Posted on 06/08/2013 2:36:26 PM PDT by djf
I wuz at a yard sale and bought a couple do-it-yourself type handbooks.
Gal had a Ronco food dehydrator but I didn't get it then... after driving around a bit I went back and got it.
Hitting it with bleach and all the cleaning stuff now.
So! Any FReepers use a dehydrator? Experiences? Good things to dehydrate or not-so-good?
Manual says you can use it to make jerky. Anybody tried that?
All ideas welcome!
I’ve had the same Ronco for 40 years. Don’t try fruit roll ups on it because they’ll turn to mold before they dry out but it makes great jerky.
Have the top and bottom vents open to halfway each. Set the machine on a baking pan to catch the drippings. Get an arm roast with little to not fat on it. Slice it thin with an electric knife (quarter to less than a quarter an inch). Dunk the pieces into a bowl of soy sauce and sugar (sugar to taste). They don’t need to be in the sauce but for a minute. Lift out of the sauce and let drip a second and place onto the tray. Sprinkle pepper on top of each. It will take over night and into the next day but rotate the trays every few hours (before you go to bed and again in the morning and a third time - top to bottom). Some may take longer than other pieces but take the ones that are done off and reduce the number of trays as they get done. They’re done when they turn leathery. Place the done pieces on a tray to air out a bit and cool down before storing them in a baggie. Don’t think you’re going to store them for the end of times because you’ll have them eaten long before that but realistically, they’ll last 6 months as is in the baggies.
Tomatoes work well on it. Just slice and let it go until they’re done. What’s weird is you house will smell like you’re baking bread. Don’t know why.
Apples and pears do great on it.
The manual will have a recipe for yogurt but I;ve never tried it as I do the heating pad and quart jar method instead.
It’s a Ronco.
Has five trays and the top lid along with the top vent. It’s missing the bottom vent, but I don’t think that’s a biggie.
I washed and bleached it good - now it is dehydrating it’s first item:
Itself!!
I got a couple loaves of really good rye bread, I might try some of that first.
You can, however, use those bad potato brickbats to whack squirrels, if you have a slingshot.
/johnny
There ya go!
Squirrel jerky!
I just let my hot peppers dry naturally on a cookie sheet on the kitchen counter. It takes a couple weeks but beats getting run outta the house from them getting heated in the dehydrator.
Preppers’ PING!!
I do herbs in the microwave. Place them on a paper towel and zap them for a few minutes. Fast and easy. Crumble them and store them in a jar.
One day, a repairman was here and kept looking at it with a stange look on his face. I’m sure he thought I was doing something illegal!
/johnny
No, you don’t have to worry about the missing bottom vent.
I dehydrate a lot of vegetables and then vacuum pack them in canning jars. There’s a section in my Preparedness Manual that details the process.
Picked up another one so I'd have trays.
We dry tomatos .. cucumbers (yes, you can), and bananas
youtube is chock full of dehydrator recipes and ideas!
Yes, I have one. I’ve used it to dry banana, mango, pineapple, pears, strawberries, kiwi, onions, celery, carrots, zucchini, broccoli, and cauliflower. I love dehydrating! Glad you brought it up, I need to get back to doing it.
Jerky and fruit leather. Great for hikes. My dogs go crazy for the elk and hamburger jerky.
Jerky is pretty good on them. Fruit works pretty well. Slices of pineapple are great.
Don’t bother with potatoes.
My grandkids love helping me make jerky with mine. I’ve been thinking about drying some fruit and making pet snacks.
We don’t have one but my mom does. Bananas, tomatoes, jerky, apples, etc.
But I make ground jerky. Mostly out of wild game—venison and elk. I do a mix of salt, peppers, brown sugar, etc. and mix it in the ground up meat. It doesn’t take much. I refrigerate for a day or 6, roll it out between sheets of freezer paper so it is about a quarter of an inch thick. I then put it in the oven and heat it a bit. It sorta turns the sheeted meat rubbery—sets it. I then peel off the paper—use the shiny side in— and roll out another with the same paper. I use scissors to cut the meat sheets into strips and dry it in my old refrigerator turned smoker. You can also buy a premade dry mix in sporting goods store. I’ve seen it down at Sportsman’s Warehouse.
Ron Popiel used to say “Set it. And forget it”.
Just invest some time in learning what you're picking. Death caps or destroying angels will still kill you after they are dried.
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