I think the article you quoted means to COVER TIGHTLY with the lid of the jar or container. In all but really dry, dry climates (think the Great Basin, maybe), anything not very tightly sealed picks up moisture right away. Certainly does here in Michigan, anyway.

Well, what I do with mine is to package it up the moment it comes off of the dryer in Ziplock bags, but leave the top open until the product cools off. This is to allow any remaining moisture to escape -- even though it may be very dry feeling and even crispy in the case of things like onions or summer squash, if you seal the bag right away, enough moisture will be trapped to make them go limp. If you give it that extra half an hour, it makes a difference.

After I seal them up, I put the bag into a SECOND bag (can be a cheaper non-zipper type), seal that, and then put the whole thing into some type of tightly sealed container like a storage jar or tin.

I do understand their comment about packing them loosely and stirring or shaking to separate the pieces, but frankly, I don't do that, because I really don't have the time to mess with things too much. If I didn't have to work, I guess I could do that. Ah, to be the idle rich! Some things stick together, and some don't, it depends on the moisture and sugar content. Fruit generally does, most vegetables don't.

I try to store everything I dry in either the freezer or the fridge for the simple reason that years ago, I got an infestation of Indian Meal moths out of some tainted dog biscuits, and I've been paranoid ever since about these critters. Dried produce is a favorite of theirs, so if possible, it pays to keep it in the cold. However, due to space reasons, I can't always do that, too.

I haven't ever really tried using a packet of silica gel for this purpose, but have done it with dried flowers in storage. I don't think it would hurt as long as it can't escape from the packet and get into the food.

Dried apples should keep for at least a year, and probably more like 2 years, at room temperature if TIGHTLY SEALED against moisture and pests.

I've dried a whole lot of fruits and veggies over the years and my favorite way to store them is in canning jars. I also use those old style of canning jars with the glass top, rubber gasket and metal clamp mechanism that are no longer recommended for real canning. They are great for storing dried produce and look pretty too.

I agree with Denni that unless you are in a very dry climate you need to seal dried items against the humidity in the air. And I would never use a desiccant packet in my stuff. Yes, most stuff properly dried and stored will keep for quite a long time.

I use old canning jars that are longer good for canning for my dehydrated items, I use the plastic lids you can purchase for open canning jars.
I just finished yesterday a 1/2 gallon of bell peppers and they are conditioning now. The reason why you put a lid on is you can see any moisture easily and correct before storage.
I don't put a lid on right away, but wait a day, cover with a clean kitchen towel so no insects enter the jars.
Silly me didn't do that with squash last year and in a month I had mold on them.
It's not a big deal for me because I keep the jars in the kitchen and shake them once in the morning and once at night.

If your sprinkling your apples with a bit of cinnamon, that will act a dessicant also.

Dry storage will last about 2 years without major loss for flavor I have found. I use the same rule for dehydrated foods as spices, one year for ground and 2 years for whole spices shelf life.

Oh Good Gracious! Sometimes things are so obvious that you don't even see them. When I read that statement, I had already visualized putting the lids on the jars and read it to mean "cover" as in an extra covering like a towel. Didn't even dawn on me that they meant the lid. :-)

It certainly is a trial and error thing. I think I sliced the apples to thin because some of them are kind of crispy after 4 hours. I took them out and will keep checking them to see how they are doing.

Vsl

Nothing wrong with crispy!!
Use broken ones for pie.

Just soak to rehydrate and they're already cut to size!

