Best Food Dehydrators?

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

That Crazy Bird!!! Did You Ever Get Sprayed When Sitting Outside And A Flock Flew Over? Yep Happened To Me Once, I Was Rather Taken Back To Say The Least!

You Know I Did Not Think About The Tomatoes Aquiring New Flavor From The Cars Interior, But I Did Think About The Car Beggining To Smell Like Tomato! Then Ther Was The Whole Drying Tray Thing, Now I Could Make Them But Then I Worry About The Type Material To Use To Place The Tomatoes On? If I Dip The Tomatoes In Citric Acid Prior To Drying Then I Must Give Sufficient Time So As To Not Let Juice Drip All Over The Back Seat....well It Was A Thought. I Am Trying To Be Thrifty And Use What We Already Have.

[CanMan]

If I Dip The Tomatoes In Citric Acid Prior To Drying.....

And why would you do that? Tomatoes are already very acidic and do fine by themselves. For bananas, apples, and potatoes yes dip them in a lemon juice/water mixture to keep them from turning color.

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

I read to do that somewhere; I thought when I read it that tomatoes were acidic why would I need more, but assumed that they would???? I am so glad you let me know otherwise.

Thanks Can Man!

[KYHeirloomer]

I'm thinking you're reading the wrong books, Cathy.

Certainly tomatoes do not need to be acidified. Actually, neither do apples and bananas if you don't mind them turning dark.

And what's that about pasturizing?

Ok, into my sermon mode:

Drying is the worlds oldest known form of food preservation. Once you dehydrate food to 3-7% moisture levels it remains in that state literally forever. You do not have to treat dried foods any other way.

Indeed, probably the second most amusing thing I've ever read was the statements from people who say they keep their jerky in the freezer so it won't spoil.

Huh?

Drying should be done at relatively low temperatures. I like to work at 115F, and have dried fish much lower, at 90F. The one thing you don't want to do is try and speed up the process by increasing the heat. To do so courts danger, Will Robinson, as you might cook the food.

What's the difference? With cooking the food undergoes permanent cellular changes. This can be accomplished with either heat or acid, as the case may be. With drying you are merely removing the water. There is no permanent change to the cell structure, and the food will rehydrate if allowed to soak.

As to the car as dehydrator, I know people who have done it. Top the best of my knowledge the food does not pick up foreign odors. But many food types you want to dry---tomatoes do come to mind---drip naturally.

The way to set things up is to take a cooling rack that will fit inside a sheet pan (well, half-sheet for most of us). Set that out in the front window (hey! Am I the only one who misses those great shelves that used to be under the back windows?) with the sliced foods arranged on it.

You can do the same thing in the backyard, btw. Only you'll have to keep two things in mind: Insect damage can be extensive, unless you cover the rig with cheesecloth or mosquito netting; and remember to bring the stuff indoors before dew hits it.

Let's never forget that people have been drying foods successfully for 10,000 years; long before there was electricity, and fancy dehydrators.

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

Excellent point KYH, and that was my exact reasoning to try and invent a way without buying yet another piece of equipment to keep up with!
I feel though that the car will actually be too scalding hot, but I am not ruling it out just yet.
I do appreciate all the info. Thanks, Cathy

[Mama Mangia]

Nix the idea - really.

It would be a waste of good tomatoes!

And don't forget - there's the good old fashioned oven that we used long before the electric dehydrators!

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

Mama,

I just gotta' make some dried tomatoes, I want to make some of those like you can buy in the store (Sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, they are delicious) but I sure do not want to waste tomatoes, so I just know I have got to do it right!

A long time ago I used the kitchen oven and made some dried veggies and they tasted pretty good. I am going to just give it a try once this summer just to satisfy my curiosity if nothing else. I may just wind up using the kitchen oven as you mentioned! I was really trying to look at all the alternatives one has in drying, and you must have been reading my mind because I had just about decided to go with the oven!

Thanks, Cathy

[Mama Mangia]

The only thing with the oven - if it's really hot outside, having the oven on can make it a bit more uncomfortable.

The oven has worked for decades - it won't fail you.

The oven was also the first slow cooker/crockpot - low temperature cooking freeing up the needed time to do the canning, laundry (on the scrub board). scrub the floors on your hands and knees, etc. Those wonderful good old days!

[KYHeirloomer]

There are two potential problems with stoves, and a third if you have one of those new smart stoves:

1. The lowest setting, on modern stoves, is too high. My oven's low setting, for instance, runs at 170F. At that temperature you are cooking the food, not drying it.

2. Assuming your low setting is low enough (they used to run at 125F, which is fine), make sure and leave the door open a crack, so the evaporating moisture can escape.

3. Many of the smart stoves have a built-in "safety" feature. If the oven is on for X number of hours the oven assumes you left it on by mistake, and shuts itself off. Obviously, that won't work for drying foods.