Most of my dehydrating isn't recipes per se but just dried foods that can be used in recipes later - chopped onions (do and use tons of these), dried herbs (same), dried tomatoes with sea salt to freeze, kale chips with season salt, summer squash chips with Cavender's Seasoning, a mix of dried leafy greens (spinach, lettuce, kale, chard) for use in soups and salads and just about anything.

Fruits require nitrates for best results so we freeze or can ours, peppers get chopped and frozen as any green ones turn black in dehydrator but the reds will dry well, celery we freeze or can in stewed tomatoes, eggplant is oven roasted and frozen in slices for use later, potatoes are canned in our house (they turn blackish in dehydrator) or shredded and frozen for hashbrowns, beans get canned or frozen, squash is canned or frozen, any corn not good enough to freeze or can get dried for the squirrels and deer but I don't like to eat it as it is too chewey, okra dries well but we prefer it frozen, carrot slices fry well, shell beans we dry on the vine.

Fruit rollups (if you use them) work well in the dehydrator and the grandkids like them so we make some for them but wife and I don't care for them.

It's not so much that you can't dry many of the vegetables you list but whether or not you will find them useful. For example, you can dry winter squash in 1" cubes, then reconstitute it and mash and bake. We just prefer baking them and freezing it ready-mashed or ready cubed.

Have you read through all the NCHFP Drying Foods info for ideas?

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/dry.html

And not all dehydrators are created equal so how you like the end results will depend in part on which dehydrator you bought. So some experimentation is in order to see which you prefer but keep in mind that even those things that may not turn out great can still be used in soups and stews and all the other winter-hearty cooking recipes - squash soup, tossed into various sauces, etc.

Dave

Thanks for the advice on your storing procedures. I will check out the website.

My wife made dehydrated potatoes yesterday and they came out fine -- had to be thoroughly blanched.

The freezer is pretty much out of room so I am looking to dehydrating as an alternative. I am not ready to take on canning just yet -- and the high acid requirements kind of defeats the purpose of low acid vegetables (especially tomatoes), which we grow intentionally for stomach issues.

Ahh the old over-full freezer problem. Yeah we all can relate to that problem/ :) Then I'd definitely recommend doing the potatoes since yours turned out so well. Of the other things on your list zucchini chips (some plain and some seasoned), and the peppers if the darkening color doesn't bother you, and of course the tomatoes. Pull up the directions from 'brokenbar' on how to store them if no freezer space for them.

Then for using them later after dried look at recipes for Ratatouille, Celery and Potato Soup, and Squash Soup. You can also use the tomatoes and squash in breads and muffins, all of them in chili and spaghetti sauce, stews, and casseroles. Wife makes a lasagna type casserole by alternating layers of potato slices, various dried vegetables, mozarella cheese, browned ground beef, and marinara sauce.

Dave

Celery and Potato Soup ( from http://www.easy-food-dehydrating.com/celery-and-potato-soup.html)

• 2 cups dehydrated potatoes

• 1 cup dehydrated celery

• 1/4 cup dehydrated onion

• 2 cups boiling water to rehydrate items above

• pepper (and salt*) to taste

• 4 cups of vegetable stock (I choose to use Better Than Bouillon)

• seasonings: 1/2 teaspoon Cumin, 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley (or 1 teaspoon dried), 1/4 teaspoon Tarragon, 1/4 teaspoon Celery Salt.

• Use the freshly boiled water to re-hydrate the dehydrated items above.

• When they are sufficiently plump, put the veggies into a heavy saucepan, toss the excess water, and add the vegetable stock to the pan.

• Add the chopped parsley, tarragon, celery salt, and cumin. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are fully cooked/soft.

• Use a blender to mix, in small batches (we use a stick blender to puree it) ... allow air to escape from the little hole in the lid so that the heat doesn't cause any explosive problems! Just have your hand over that top little hole to catch any runaway splashes if you don't have a Vitamix (I highly recommend Vitamix blenders). If you have a Vitamix blender, you can leave the small cap on as it has ventilation holes.

• Blend until smooth, about 45 - 60 seconds.

• We top with shredded cheese before serving.

Thanks Dave :)

I use a lot of dehydrated produce in a lot of recipes. Like last night there was dehydrated corn, kale, and wild chives in the potato and ham chowder. A few nights ago I made stuffed shells, and the tomato sauce had a heap of dehydrated quartered tomatoes and dehydrated sliced mushrooms in it. I always have dehydrated celery and carrots in the house so I have the stuff on hand for mire poix for whenever I need it without having to use up my fresh produce. When onions go on sale for super cheap, I run a few days worth or minced onions and usually have a few quarts in the pantry- right now I've run myself down to the last couple handfuls in the pantry to prep up for restocking onions soon. Herbs of course too, we use heaps of fresh and dried herbs around here.

