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scgreenthumb1987

finally broke down and bought a dehydrator

scgreenthumb1987
10 years ago

Now that I have a dehydrator I want advice on what all to do with it. :-). Any and all recipes, tips and tricks are welcome

Comments (16)

  • Jeff_H
    10 years ago

    First order of business would be to dry some of those hot peppers you have. Next, dry anything else that suits your fancy.

    I've dried some onion and garlic along with hot peppers and then coarsely chopped them up. I use it as a pizza shake. Be creative and try what sounds good.

  • tn_gardening
    10 years ago

    If u dehydrate fruit, always, always, always make twice as much as u think you'll eat.

    I can't dehydrate enough strawberries to keep my kids at bay.

    As far as peppers go. This will be my first summer trying them, but my friend splits the larger ones, puts a little smoke to them on his BBQ smoker & then dehydrates em. Absolutely marvelous.

    A cup of hot chocolate + a chipotle. OMG. Fantastic

  • esox07 (4b) Wisconsin
    10 years ago

    Obviously you want to do some peppers. A classic is to dry Cayennes for grinding into powder. It is an easy way to season nearly any food with some heat and taste. You can dry and grind almost any pepper for powder but the thinner skinned varieties work the best. My second main use for my two dehydrators is beef jerky. If you like beef jerky, you have to give a shot at making your own.
    And, as a side note, don't make the mistake of using your dehydrator for any other food after you use it to dry peppers, especially super hots. Make sure you clean the trays thoroughly after using it for hot peppers. I think you know why.

  • Bill_Missy
    10 years ago

    I use mine for peppers, jerky etc. A couple things I learned in regards to drying peppers are:

    1. Stay about 95-110 degrees if it is adjustable
    2. When drying peppers, especially thin walled only dry a couple hours at a time. i.e. I have found that if you try and dry peppers for say 10 straight hours they burn some. So I would suggest to dry for a couple hours and let them cool and repeat until they are dry to your liking. This is a longer process, but eliminates the burning and burnt taste of the peppers IMHO.

    Bill

  • scgreenthumb1987
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks all. Can you dry bell pepper and banana pepper? My wife wants me to make a powder that's sweet so she can eat it. Also how long does crushed pepper keep? I've got some deer meat in the freezer that I'll be turning into jerky this weekend. (First day off months yay!)

  • smokemaster_2007
    10 years ago

    Freezing your peppers first cuts way down on drying time.
    Water in the pods expands,breaks the cell walls.
    I'd say it cuts down the drying time by 1/4 or so.

    Rotate your shelves as they dry.
    Dehydrators have hot spots,depending on the one you have.

  • tn_gardening
    10 years ago

    1. Can you dry bell pepper and banana pepper?
    Yes, u can dehydrate sweet peppers. Half the fun of having your own equipment is being able to experiment. If it were me, I'd keep the dried peppers separate so u can mix n match em to make different blends.

    2. How long does crushed pepper keep?
    Practically forever, if they are stored well (kept dry). They might lose some flavor over time, but as long as they aren't moldy, they're edible. FWIW, I ground some powder last night from some peppers I grew last summer.

  • vieja_gw
    10 years ago

    Hubby has eleven hydrators he has 'borrowed' from the kitchen & going in the Fall to dry his chile in the shop; Now I am looking for some for my drying of fruit that will be 'off-limits' for him & his chile!

  • vieja_gw
    10 years ago

    I meant to say 'dehydrators'... NOT 'hydrators'!! He is always searching the thrift stores for more!

  • sunnibel7 Md 7
    10 years ago

    Cherry tomatoes are great dehydrated, can make a very quick and tasty pasta with them in midwinter. Split them in half, remove the seeds if you like (I do) and dry until about the consistancy of a raisin. I keep mine in baggies in the freezer for convienence. For peppers I just started playing around with them last year but I really liked my jalapeno powder. Those I dry to crispy to make powdering them doable.

  • sunnibel7 Md 7
    10 years ago

    Cherry tomatoes are great dehydrated, can make a very quick and tasty pasta with them in midwinter. Split them in half, remove the seeds if you like (I do) and dry until about the consistancy of a raisin. I keep mine in baggies in the freezer for convienence. For peppers I just started playing around with them last year but I really liked my jalapeno powder. Those I dry to crispy to make powdering them doable.

  • scgreenthumb1987
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Should I remove the seeds before or after I dehydrate the peppers?

  • sunnibel7 Md 7
    10 years ago

    Depends on whether you want the heat I guess, or if it will affect drying time. I took the seeds out of my jalapenos because they were sort of thick and the first little trial batch took forever to dry. I ended up with a mild powder with a full jalapeno flavor. To spice it up, when I want to, I add whole dried de arbols. (Dried whole, crushed when I use them) Those are small peppers with very thin walls, and I wanted their heat, so I left them intact. The red pepper flakes you get in the store have the seeds in. Then again, I take the seeds out of my ajis because they have a soapy flavor I don't like when they dry. So I will go back to "it depends" :)

  • scgreenthumb1987
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Perhaps I should have mentioned that I'm saving seeds for next year Lol

  • scgreenthumb1987
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Perhaps I should have mentioned that I'm saving seeds for next year Lol

  • MadCat1118
    10 years ago

    If you are saving seeds, I would remove the placenta with seeds on it and dry that, though I'm not sure if you should use the dehydrator or air dry.

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