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| Dwarfed Blue Curled Kale dried and blended to a powder is great to add to smoothies |
The dehydrator is running almost every day during this time of year. It's a great way to preserve fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Herbs I pick in the morning, rinse, and pat dry. I put them in the dehydrator at the lowest setting. You can store them in ziploc bags or canning jars. I remove the leaves from the stems after they are dried.
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| Oregano |
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| Winter Savory |
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| Dried Strawberries are a favorite snack. |
The strawberries are sliced into a solution of water and lemon juice 4:1. You can also use lime juice or pineapple juice. Fruits I dry at 130 - 135 degrees. I rotates the trays throughout the process. When done they should still be pliable. Dehydrated strawberries are irresistible!
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| The finished product. It's best to take the fruit off trays right when you turn off the dehydrator to prevent sticking. |
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| Store in an air tight container. |
Pretreating Fruit
Dipping fruit in a pretreatment prevents them from oxidizing. The fruit will brown, lose some Vitamin A and Vitamin C during oxidization. Lemon juice makes an excellent natural pretreatment.
Use 1 cup of lemon juice to one quart of water
It is best to not leave the fruit in the dip for more than 10 minutes.
Always use high quality produce picked when ripe.
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| Dried white peaches, principe tomatoes, and pears |
Fun Dehydrated Products:
Zucchini and kale can be dried into chips. Season with your favorite spices.
Dried pears are amazing!
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| White fleshed peaches are amazing dried. They are to soft to can. |
Dried peaches
Apple rings. Try dipping one side in cinnamon and sugar before drying.
Spinach and kale can be dried and then powdered to add to smoothies
Peppers can be dried and blended until powdered and used to make you own chili powder.
Fruit leather. I add applesauce to sweeten. It also helps with the consistency and makes a better product.
Dry flowers for decorating projects.
Dried Tomatoes
These are wonderful to add to a homemade or frozen pizza. Slice any tomato and sprinkle with a small amount of brown sugar, basil and oregano. Using colorful heirlooms makes these simply gorgeous.
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| Add caption |
Get that dehydrator out and start preserving your harvests.
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