I love, love, love my dehydrator. My mother-in-law got this Excalibur dehydrator for me two Christmases ago. I have used it for so many things.
I dry out the herbs that I grow in the garden.
Sometimes I have too many onions growing in the garden. This time I chopped the onions up and dehydrate them on high for about 6 hours.
I used the VitaMix grain mill for chopping up the dried onions. It worked so well.
You can use powdered onions in soups, breads, pizza crust/sauce, eggs......the sky is the limit.
You can also leave the onions whole and rehydrate them in soups, casseroles, sauces .....and other things you want whole onions for. You can dry garlic the same way!
You can also leave the onions whole and rehydrate them in soups, casseroles, sauces .....and other things you want whole onions for. You can dry garlic the same way!
I have also been growing and drying Oregano, and Basil with great results.
This is the first year I have grown oregano, and I LOVE THIS STUFF dried. We add it to pasta sauce, and Italian breads. I am hoping to have enough to last me through the winter until spring when I can plant more! I simply pick the oregano, wash, and place it on the dehydrator sheets. I don't even have to turn the dehydrator on in the summer. It takes about 2 days drying naturally, and only a few hours on medium if you need it done right away.
I make some kick-butt fruit roll-ups
CLICK HERE to see the whole post on how I made them. It is super easy, and I have a few good recipes. I have discovered a new recipe which I now use exclusively.
Cherrysauce fruit roll-up
4 cups of fresh or frozen cherries (pitted)
1 cup of unsweetened applesauce
Blend together until there are no lumps. Pour onto your dehydrator trays.
dehydrate on high for about 4 hours, or until the leather pulls away from
the tray easily. It works out to about 25g of carbohydrates each, I cover my
diabetic daughter for 30g of carbs just to be safe.
DRIED FRUIT
This is why I originally got this dehydrator, to make my own dried fruit. This is one of the simplest things you can do with a dehydrator. Cut up your fruit and lay it on your dehydrator sheets so the fruit isn't touching (it will dry better this way.)
Dried Apples
Dried Bananas
You can dehydrate all kinds of fruit. I have tried cantaloupe, pineapple, peaches, and mango with great results. Making my own raisins from homegrown grapes didn't turn out too well. They became hard little balls, not even good enough for muffins.