Deanna

My new Excalibur 9 tray model was delivered yesterday. My first experiment to see if I want to do anymore is orange peels from this morning's juice. I probably would have done it differently but I didn't have time this morning since one of the girls had to be at school early. I scooped out the insides after getting back home this sliced the pith off. Then I zested a lime, peeled the pith off and sliced it. It is going now and my kitchen smells really good. I decided not to slice the limes whole because I made marmalade from limes from this same tree by slicing them whole and hated it b/c it was so bitter. I have a crisper full of limes and loads of lemons from my neighbors ponderosa lemon tree. They are a cross between citron and lemon and are huge with thick pith. I've frozen zest in cubes with a little juice to hold them together and I've frozen juice in cubes but the freezer is pretty full so I'm hoping that zest and slices work out ok. Also bunches of oranges that we will juice and satsumas that we eat. Not to mention the grapefruit tree that hangs over our fence. I've been putting peels in vinegar for nice smelling cleaning vinegar. But since I have a gallon and 1/2 already I thought I would try something different. When I am feeling lazy I just toss the peels in the compost.

So as you might imagine, the zest dried very quickly without blowing all over the place. I think that is my preferred method for ease of use. It would disintegrate when I pinched it between my fingers.

The orange peel dried in 5 or so hours. I ground some up my little coffee grinder that I use for spices. It stuck all over the inside of the grinder and seemed like more work than necessary considering the zest option.

After I posted, I got wild and crazy and put some fermented hot sauce in there. It dried out and I ground it up after the oranges so I'm sure it picked up a little orange which is probably a good addition. If doing more than a small puddle would definitely want to do that somewhere other than the kitchen. It was burning my throat a bit.

The lime slices are still in there but I expected them to take the most time.

Will be interesting to see if we find uses for this stuff.

"After I posted, I got wild and crazy and put some fermented hot sauce in there."

How crazy can a person get!!! LOL

The hot sauce will need something to keep it from clumping. Maybe it wasn't dry enough. The ground up orange peel moves around in the jar but the ground hot sauce is in a clump in the jar. I'm thinking about turning out onto the tray for the toaster oven. It's keep warm setting is 135 which is the same setting I was using on the dehydrator. I wonder how it would be mixed with some of the orange and lime and some sea salt.

Been a few years ago, but think was someone here told me to add silica powder as an anti-clumping flow agent & that helped. I've also added panko bread crumbs when I powdered the dried hot sauce.

Have also added nylon net bags of color-indicating silica gel beads to the jars of dried (but not powdered) stuff.

Grains of white rice added to the powder shakers also help keep things loose. The grains are too big to pass through the holes, but the powder can.

John, We keep rice in our salt shakers here. Even the salt with flow agents can clump in florida. The lime slices were still sticky even after much drying so I think I will dry the zest and freeze the juice. I have orange zest in now from a juicing session and tomatoes soaking in wine for tomorrow.

> "The lime slices were still sticky even after much drying..."

I chop up stuff like that and add to a bunch of panko bread crumbs before powdering it. First tried it with refrigerator pickled/candied hot pepper slices. Reason I chose panko is that it is very bland & lets the other flavors dominate. Not a perfect solution, but does help.

Today I'm dehydrating grated sharp cheddar cheese in an attempt to come up with a popcorn seasoning that isn't salty. Expect will have to add panko crumbs or something similar to it too.

Val,

What are you dehydrating now?

john

I had brokenbar's tomatoes in the unit until the fan just quit working. The heating element comes on but the fan is kaput. I put the tomatoes in my oven on the keep warm setting but I guess I will put them in the freezer between layers of waxed paper until I can get a replacement part sent. I am most disappointed with it breaking so soon.

Hi everyone. Have always been a lurker, but I have to ask john__showme__usa, how the cheddar popcorn seasoning came out, I might try that. I can't believe I never thought to do that with my dehydrator. Duh! We love popcorn in my house and often buy these seasonings at a wonderful local Menonite owned bulk goods store. My favorite is sour cream and onion powder, but it's pricey.

"Hi everyone. Have always been a lurker, but I have to ask john__showme__usa, how the cheddar popcorn seasoning came out, I might try that."

It was good but not great & not really worth the time and effort. Took lots of panko crumbs before it would powder. There is a Penseys near where my doctor appointments are & I go crazy every time I go there! Many seasonings you can mix for popcorn. Pretty hard to beat the Kernel Season's brand popcorn seasonings that Walmart sells & not expensive.