3rd time's a charm with dehydrator

[LateNiteDiner]

I got a dehydrator for Christmas and had used it a few times (prior to starting this WOE) to make dried bananas and dried pepperoni. The dried bananas were nothing like the banana chips I remember as a kid, mainly because they were missing the sugar, glazed coating I never paid attention to before. The pepperoni was a HUGE mistake, releasing tons of grease into the bottom tray of the dehydrator. The pepperoni came out gray and brittle, smelled like death, and I didn't even attempt to taste it. I chalked the dehydrator up as a dud and considered it a waste of money.

Last night, on a whim, I tried using the included jerky gun to make some beef jerky. I used a recipe from Cleochatra that was simply lean ground beef, salt and pepper. I filled one tray and checked on it two hours into drying then let it run overnight. When I first checked on it this morning, it looked like jerky, but I was afraid to try it. My wife took a nibble while I was out of the room and declared it a winner.

I can say that I would want to modify the ingredients a bit, perhaps adding some Worcestshire or other spices to give it a little more kick, but overall I am happy with the results and see a future for the dehydrator.

Anyone have any Atkins friendly ideas that I should try now that I am friends with my dehydrator again?

[not2late]

Re: 3rd time's a charm with dehydrator

I purchased a dehydrator last summer for my excess garden harvest and I loved it!

Zucchini chips: slice the zucchini into 1/4 inch thick (anything thinner and it's too paperlike). Dehydrate the slices until completely dry. Eat as is or pan fry them in oil to make them more potato-chip crispy. Season to taste. They are also good added to stews or sauces.

Carrot chips: same as the zucchini chips, but you need pan fry these to get them crispy, but if you like them chewy you can just eat them as is.

Fast jerky: have the counter guy at the deli slice deli meats to 1/4 inch thickness. at home, slice them into small pieces if you like. If you want to flavor them up a bit more, put them in a plastic bag and dump whatever herb/spice you like on them. Mix it up and allow to marinate overnight. Then dehydrate until crisp.

Nuts/Seeds
Take raw nuts/seeds. Soak them in salted water overnight. Then dry them on thoroughly. Dehydrate until crisp. I like them better this way than toasting them in an oven.

I also grow my own herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano, tarragon, mint, etc. The dehydrator does an EXCELLENT job drying these herbs. (And it saves me $$$$$$$$ because I don't have to spend $$$$$$$$$$ buying the stuff in the store.)

Things to do with the fruit roll sheet of the dehydrator:

Flax crackers: follow the instructions for mixing them according to the Microwave Flax Crisp recipe (but make a larger quantity.) Spread them thin on the fruit roll sheet of your dehydrator and dry them until crisp. The same thing can be done using soaked chia seeds or a combo of chia and flax.

Baby corn wrappers/chips: Take a can of baby corn, drain the packing water and rinse the corn a few times. Toss in the blender and blend until very pureed. Spread thinly on the fruit roll sheet. Dehydrate. The corn wrappers can be used as a burrito or taco wrapper or enchilladas---they do get soggy so you have to eat quickly. Otherwise, slice the wrappers into smaller pieces and toast on a dry skillet to make "tortilla chips"---watch them carefully because they burn.

And of course fruit rolls....they've been a hit or miss the times I've tried them. Alot of the recipes add sugar because I think the sugar melts and when it cools it helps the pureed fruit stick together better.

[LateNiteDiner]

Re: 3rd time's a charm with dehydrator

Zucchini chips: slice the zucchini into 1/4 inch thick (anything thinner and it's too paperlike). Dehydrate the slices until completely dry. Eat as is or pan fry them in oil to make them more potato-chip crispy.

I'm a big fan of zucchini so I will have to give this a try. Never thought about cooking something that had been previously dehydrated.

Fast jerky: have the counter guy at the deli slice deli meats to 1/4 inch thickness. at home, slice them into small pieces if you like. If you want to flavor them up a bit more, put them in a plastic bag and dump whatever herb/spice you like on them. Mix it up and allow to marinate overnight. Then dehydrate until crisp.

Any particular kind of meat? The ground beef was easy enough, but I wasn't sure about moving on to flank steak and other "solid" meats. It hadn't occurred to me to use deli meats.

Flax crackers: follow the instructions for mixing them according to the Microwave Flax Crisp recipe (but make a larger quantity.) Spread them thin on the fruit roll sheet of your dehydrator and dry them until crisp. The same thing can be done using soaked chia seeds or a combo of chia and flax.

I have never made a cracker from any of the recipes on ADBB, but this sounds like a good use of the dehydrator for getting something crunchy (other than fresh veggies) back in my diet.

One other question: when dehydrating, can you mix the foods that are drying together? For instance, could I create a layer of flax crackers, a layer of deli meat jerky and a layer of zucchini or do I need to dry the different food types separately? Thanks for the ideas.

[not2late]

Re: 3rd time's a charm with dehydrator

Pan frying it or toasting it in a dry skillet crisps it up further, rather than be somewhat chewy.

That dehydrator saved me from having a freezer full of zucchini this winter! The dried zucchini chips were easy to store in my pantry and I was able to use them in non-snack type dishes (rehydrated them in water or if I put it in a soup/stew, I just threw them in as is.)

I used the deli roast beef and corned beef for my fast jerky. I borrowed the idea from a dehydrator book, where they used spam slices. I'm not a spam fan, so I tried it with deli roast beef and corned beef instead and was happy with the results. The first time I tried it I had the deli guy slice it thin---it worked but the result was too paper-like. I ended up crushing those paper-like jerky for use as a soup garnish.

You can layer different foods, but the overall drying time might be longer because each food has its own moisture content. I found that if I did this, I would have to check the foods every 2 hours and remove the ones that were dried to my satisfaction.

RE: dried banana chips....the ones in the dehydrator aren't sugar coated so they don't have that store bought banana chip appearance or flavor. But they are sticky sweet, almost candy-like. In the dehydrator recipe book, they said you can dip the fruit in a sugar-water solution. But if you are low carbing....that's not legal. Moreover, I don't think dipping the fruit in a sugar substitute-water solution will give that sugar coating/glazing because most of the sugar substitutes lack the crystallization property of sugar.

[Pliskin1999]

Re: 3rd time's a charm with dehydrator

I just made a batch of jerky and it came out great! I got london broil on sale, trimmed all the fat off it and marinaded it overnight in soy sauce, Worcestershire, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper and a little cayenne. Be sure to dry the meat off with paper towels before cooking. I don't have a dehydrator so I used the oven, set at 250 for four hours. You have to let them sit for a good 12-24 hours after. One tip, put the meat in the freezer for about an hour first. Makes it much easier to slice thin that way.