Going on my periodic healthy eating binge while my boyfriend is on the road for week I decided to investigate food dehydrator usage. Why? Because I like snacking but most store bought snacks are not on the "healthy" checklist. If they are fruit or veggie snacks they are either 1) heinously expensive and/or 2) disguised not-so-healthy snacks with lots of sugars or sodium. Making my own yummies is the only real way to know what I'm putting in my body. Therefore a lovely lady at work let me borrow her food dehydrator which I'll experiment drying fruits (pineapple, cinnamon apples, mango, papaya, lemon, apricots or plums if they're cheap enough), veggies (mainly roots like sweet potato, beets, turnip, maybe tomato?), and eventually meat to make jerky! My first batch is with the root veggies just listed but to make them edible I blanched them first.
Click here for the full synopsis of my preparation.
NOT into dehydrating. I found one food I like drying and I'm making a massive amount of it (partly because I can't help eating as I go). That is pineapples--my girlfriend I'm borrowing the dryer from recommended buying cans of pineapple rings in natural juice. They take about 6 - 8 hrs and turn out dry chewy but sweet. I like them. The root veggies were extremely chewy and not chip like at all. Meat takes days upon days to dry and you have to marinate it first (not worth it!). And other fruit is just dry and not very tasty. No wonder they use so many additives to the things on the shelves. Still better for you to make at home but I don't find myself reaching for chewy dry beet root. Decision: not purchasing a dehydrator. Oh well.
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