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Wednesday, May 2, 2012

PROBABLY MORE THAN YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT DRYING FOODS

Hello everyone!  We are a having a nice day today here at  Sweet Briar Cottage.  A perfect "hang the laundry on the line" day.  Hope you are having a lovely day where you are at also!  A few people wrote to me with questions about drying foods, so I thought I'd wrote a post about it and hopefully answer all your questions.

First things first, what to dry?  I only dry fruits, vegetables, and herbs that are grown organically and have been picked at their peak of freshness.  That's easy for me, because I grow all my food, but if you don't have access to your own garden, a good source of such things is the farmer's market, roadside fruit stands, and a good reliable fruit market that specializes in locally grown fruits and vegetables.  It's a colossal  waste of time to preserve fruits and vegetables that have been trucked half-way around the world because they lose a lot of their nutritional value in the process of shipping them plus you lose more in the preserving of them.

There's three ways that you can go about drying your foods; solar, in the oven, or in a dehydrator.  I have a dehydrator made by Excalibur  which costs about $200.  A pretty expensive machine, for sure, but really does a great job on things like tomatoes, peppers, and apples.  In my younger years, I had one of those cheaper ones that you can buy at any big box store.  It did an OK job on drying some things like mushrooms and peas, but I've been equally successful drying those things by the solar or oven method, so I'd say it depends on what you want to do.  Sometimes you just have to wait to buy the quality product rather than settle for a cheaper one.  In the meantime  you can try solar and oven drying.

Solar drying can be difficult.  The extension service says that you need 3-5 days of temperature above 95 degrees and very low humidity.  Something we rarely experience around here.  But if you live in a drought area in the south, you might want to give it a try.  Just put your vegetables or fruits on trays, cover them with some cheesecloth and put them in a sunny spot that is away from animals and dusty roads.  Having lived in some industrial areas, where there was so much pollution, I wouldn't attempt to dry anything outside.  You need clean fresh air.  Anyway, if the temperature drops more than 15 degrees at night, bring your trays inside, or else the dew will rehydrate what you are drying and may cause mold and spoilage.

Another method that I use that's kind of a cross between solar and oven drying is to set my trays inside my car.  You know how hot a car gets inside on a hot, sunny day.  Works beautifully for drying herbs.And I've also used it for peas and broccoli minced fine (we use this in everything; sprinkled into soup and salads, thrown into spaghetti sauce, and cheese sauces).

Speaking of herbs, they are the easiest thing in the world to dry.  For optimum flavor pick them early in the morn and tie bunches together and just hang and dry.  Above is  a picture of some that are drying in my kitchen. A kitchen isn't the best place to dry herbs, as there's a lot of grease and steam lurking about, but these are not ones that I use for flavorings, just for the scent.  To dry herbs, Just gather a bunch together, place a paper lunch bag with holes punched and cut into it over the top and suspend someplace that's dry and out of the direct sunlight.  I don't dry too many herbs, as they remain fresh out in the garden well into late fall and are one of the first things to reappear in the garden.  I do make some herbal concoctions such as Herbes de Provence,  Scarborough  Faire, and an Italian mix.  These three mixtures serve most of my seasoning needs.  I'll write more about them in future posts.

Oven drying is another method.  It's quite not very energy efficient as you have to operate your oven for several hours.  So I like to do this on a cool day, when I want to take the chill off.  You need to have an oven that you can adjust the heat down to 140 degrees.  Arrange you trays so that there is room for air to circulate around them.  Keep the door slightly ajar to help with the air circulation, or if you have a convection  setting on your oven use that.  Rotate the trays every half hour.  You must use caution so that it doesn't get to hot or the fruits/vegetables will harden on the outside before they dry on the inside, causing spoilage.  Plan for enough time to dry your produce thoroughly.  Do not stop and restart the process.  This can cause spoilage.

There's little prep work to drying fruits and vegetables, but there is some.  For fruits with tough skins, such as, blueberries, grapes, cherries, and plums the skin must be checked, or cracked.  To do this blanche the fruit in boiling water for 30-60 seconds, then immediately plunge  into very cold water to stop the cooking process.  Light colored fruits such as apples and pears need to be treated with ascorbic acid to keep them from turning brown and mushy.  You can find this by the canning supplies.  A mixture of 2 teaspoons to 1 cup of water sprinkled over the slices does the trick.  Except for mushrooms, tomatoes and onions, which will turn to mush, all vegetables need to be blanched.  Just use the guidelines for blanching for freezing to do this.  You can find this easily on the internet.

