Hello. My name is Melody. I like to dehydrate. (Imitating an admission at a support group.) It's true. It's almost a compulsion. If it can be dehydrated, you better believe that I will try to dehydrate. I'm up to the challenge. If you have been reading my posts you know that I even dehydrate watermelon, eggs, & milk. If it is a fruit, a vegetable, an herb, or any kind of liquid (sauce, etc.) I WILL dehydrate it.
I love to dehydrate; in fact, I prefer dehydrating over canning. I used to can about everything but it took a lot of time, effort and energy and the jars take up a lot of space. I have learned that dehydrating preserves the food just as well and takes up a lot less space. For instance, to can 10 pounds of potatoes would take up a bunch of quart jars (you can only get 2-3 potatoes per jar). But I can dehydrate 10 pounds of potatoes and they fit into 3 jars is all.
To dehydrate yellow squash, just wash the squash and cut off the ends. Once the ends are cut off, use a mandolin (on the thickest setting) and slice the squash into rounds.
You do not need to boil the squash. It will retain its color just fine. Also, some blogs recommend that you put some oil on the squash but this makes the squash taste awful and turn rancid. Once it is sliced, just place the pieces on your dehydrator trays.
Turn on the dehydrator and let the squash dehydrate about 10 hours. I just turn my dehydrator on right before I go to bed and the squash are ready the next morning. Once dehydrated just store the squash chips in a mason jar.
To use, you can eat these as a snack as they are or use them in stews, soups, casseroles, etc. To reconstitute, just place in very hot water for about 10 minutes or add to your favorite recipe and cook the dish as you normally would. Or fry it up and have fried squash. Just soak in hot water for a few minutes and fry as you would fresh squash.
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I love reading your posts and i've never thought about dehydrating my fruits and vegetables. I don't own a dehydrator (don't really know how much they cost) and was wondering if you could dehydrate in your oven?
ReplyDeleteYou can dehydrate in the oven. To begin, turn your oven onto the lowest setting. Most ovens will not go below 200 degrees but the optimal drying temp is about 145. Anyway, put your food on drying/cooling racks. If you stack the racks, make sure at least 3" of space is between the racks. The oven door must be kept propped open. You want it open about 4-5" at all times to let air circulate. Dehydrate as normal now.
DeleteVery interesting! I have never dehydrated veggies, but good to know how to do it. Also wanted to stop by and say thanks for joining the hobnob which I am cohosting. SO glad you could join us.
ReplyDelete-Priyam @ http://priyam-simplejoys.blogspot.com