Dehydrating in winter- Autumn fruits

Monday 15th June 2020

I've been watching for some cheap fruit to dehydrate.

I'd done some dehydrating with cabbage that was left too long and rotted (while I was up in the Waikato), it remained too moist. Carrots seem to dehydrate very well.

I would like some dehydrated veges for storage so that I can use them when I haven't got anything fresh at hand and haven't shopped.

Apples. I can't say I'm mad on them, I do like a granny smith sliced into 4 with cheese but otherwise not a massive fan. I did sort of enjoy apple pie in ireland from apples from the orchid in Kilkenny.

I dehydrated some leftover apple slices and kiwifruit and left them in a container by my computer and I wolfed them down. I really enjoyed snacking on them.

So saturday (13th June) I went to the market and got about 5kg of apples, 3 varieties, Braeburn, another red apple and some granny smiths, all equal measure.  I sliced up the first batch, quick &  thick and they are taking quite a while to dry. Onto the 3rd day now, running 24/7. I've been changing the temperature from 70 to 40 and then at say 50 overnight (deg C). I'm not sure thats doing much.

Also some cheap bananas too, they are great for snacking on, but heaps of moisture. I do not like them when they are brick hard. 

I think because I have about 5 bananas and about 2kg of apples the dehydrator is struggling with the load. I'm trying to keep it low but that isn't working.

Day 3 its starting to take effect and they are drying out, I've cranked it back up to 70 deg C.

The next batch I'm going to use the corer and also the mandolin slicer to see if I can get them any thinner.

I did look online for vacuum sealer for mason jars, only, it seems, from Amazon. $40NZ but P/P was about 58$ and then GST on the whole lot so over $120. So that is off the books at the moment. I'll look to using cheap bags to vacuum seal.

My power bills are up, from 20-25 to 30-35$ / week. I think its the dehydrator, also winter, higher charges, and possibly the LED lights, although I'll monitor them when I'm not doing the dehydration.

The notion of dehydration is that you are not using power to keep them frozen to preserve them. But you are using power to dehydrate them.

So, if you want some moisture in them (not solid and brittle) then you need to vacuum seal.

Also freezer is pretty full nowerdays with the bread baking for pizza dough, hamburger buns, muffinns etc, all bulky.

I do need to get my 2nd method of vacuum sealing for fruit/veges organised for preserving. Or find another method. Since I've invested in the vacuum sealer I'd better start trying to see if I can use it effectively. Maybe I do need to go to the more expensive bags.