Once you have the dried fruits and vegetables, now what?  Use them in soup and casseroles.  They don't have to be reconstituted for soups.  Just add them to the stock.  As a matter fact they used to manufacture a product called Soup Starter that was just a few dehydrated peas, onions and celery, etc.   To reconstitute the dried fruits and vegetables, just soak whatever amount you are using in twice the amount of water for a couple of hours.  Remember to save  the water.  You can use it like you would vegetable broth.  Of course, dried fruits and vegetables make dandy snacks.  We love the flavor of dried corn.  And the tomatoes are good too.  A winter compote of dried apricots, pears and apples is a lovely thing in the cold winter.  A lot better than something made from anemic fruit that is available that time of year.  Although this was a rather long post, drying fruits and vegetables isn't a complicated process.  As a matter of fact our forefathers, dried apples and beans (leather breeches) just by string them up over their fires.

So I hope that answers all your question.  Next time I'll be back with some lovely things I want to share with you.  Have a nice week until we meet again!


22 comments:

  1. Hi Jane,
    Yes, I remember grandma talking about how they used to string the apples up in the attic to dry for use in pies and such. I have a small veggie garden, but we don't yeild much here in the northern woods because well, we are in the forest LOL, but we do have quite a few blackberries and raspberries. A large ashe tree fell into my best berry patch late last year and needs removed soon.
    I have many fond memories of berry picking and wildflower picking with my three girls when they were little...we used to dry flowers in the same manner as you dry your herbs. I will start making preserves again this year too. I have a funny story about that~ perhaps I will post about it on my blog.
    By the way, I've really been enjoying reading many of your old posts here on your blog & we seem to have a lot in common. For some reason I was under the impression at first that you were in the upper peninsula! You are not too far from where my husband and I both grew up (Port Huron)..we still have much family there as well as in croswell too.
    Well, it's very rainy and stormy up here at the moment. I am getting very antsy to get outside and get some dirt under my fingernails..we had company yesterday when i got a start on the flowerbed prep and now this today! Oh well.
    I may leave a few more comments on some of your older posts sometime.
    ~God Bless~
    Lisa

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  2. Hi Lisa! We ended up having the rain too. Now I have clothes drying all over the house. Now the sun is back out!! Michigan springtime weather! I started weeding the asparagus bed and then it turned cold and rainy. Now the area that was weeded needs to be redone. How will it ever all get done? The answer is it doesn't.

    I'd love to hear your story about making preserves. My mother told me they dried apples in the attic too. Don't think I could do that. Ours is so crammed full it would be hard to wedge an apple slice in!

    Yep I live on the tip of the Thumb. Makes for interesting weather being on a peninsula inside a peninsula. I love the Croswell-Lexington area. When the weather is nice, I like to go to Port Huron to shop instead of Bay City. It's such a nice drive. It hasn't changed much over the decades. Plus we stop and look at the lighthouses and the Lexington General store. Maybe stop at Williams Inn for some good coleslaw. It's just very calming.

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    1. Yep, that's Michigan alright!

      I love the shoreline of lakes Huron, Michigan, and of course Superior.
      (we went garage sailing many years ago in your area when my youngest was just a newborn~ she just turned 21 last monday!) Beautiful & peaceful place.

      Each year we take day trips to just visit some lighthouses. We also try to visit East Tawas,and Port Sanilac as well as the great ship viewing along the port huron/ marysville area. I love ships and I've missed the water since we moved up here over 18 years ago.
      I posted about the preserves today.

      ~God bless & enjoy the weather whatever it turns out to be!~
      Lisa

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  3. Great post Jane. I have dried herbs before, but that's it.

    Happy gardening and preserving ~ FlowerLady

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    1. Probably too humid down your way, Rainey, for much solar drying, though you certainly have the heat. Lilacs are in bud right now. It's starting to look like spring! Hope you are having a nice week in your little Paradise on Earth!

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  4. I dried onions one time (with great success)but the house smelled like warm onions for days...lol.

    I also use dried veggies in stir fries. Fruit in breads, cobblers and pies.

    Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Hi Shara! Our house always smells like onions anyway. I think I use them everyday. My son says there's no better smell in the world than onion, garlic, and tomatoes. Probably because that has been the scent of home all his life.

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  5. Good information! I have been wanting to get a dehydrator, and just haven't ... but this really makes me want to start drying some things this summer!

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    1. It a really easy way to preserve food, Jane. Probably the easiest.

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  6. My husband has wanted a dehdrator for years, and when I bought him one of those little round ones a couple of years ago, we were both disappointed in the results. I have a friend now who has one of the Excalibur ones that you mentioned, so I think I am adding that my wish list.

