Talk to me about dehydrators...

[mmmgoats]

Quite fancy one, but how do you store food properly afterwards - does it last long?

And is it easy to cook with dehydrated meat?

Anyone got a brand/model that's reasonably priced that you can recommend?:)

[bellinisurge]

I have one called a Callow. Drum shaped one. No idea if it's any good long term but it works for me.
I tend to seal everything in a vacuum sealer. I have a jar with crumbled up dehydrated spinach from the garden which I add to when I get chance. This is for soups. Love spinach so that works for me.
When vacuum sealing I wrap stuff first in baking parchment to make it less spikey. I also put in a moisture absorber and oxygen absorber. Probably overkill.
Dehydrators and vacuum sealers are relatively cheap on Amazon as are the absorbers.

[mmmgoats]

Thank you @bellinisurge probably a really stupid question - does dehydrated meat have to go in the fridge still?

[bellinisurge]

Not stupid- we're all learning. I've dehydrated then vacuum sealed mine straight away. There's a school of thought to stick that pack in the freezer but I understand it's not essential so I didn't.

[mmmgoats]

Thank you, that's really helpful.
I'm discovering that I really enjoy being organised (which is how I see prepping), it definitely helps keep my anxiety (non-specific, just general) under control so thank you for all the tips. :)

[cloudtree]

I have the Andrew james six stacker one

[cloudtree]

I mainly do fruit and veg in mine but am watching carefully to see how long bellini lasts following her turkey mince experiment and might then venture into meat territory if its safe

[mmmgoats]

haha yes me too @cloudtree
no pressure @bellinisurge but our dehydration dreams are dependent on your survival ;)
I must admit dehydrated meat looks quite unappealing but the idea of being able to rehydrate and cook without having to store in a freezer....it's an interesting one!

[bellinisurge]

Ha ha - I'm off on my hols soon so maybe I should keep a brooding silence just to freak you all out!

[cloudtree]

judging by how well fruit and veg rehydrate (its a mixed bag and depends on the fruit/veg - it does rehydrate in that its full of water but it doesn't go back to how it was originally), I wouldn't work on the basis that the meat could be rehydrated to any real extent. I think you'd be limited to mince to chuck in stews etc or strips of meat to eat as jerky.

[PositivelyPERF]

I wonder if the food from the home dehydration machines lasts as long as the dehydrated food in shops? I’m thinking, in particular, of the packers of fruit.

[mmmgoats]

you can't do that @bellinisurge all the Brexit prepper threads would lose their heads without your calm words of wisdom

Fair point @cloudtree I still can't get my head around the meat dehydrating. I'm not a jerky fan, although in the advent of no meat at all perhaps it would suddenly seem like nectar of the gods!

[cloudtree]

Mine lasts a long time. I make a lot of dried pineapple (and then eat it by the bucketload) and also berries to use in cereal.

I have things like mushrooms, tomatoes, aubergine etc which have been fine in kilner jars for the past 4/5 years.

[mmmgoats]

What sort of thing do you use the mushrooms/aubergine/tomatoes for @cloudtree? Stews/stirfries etc?

[cloudtree]

You could definitely chuck handfuls of mince into stews and soups etc. I don't think you'd want to rehydrate a whole chicken breast and eat it plain.

[PositivelyPERF]

Thank you cloudtree. I love the idea of having dried mushrooms, etc, in jars. We don’t buy many jarred foods. Have you any suggestions, where I could buy jars?

[cloudtree]

Yes partly just to have in my store and partly to use on a daily basis if I've snapped up a load of stuff heavily reduced ( I once came home with ten cartons of mushrooms which were reduced to 7p each!). I would use them mainly in things like bolognese, shepherds pies, stews, soups etc. Also crumbled up just to add flavour.

[cloudtree]

My jars are just kilner jars from Dunelm (the real ones with a good seal) with a moisture absorber thingy in with them.

[mmmgoats]

great tips thanks @cloudtree

[bellinisurge]

Great idea @cloudtree .

[PositivelyPERF]

Thank you cloudtree

[cloudtree]

Prompted by this thread I've just put on a load of spinach which has gone crazy with all the rain and then I'm tackling the courgette glut!

[InfiniteSheldon]

I use kilner jars too

[bellinisurge]

We had a honeydew melon that wasn't getting used so I dehydrated it today. Why am I telling you this? Because my fussy eater dd tried some that I'd saved from the vacuum sealer for her to try. And she said it was delicious. She thought all the melon sweetness would have been dried out but it was yummy.

[TooManyPaws]

What moisture absorber do you use?

[bellinisurge]

I'm afraid I can be no more detailed than : a foodsafe one off Amazon. I think the food safe ones have yellow crystals .