the bulbs and the new garlic plants at the top of the garlic stalk.

@DaddyEvil oh I see