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    1. They really work great, Charlene. I like that right on the temperature know it tells you where to set it for what type of food you're drying. My son makes jerky in his and says it does a good job.

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  7. Wonderful post, I love the idea of drying some herb mixes, I will have to try drying some of our garden produce this summer, it would be nice to have on hand during the winter, sounds perfect for soup making!

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    1. Drying herbs is the easiest, April. And when you consider how expensive those little tins of sage, oregano, and thyme are in the stores, it well worth the small effort to grow some in a pot and dry them yourself. Besides, they're pretty!

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  8. Hi Jane! This is a fascinating post! My goodness, you are so inspiring and I really appreciate all the tips. I used to have a wonderful garden and especially enjoyed drying herbs, but I haven't been able to start a food garden since I fractured my back a couple of years ago. I can't dig anymore with a shovel or stay in a bent position for too long. Tony and my niece Olivia have been working on designing some large moveable garden boxes that we can keep on our patio. We recently got a book on gardening for the disabled and it had some great tips on how to make it easier for me. I am hoping that we will get them built this season. I'm getting pretty excited about the plans. They are high enough that I can sit on my walker or stand up with out having to bend down. We have a friend who just brought over some fresh cabbage and potatoes from her garden and we have been eating them every day this week. There is nothing like fresh vegetables or freshly dried or canned from the garden! Have a wonderful week ahead! Delisa :)

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    1. Hi Delisa. Gardening with a disability is difficult. I saw a type of elevated raised bed in a gardening catalog recently. It's made for those in wheelchairs. Basically it was just a trough on a stand. Have you seen those gizmos for planting tomatoes upside down so you can hang them? My neighbor, who is unable to garden has them and loves it. I hope your plans work out. There's nothing like doing a bit of gardening to brighten your day!

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  9. Dear Jane,

    What great tips! I have an Excalibur, too, and really love it (although it took a while to get used to the humming of the fan).

    I do hope that your weather settles soon, and that you can get out and play in the dirt!

    Love,

    Marqueta

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    1. HI Marqueta! I run mine in my makeshift summer kitchen on my side porch. It makes for some interesting conversations too. The young UPS and FedEx deliverymen are completely baffled by it and have lots of questions. So they get little lessons on self-sustainability. Never miss an opportunity! We had an amazing thunder-boomer here last night. Shook the entire house. This morning it's foggy but warm. Has possibilities of turning out to be a grand day!

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  10. Hi Jane! Thanks for popping over to the new blog, for your comment and putting the link on your site! That was so kind of you! I am sorry to hear that your Mom is having difficulty with washing her hair. I went through that with my Mom too and it is one of the subjects I want to discuss on the blog sometime soon as well. I hope you are having a nice weekend. It has been a quite afternoon with temps in the 90's. They say we are going to have a really hot summer here in Georgia. I am already wishing we could skip summer and I am starting to long for the cool crisp days of fall again! :) I am still working away on my tapestry and I am hoping to get it finished sometime this week. My hands are itching to do some knitting or crocheting again. Vogue has a new Crochet magazine out that has some really neat patterns too. There is a pattern for a pair of crocheted lacy knee high socks. I have never seen anything like it and the pattern has me very intrigued. They look almost like a doily in sock form! Last night we went out to dinner with some friends to a Scottish Pub. It was a lot of fun, something really different. I even played darts! I hadn't picked up a dart since I was a little kid and was afraid I wouldn't even hit the board, but I actually didn't do half bad and beat a couple of my friend's husbands! :) Have a good evening ahead Jane and thank you again for all of your sweet comments and kind support! With Love,Delisa :)

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  11. Interesting blog. I never eat drying feed :-) But is is great to read about it and I love the picture from you kitchen. So cosy.(gezellig)

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    1. Thank you Jedidja! Gezellig = cozy. Maybe you'll teach me enough Dutch so I'll be able to speak it. Do you know that where my husband works, quite a few people speak Dutch as they are only second-generation Americans. We have a large Dutch population in our state and even have a city called Holland. They even have imported an old windmill from your country and every year they have a tulip festival, where the dress in the national costume and do a dance in wooden shoes. It's a lot of fun!

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  12. After seeing that photo of your kitchen, I skipped all the rest of the information! That is the sweetest, most charming kitchen! Just lovely and so homey and welcoming. No wonder everyone was drawn to your home, I am sure it is a delightful place to land.

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    1. Thank you Joy! It's so much fun to be at our final home. You don't have to worry about the resale value. It's like having a big dollhouse to play decorate as we want. BTW, my husband made the cute cupboard. I love HL hinges!

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