Food Dehydrators

I purchased an inexpensive food dehydrator recently and am still experimenting with it.  However, I have been incredibly pleased with the results.  Has anyone else done this and, if so, do you have any suggestions for recipes or uses I haven't thought of, yet?

This is what I got.  It is a simple lightweight tabletop model with my first attempt, dehydrating Roma tomatoes.

This was the result of that first attempt.  I didn't dehydrate them long enough for long term storage.  However, they were slightly chewy and incredibly sweet, which is amazing from store bought tomatoes.  I ate them like candy and the fifteen tomatoes were eaten in four days.  The photo shows the last of them before they were eaten.

I completely dried more tomatoes and some mushrooms for long term storage.  I love mushrooms and hate when I run out so these should be great in an emergency.

I completely dried eight Roma tomatoes and then, using a spice/coffee grinder, I ground them into powder.  This morning, I had a hard boiled egg sprinkled with a touch of salt and pepper and some of the tomato powder; it was quite good.

I got nothing for you but that's cool. Father in Law used oven to do jerky but I have no info. Following

I got nothing for you but that's cool. Father in Law used oven to do jerky but I have no info. Following 

Dave, my first attempt was my oven.  Because the oven in my apartment is very old, there is a pilot light in it that goes all the time.  The oven, therefore, is always slightly warm so I thought it would be perfect for dehydrating.  I cut a few Campari tomatoes in half, put them on a tray, and stuck them in the oven without turning it on.  I figured the pilot light would be enough.  Eight hours later, I opened the oven to find the tomatoes burned to a crisp.  Even the pilot light was too much.  That afternoon, I ordered the dehydrator.  Lesson learned.

I'm not sure about attempting meat jerkies, at least not yet.  I'm wondering if I could do something like zucchini chips by using my mandolin, lightly salting and peppering and dehydrating.  If they're any good, they might be a more healthful alternative to potato chips.

I got nothing for you but that's cool. Father in Law used oven to do jerky but I have no info. Following 

Dave, my first attempt was my oven.  Because the oven in my apartment is very old, there is a pilot light in it that goes all the time.  The oven, therefore, is always slightly warm so I thought it would be perfect for dehydrating.  I cut a few Campari tomatoes in half, put them on a tray, and stuck them in the oven without turning it on.  I figured the pilot light would be enough.  Eight hours later, I opened the oven to find the tomatoes burned to a crisp.  Even the pilot light was too much.  That afternoon, I ordered the dehydrator.  Lesson learned.

I'm not sure about attempting meat jerkies, at least not yet.  I'm wondering if I could do something like zucchini chips by using my mandolin, lightly salting and peppering and dehydrating.  If they're any good, they might be a more healthful alternative to potato chips.

Sounds good, we'll need pics

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Uh oh. This is just a casual fun thing for me, guys. However, I will update whenever I try something, good or bad results.

Uh oh.  This is just a casual fun thing for me, guys.  However, I will update whenever I try something, good or bad results.

No pressure.....................................WHEN !!!!! just kidding

Uh oh.  This is just a casual fun thing for me, guys.  However, I will update whenever I try something, good or bad results.

No pressure.....................................WHEN !!!!! just kidding 

Believe it or not, I just ordered some groceries for tomorrow and included courgette (zucchini).

There was a time when we dehydrated LOTS of stuff from the garden. We have a GardenMaster dehydrator that will handle 30 trays and there were times we used all of them. If you dehydrate for long term storage the items need to be processed to destroy the enzymes that will naturally degrade the products over time. There might be sites on the web that will give that information, and there are probably books or pamphlets that will do the same. You might check with your extension service if you live where they exist.

BTW, when I write "long term storage" I don't mean months, more like years.

Yes, dry tomatoes definitely let you know that they're a berry and not a vegetable. Jerky is extremely easy to make also, or dried beef for chipped beef.

Just an off the wall comment on our dehydrator... The trays are so large that it's impossible to wash them indoors. I use 1/2 of a poly 55 gal drum and then I can get maybe 1/2 of the trays in it to soak for cleaning. But it is what it is. We needed that size unit for what we do. Yours is sized better for what you want to do and is easier to handle.

But dehydrating and canning do most of what we need to do today and after the items are preserved that's the end of energy required to keep them safe. Freezing is easier but lose power and the contents are kaput in a week. But I'm getting off topic.

Habaneros and Jalapeños and San Marzano Tomatoes. The Food dehydrator does a great job. I used to use the oven, but the temperature can't get low enough.