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dirtundermyfingers

Help please on dehydrating veggies for dried soup mix.

dirtundermyfingers
13 years ago

Thanks all for the help on frozen coleslaw. now I am on to a new adventure. I am wanting to dehydrate a variety of veggies to use to make a dried soup mix. I think it would be a great present and also a great for winter days. I did can some veggie soup with all sorts of veggies and now have some questions about how to do a dehydrated mix.

So far I have cut up green beans, peppers, celery and carrots and put them in the dehydrator. I am not going to try the potatoes, because I have no way of sulfuring them. I need to do some onions next.

Question1 : can I dehydrate frozen corn that I blanched and froze this summer in my dehydrator to use for the mix.

Question 2 what kind of mix can I make, do I mix all the veggies together and then add so many cups to boiling water? can I measure out 1 cup ammounts and then mix with dried herbs and soup base so that it is all ready to go when I give as gifts?

Question 3 I have frozen peas, can I dehydrate those or would it be easier to buy a bag of dried peas to use in the mix?

Question 4 In my canned soup mix I included tomatoes. what is the best way to dehydrate the tomatoes, slices, or chunks. I have full sized tomatoes to use.

Question 5 after dehydrating, and making sure that all of the foods are completely dried until crunchy, can I mix all the veggies in a bowl and put into individual pint jars.

I already canned 2 dozen quarts of veggie soup for winter time, but thought that the dried would be good for when we go camping or for crockpot cooking and gift giving.

I did do a search but didn't find much about dehydrating, nor could I find info on the net.

Stacie

Comments (6)

  • digdirt2
    13 years ago

    Stacie - have you read this instruction pamphlet on drying and using dried foods from NCHFP? Tons of info on all the basics. See link below. It gives you a table on rehydrating too.

    Dried vegetable soup can be any vegetables you want as long as they are all fully dried and as long as the particles are approximately the same size for rehydrating evenly. Otherwise you end up with mushy bits of onion or smushy peas while the green beans are still hard as rocks. So if you dice some then dice all, if you chop some then chop all, etc.

    For rehydrating you do it while it is cooking and rather than water we use broth - beef, chicken or vegetable - for flavor.

    Just begin with your favorite fresh vegetable soup recipe for amounts to measure out before drying them so the dried veggies will be in the same proportions when packaged.

    Personally I don't care for dehydrating previously frozen vegetables. They are soft and mushy, take much longer to dry than fresh, and lose most of their flavor in the process.

    THe secret is to make sure that every single piece of vegetable is totally dry.

    Dave

    Here is a link that might be useful: Drying Fruits and Vegetables

  • dirtundermyfingers
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks Dave!!

    I searched and googled for a web site and couldn't find anything. I will check out the website and learn. I have only done fruit in the past but thought that this would be interesting. I think I will skip the corn and just add some of my frozen corn towards the end of cooking.

    To make a soup mix can I add some boulion to the mix or just put an instructions page on the mix for gifts.

    Am I right in that I want the veggies to be crunchy so that I know that they are dried completely.

    Stacie

  • digdirt2
    13 years ago

    Am I right in that I want the veggies to be crunchy so that I know that they are dried completely.

    As the instructions in the link above say - "dried so that they shatter when hit with a hammer". ;)

    I would not include a bouillon cube as it contains moisture but you could attach it in a separate package. Bouillon is very salty however so doesn't appeal to all. Canned broth rather than bouillon is much better.

    Dave

  • dirtundermyfingers
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks Dave that is what I will do. I think that it will make a nice and convenient gift to give.
    Stacie

  • dirtundermyfingers
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Sorry for the double post. Didn't mean to cause a problem!!!

    Stacie

  • angelacan
    13 years ago

    You should check out dehydrate2store.com as it is the most comprehensive website on dehydrating with a jillion ideas!