Mountain Cat
Guru
- Joined
- 12 Apr 2019
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- 4:11 PM
- Messages
- 3,130
- Location
- Hilltowns of Massachusetts
- Website
- goatsandgreens.wordpress.com
I use an Excalibur 5-tray dehydrator for my dehydration efforts. They also sell a 9-tray one, and they also sell both sized models with timers - which I find are unnecessary. Because timing will depend on ambient humidity and such to begin with.
I am NOT a sweet tooth, so these are about the only fruits I will dehydrate.
The strawberries, above.
The grape tomatoes, above.
Prep time: Strawberries – about eight-ten minutes per tray. Grape tomatoes: about 5 minutes per tray.
“Cook” time: It depends, but don’t expect immediate gratification. At least four hours, six or eight may be the way to go.
Rest time: Huh?
Serves: Reserve in air-tight containers for multi-purpose needs.
Strawberries, Dehydrated
Layer out the fruits so they don’t touch one another. For the tomatoes, put skin side down (if this is a section with skin). For the strawberries, it doesn’t matter what side goes down.
Place the trays into the dehydrator and set the temp to 135 F/57 C.
Let 'er rip for at least 4 hours, but depending on conditions, it may well be overnight.
Storage:
Those Ball or Mason canning jars are great for this. Recycle those used canning lids that you shouldn’t ever put through the water or pressure canning procedure again.
Uses:
I mostly use dehydrated strawberries or grape tomatoes in salads.
Adding a few broken up slices of dehydrated strawberries to vanilla or quality strawberry ice cream is also a tasty option. I’ll note that most commercial strawberry ice cream tastes extremely faux, but if you have a good local brand, go for it. You can also put slices of dehydrated strawberry in plain yogurt (choose a good brand with few if any extenders, whether local dairy, goat, or coconut yogurt). Let the berries soak in the moist yogurt overnight before consuming.
Below will show you a tray of grape tomatoes prior to dehydration - they WILL shrink down a LOT.
I am NOT a sweet tooth, so these are about the only fruits I will dehydrate.
The strawberries, above.
The grape tomatoes, above.
Prep time: Strawberries – about eight-ten minutes per tray. Grape tomatoes: about 5 minutes per tray.
“Cook” time: It depends, but don’t expect immediate gratification. At least four hours, six or eight may be the way to go.
Rest time: Huh?
Serves: Reserve in air-tight containers for multi-purpose needs.
Strawberries, Dehydrated
- About 4-6 ounces of strawberries per tray (Excalibur-sized). Slice about 1/4 inch thick, or less, make sure the stem/core is gone. Slice horizontal or vertical.
- About 4 ounces of grape tomatoes per tray (Excalibur-sized). Slice the larger ones into threes (horizontally), the smaller ones into twos (horizontally).
Layer out the fruits so they don’t touch one another. For the tomatoes, put skin side down (if this is a section with skin). For the strawberries, it doesn’t matter what side goes down.
Place the trays into the dehydrator and set the temp to 135 F/57 C.
Let 'er rip for at least 4 hours, but depending on conditions, it may well be overnight.
Storage:
Those Ball or Mason canning jars are great for this. Recycle those used canning lids that you shouldn’t ever put through the water or pressure canning procedure again.
Uses:
I mostly use dehydrated strawberries or grape tomatoes in salads.
Adding a few broken up slices of dehydrated strawberries to vanilla or quality strawberry ice cream is also a tasty option. I’ll note that most commercial strawberry ice cream tastes extremely faux, but if you have a good local brand, go for it. You can also put slices of dehydrated strawberry in plain yogurt (choose a good brand with few if any extenders, whether local dairy, goat, or coconut yogurt). Let the berries soak in the moist yogurt overnight before consuming.
Below will show you a tray of grape tomatoes prior to dehydration - they WILL shrink down a LOT.
