so… what’s on your food dehydrator today?

[Laurie Ann March]

I'm gearing up for another trip (we leave this weekend) so the food dehydrator is running full tilt with that and recipes I am testing for my next book. I'm drying several no-cook lunches – mostly dips and spreads as well as some Italian sausage meat (it has been precooked, rinsed and drained).

This always makes me wonder what other people are dehydrating…. so what's on your food dehydrator today?

[Dicentra OPW]

It is supposed to be 100* plus here today… Might run it this weekend if it cools down (and I don't go backpacking…).

I've used up most of my artichoke hearts testing recipes, so I'll do some of them and some roasted bell peppers…

[David Stapleton]

Bison jerky. New dehydrator so a friend of mine and I are just starting to try it out. The bison jerky is awesome. Moving to fruits next, then veggies.

[Jack H.]

Nothing. I haven't used mine in years.

[Laurie Ann March]

I'll have to try Bison jerky. I would imagine it's quite a bit leaner than beef and better for jerky making because of that… or am I totally off base?

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Bison is leaner and has less cholesterol as well. We for the most part only eat Bison, though it is more expensive and of course, harder to find than beef.

While we enjoy the flavor, it can be quite different for those unused to it.

[Lynn Tramper]

Ahhh, mine is full right now with the skin, cartilage and fat from a roast chicken, as well as a can of gourmet catfood. I use it a lot to make doggy treats from whatever is leftover.

[Joshua Gilbert]

20# of Roma tomatoes. Did 25# of apricots last week. I really have to get Sarah's book so I can try more prepared food.

[CW]

You can get beef that's leaner than bison. Well, you can here at least. It's also easy to find at the local Kroger here.

[Patricia Combee]

Left over chopped onions.

Dicentra, I never thought of dehydrating artichoke hearts; I will have to give those a try!

[Lynn Tramper]

"Left over chopped onions."

Eeeeyw smelly!

[Cayenne Redmonk]

I'm drying strawberry+electrolyte stuff

[Jared Cook]

I ran it last week for one run. The one run included 6.4lbs of ground turkey, 25oz of canned chicken, and 3 cans of chili… As soon as I catch up on my homework I'll run it at least one more time before I head off walking for a week or 2. I need to finish my meal planning and decide what else to dehydrate for meals. Mainly I need to find the small token ingredients.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Chris…..Ah but I'll say this: nothing tastes like bison. It made me a meat lover after years of not eating much red meat. I think for me it is 'clean' taste and smell when cooking. Bison steaks are just SO good!
I grew up on locally raised beef and never have been a lover of mass produced cow….

[CW]

I agree. It has a much more wild taste than any beef I've ever had and the pricing here is comparable to the leaner beef.

[Ben Hicks]

Hey, I am considering buying a dehydrator. For those of you that use them, how much rack space does it take to dehydrate an average dinner for one/two or three people? I'll need to dry meals for three and am considering what size machine to buy. Looks like the rack size is 15×15" regardless of numbers of shelves.

[Laurie Ann March]

It depends on the dinner. Generally speaking, I can dry one to two cups of food per tray (I use a Nesco FD75 Pro). At worst case scenario I would say two trays for three people. My unit expands to 12 trays and I sometimes run 12 at a time without issue.

[Laurie Ann March]

Today.. spiced pears and two unusual types of slaw. Yum!

[Dicentra OPW]

Yes! Try it!! It is probably my current favorite dried ingredient.

On my last trip (just a few days ago) I had an FBC style pasta w/ chicken, artichoke hearts and veggies. Topped with olive oil and Parmesan Cheese. Mmmm… heaven.

[Coin Page]

Thin sliced ripe NC peaches.

[Mark McLauchlin]

2 kg of Veg on mine right now, no trips planed over the next week or so, but you never call tell.

[Dicentra OPW]

I love this time of year!

2 trays squash/bean/tomato stew (vegan!)
1 tray Asian pears
1 tray panang curry and rice (take out leftovers)
4 trays of various winter squashes

Recipes to follow soon. :)

[Laurie Ann March]

all different kinds of tofu jerky

[Gary Dunckel]

Dicentra, with all those different items dehydrating at the same time, do you find that (e.g.) the pears end up having a curry sort of flavor? I've only been dehydrating for 18 months, and I'm scared to mix what goes into the machine, for fear that the fruit will taste like green chile.

[Laurie Ann March]

Gary – I realize that your query is directed at Dicentra but I can shed some light on this. Curry flavors and other very strong flavors easily transfer to other foods such as pears or apples which I why I always dry things with strong flavors separately. Things that are heavy with any of the following… olives, curry, garlic, fish, cumin, etc. get dried on their own.

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