Quest for Carrots A Great Bargain! Day 1 – Sliced ‘n Cooked

Last Tuesday Mike was our Senior Center Bus Driver. He took a busload of us for our monthly trip to Riverton, fondly referred to as "Down Below". (So named because it is 2,000 feet lower in altitude than our home in Dubois.)

We went shopping in a grocery store I don’t frequent and I made an exciting discovery.  They had a huge bag of “juicing carrots” for $7.99. Twenty-five pounds of carrots for 31¢ a pound! 

Easiest of the Easy

For you newbies to dehydrating, here is a list of the easiest things to dehydrate. All you have to do is wash, slice, toss onto the racks and go. By morning, Voila! Perfection.

Apple Slices

A few starter tips:

• Even slices mean even drying. Try to cut ...your slices thin and even.
• Use a mandolin slicer if you have one. Makes the job a lot easier.
• If you wash your veggies first, you might want to use your salad spinner get rid of excess moisture.
• Fruits with high sugar content - spray your fruit leather trays first to keep from sticking.
• Drippy things or things that will fall through the slots when dried because of shrinkage - put a fruit leather tray or cut piece of wax paper on the bottom rack. 
• The foods listed below do not need cooking, blanching, or treating before dehydrating.   

Mandolin Slicing

One of the advantages of a mandolin slicer is that you get nice even slices.  When dehydrating foods, keeping your pieces of food at an even thickness and size insures even drying.

There are many brands of mandolins on the market. Some have single blades, others have multiple blades. These machines can get quite expensive, so be sure to check with your local thrift store before purchasing. Keep an eye out at yard sales and flea markets, too!

Most are designed either with grooves to place on a container to catch the sliced pieces or with a tilting rack of some sort to let the pieces drop onto a cutting board.

Some have adjustable blade widths for varying thicknesses of food.  My machine has interchangeable blades for slicing, grating, or julienne strips.

Easiest of the Easy

For you newbies to dehydrating, here is a list of the easiest things to dehydrate. All you have to do is wash, slice, toss onto the racks and go. By morning, Voila! Perfection.

Apple Slices

A few starter tips:

• Even slices mean even drying. Try to cut ...your slices thin and even.
• Use a mandolin slicer if you have one. Makes the job a lot easier.
• If you wash your veggies first, you might want to use your salad spinner get rid of excess moisture.
• Fruits with high sugar content - spray your fruit leather trays first to keep from sticking.
• Drippy things or things that will fall through the slots when dried because of shrinkage - put a fruit leather tray or cut piece of wax paper on the bottom rack. 
• The foods listed below do not need cooking, blanching, or treating before dehydrating.   

Slice And Go:

• Celery
• Onions - NOT Vidalias, the high sugar content will caramelize... they become rubbery but so impart the good flavor; I just didn't like the "chewiness" in my soups
• Bell peppers
• Cucumbers
• Zucchini
• Apples / pears - peel and core first
• Garlic
• herbs
• Greens - turnips, collards, spinach, beet, kale - wash & stem, salad spin, spread out whole on racks. Takes a bit of room, but well worth the effort
• Cabbage, definitely cabbage! Chopped, diced, shredded. Cabbage can be cooked first. Just make sure you don’t use any fats or oils in the cooking.