Drying tomatoes in a dehydrator

[larry_stewart]

It's been a year since I dehydrated tomatoes ( Romas cut in 1/2). What temp and for how long ?

 

[blissful]

Purposeful Pantry says:
Instructions

1. Rinse and choose tomatoes.
2. Cut in half or quarters depending on size of tomato.
3. Place on dehydrator trays skin side down.
4. Dry at 125°F / 52°C for 10-18+ hours.

 

[larry_stewart]

Thanks. I need to write it down and tape it to the dehydrator or you can just shoot me a friendly reminder each year

 

[blissful]

When I forget I look it up. I try to remember, veggies are 125, while fruit is 135 except citrus fruit is lower if you want to keep the color.
I shredded (food processor) 12 zucchini (about 7 inch ones), on 4 trays, it took 2 days and I crumbled it into 1 qt jar. That's a lot of zucchini.
I'll be canning tomatoes when they ripen and it will be by the bucket full because the romas get ripe all at the same time. I'm nervous about it.

 

[dragnlaw]

I keep my booklets handy in one place for all my gadgets, including the dehydrator. Use it so rarely there is no way I'd ever remember.

 

[larry_stewart]

I did a test run with Gazpacho ( Made it, froze it, then defrosted to make sure it freezes well. It Did!, so I saved a bunch of empty water bottles and froze 12 bottles worth for me to have when tomatoes, pepper and cucumber harvest has come and gone . I had so many pickled peppers, pickled cucumbers and frozen tomato products last year, Im glad I found something else I could do with them.

 

[pepperhead212]

I'm actually attempting something new this year - dehydrating some cucumbers, because there are still pickles from last year, plus some new ones, and there are a number of good cooked cucumber dishes I've made. I will probably dice them a little larger, since they will shrink considerably. I am also going to do what blissful did with shredding the zucchini with the rest of those bottle gourds. They are another thing that shrinks a lot, due to a large % of water.

 

[larry_stewart]

I have so many pickles ( Sandwich slices ) from last year, that I didn't even need to make new ones this year, but I did anyway. I still made many fermented pickles. Some I ate as they were on the counter. many I started the process in quart jars, but put them directly in the fridge to slow down the process. As I finish whats on the counter, I take out another quart to start fermenting/ pickling. The freezing of the Gazpacho was new for me this year. Just started dehydrating the tomatoes. Have been dehydrating he butterfly pea flowers as they bloom. Did a lot of mushroom drying earlier this year, but then moved to freezing them. Haven't picked any mushrooms in a few months, but I expect them to kick in soon.

 

[pepperhead212]

Here are those things I got into the dehydrator this evening - cucumbers, bottle gourds, and some okra, which I steamed just briefly, before rinsing, draining, then I put those, and the shredded lauki on some silicone sheets I got mainly for putting tomatoes, and other juicy things on, so I don't have to cut out some waxed paper sheets to put them on. A lady in CA, that grows and dehydrates a lot, mentioned that she had them, with the lips around the edge, which sounded really good to me. I had been looking for them, but didn't get a good deal until that deal in early July that Amazon had, and they were only $12 something for the 4 sheets, compared to $18.95 I had been seeing. Now they are up to $21.95! A bunch of different sizes available - this is the 13½l" x 13½", compatible with the Excalibur.

I spread the okra out on two of them, since they were sort of slimy, and I was trying to separate them. The shredded lauki I spread fairly thin, but probably could have also been spread in two layers. I'll see how long they take, at 125° - the temp I usually use for veggies.
One of two racks of cucumbers, to dehydrate, 27.4 oz by pepperhead212, on Flickr

One of two racks of okra, steamed, before dehydrating. 29 oz. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Shredded bottle gourds, to dehydrate, 29 oz. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[taxlady]

Can you dehydrate sliced or cubed zucchini? If so, can you use them pretty much like fresh once they are rehydrated? What do you do with shredded, dehydrated zucchini?

 

[blissful]

@taxlady, zucchini can be powdered to add to flour for baking, or put in water then drained, to use in zucchini bread or cake. Or for main dish stews or soups.

I've been using these silicone sheets on stainless steel trays for the excalibur.

and for wet things I use parchment sheets on top.
@pepperhead212 it's good to know they make something with a lip for the excalibur for very wet items.

 

[pepperhead212]

@blissful Butternuts and eggplants are things I often make flour with. I've actually used some butternut flour to make a "pumpkin" pie, or pumpkin bread, and nobody ever knew! A pound of butternut dehydrates to about an ounce, but I use about 1¼ oz, and add water to make a pound. And the eggplant flour is good in some of those Indian flatbreads I've used it in.

 

[blissful]

@pepperhead212 what appliance do you use for making the squash or eggplant flour? My blender isn't the right kind and my food processor doesn't do it. My coffee/nut grinder works but it is small.

This is my Crustless Pumpkin Pie

2 and 1/3 C plant milk (2 cups makes a firmer pie, very nice)
1 and 1/2 T cornstarch
1 T tapioca flour
3/4 C rice flour
3 cups pumpkin/squash (I use 1 cup dehydrated squash chunks and fill the blender to 3 cups w/water, blend and let thicken)
1 T baking powder (which I skip)
1/2 C honey or maple syrup or other sweetener (oh molasses does sound good)
1 t vanilla
1/4 t ground ginger
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/8 t cloves
Blend it in a blender or food processor, pour into parchment lined 10'' deep dish pie pan.
Bake for 60 minutes at 350 deg F, cool, refrigerate.

I've been getting by with chunks of squash and the pie is delicious. In terms of preciseness in the recipe, a cup of chunks isn't precise, so I'll measure out the ounces next time I do it. In the fall of 2021 we bought 126 lbs of butternut squash (farmer north of us), and I baked and then dried it. 5 squash fit into 2 1-qt jars in the form of chips. We're growing squash this year but there is no way we'll get that much out of it.

 

[pepperhead212]

@blissful I have a Vitamix, which grinds up grains, legumes, and these totally dried vegetables, into flour. I also use the VM for larger amounts of spices, like those Indian spice mixes, but usually I use smaller things for those. And I usually don't grind up a lot of these things, as I figure they'll probably keep better in large pieces, rather than flour. 3 or 4 cups of flour is what I usually grind up at a time, for those sized glass jars.

Oh yeah, I checked those veggies in the dehydrator, and the okra and cucumbers are pretty crispy already, after about 16 hrs, but the shredded bottle gourd is somewhat flexible still. And the cukes, like I figured, shrunk incredibly, like the bottle gourds did when I cubed those, last year.

I like the sound of that crustless pumpkin pie! I will probably change the rice flour to some millet or sorghum flour, and maybe add a little blackstrap to some honey, for the sweetener.

 

[GotGarlic]

Thanks. I need to write it down and tape it to the dehydrator or you can just shoot me a friendly reminder each year

I have a bunch of reminders taped to the inside of my kitchen cabinets.