I do up tomatoes sliced, quartered, or halved depending on the kind and size. They get powdered up for instant tomato sauces and pastes, and left in bigger pieces to stew up in soups, stews, and sauces.

Summer squashes get grated and dried up- used in all sorts of stuff like soups, casseroles, stews, or even rehydrated for zucchini breads. Winter squashes get cooked, pureed, and dehydrated on jelly sheets till crispy dry- then made into squash flour for baking- it is wonderful in quick breads and hearty breads- you simply replace some of the flour with squash flour. Actually you can make flour out of pretty much any pleasing combination of produce- add veggie kick to any breads, or make tasty veggie crackers. Sometimes I'll grate winter squash raw and it can get added into soups, stews, or sprinkled on pizza like cheese. I do this with sweet potatoes too- we love garlic, spinach, sweet potato, and mushroom pizzas with either white or tomato sauce.

Dried and minced/powdered, you can make your own seasoning mixes, dip and dressing mixes, dry vegetable broth mix, and more.

For recipes that use the green beans, try looking for it under "leather britches" recipes. Leather britches is what the old timers called the green beans they would hang on strings to dry out and eat up during the winter. I use them mostly in soups and stews, and a couple casseroles.

Peppers can be dried up- I tend to do them either in rings, halved, or quartered depending on the size, but I never leave them whole. They are great for additions to all sorts of foods, or ground up into spice powders. If you have a smoker, you can smoke them before drying them too :)

Thanks Bees!

I've not been very successful at dehydrating tomatoes, they just seem to get flexible and never dry enough to powder. The flexible ones, though, are usable for whatever I need tomatoes for, so they're still good.

I dehydrate hot peppers and onions, plus all my herbs, it's convenient to keep them on hand. I also slice and season zucchini, a handful of slices is always good in vegetable soup.

The grandkids like this too, not as healthy as fruit roll-ups (which I don't care for), but fun, and my thanks to Linda Lou for the recipe. I've never had anyone who was able to guess the "secret ingredient" in this, LOL.

Zucchini "Candy"

10 cups peeled diced zucchini 1/2 inch cubes ( I use "worms" about 3 inches long and 1/12 inch thick and wide. The little dice would be good in muffins, though.)

3 cups water

2 pkgs. unsweetened Koolaid

2 1/2 cups sugar

Peel zucchini, diced or make "worms", removing seeds. Mix the liquid syrup together. Add zucchini. Bring to a boil and them simmer for 25 min. Drain. Put on dehydrator trays. Dry 14 hours at 125 degrees. Turn pieces over and dry another 4 hours. This will feel dry and not sticky when done. Store in jars or other tightly sealed containers.If you dip in sugar when you turn them, they will be more like "gum drops" on the outside.

You can do the same thing with the zucchini but use:

48 oz. pineapple juice

2 T. pineapple extract

2 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

Good luck!

Annie

Thank you for this post, Peter. I've enjoyed reading the responses. I have three dehydrators plus my oven has a setting to dehydrate, but I haven't done anything in years. I think its pretty well past time to get myself in gear and do some. My favorite thing to dehydrate in the past was onions. I just loved grabbing the jar of them and taking out what I needed at that time.

I have to admit that I don't use my dehydrator as often as I should or could. My favorite use, though, is for beef jerky. I like this recipe I got from Penzey's Spices:

BBQ 3000 Beef
Jerky Recipe

1 lb. beef
2 T brown sugar
2 T Worcestershire sauce
2/3 cup ketchup
onion powder
garlic powder
salt
pepper
Penzey's BBQ 3000 Seasoning

If you'd like, freeze the meat for 30-45 minutes prior, as this will make slicing it a little easier. Slice the meat into strips about 1/4" thick.

In a bowl, mix brown sugar, Worcestershire, sauce and ketchup together. Toss sliced meat with the sauce, or for more flavor, allow the meat to marinate with the sauce/ketchup in the refrigerator for a few hours or up to overnight.

Remove meat from sauce/ketchup mixture. Sprinkle on onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and BBQ 3000 seasoning to your preferences. I usually like it a little heavy on the BBQ 3000 seasoning.

Place meat in your dehydrator and dry for approximately 6-8 hours (or more/less, depending on meat thickness) until it reaches a jerky consistency.

I normally prefer my jerky to be a little more on the "soft jerky" side versus the "hard as leather" side, so I store my dried jerky in a Ziplock in the refrigerator to be safe.