dried veggies

[nekshot]

How do you all preserve your veggies? We freeze ours but I am giving thought to dehydrating some. My mother used to dry sweet corn but it was a slow long process. I like the idea of not needing electric to store things.

[0802]

Canning -- easy, relatively cheap, lots of recipes. You can be as creative or as simple as you want. Can be difficult to transport because of the glass jars typically used, but for a higher startup cost, you can actually buy a setup that actually cans in metal cans, just like you buy in the store.

Josh

[MT Gianni]

MY wife has dried some in a dehydrator. I use them to make a stew with jerky when out and about. Make a tomato leather for sauces, green beans and carrots kept their flavor OK. Peas did not do as well. Store in a gallon zip lock where light can't get to it. Freezing leaves more nutrients canning is a better long term option.

[waksupi]

I dry what I will be using on camping trips. I just did some red and black beans this week. They are good with some rice, and are an easy thing to cook. I also dry mushrooms.
I partially dry sweet corn ,and then parch it just until crunchy, makes a good trail or snack food.
Do a Google for solar dehydrators, You will get some easy ideas on building your own. I imagine the humidity in Missouri is one of your biggest draw backs to drying food quickly. Here in the mountains, it is a pretty quick operation.

[jh45gun]

How do you dry mushrooms Waksupi and make them stay dry. I dried a bunch once and they turned out perfect and I put them in a glass jar and they all rehydrated on me not completely but enough to not be good.

[waksupi]

Jh, maybe you aren't getting them completely dry before putting them in the jar. It may very well be location too, as here in the cabin, humidity runs as low as 7% at times, and seldom above 45%. If you are in the east where 80-100% humidity reins, you are working with something I wouldn't know how to get around. I dry boletus and morels with great luck fresh, and the shaggy manes, I blanche, then dry.

Do your jars have the rubber seals, like canning jars? That would probably help. I have two quart jars full sitting here. One with the rubber lid, one with a plastic lid,and both are in perfect dry condition. Mine are dry enough you can either drop them into a stew to rehydrate, or easily crush a handful to add to a recipe.

[tommag]

Jh, maybe you aren't getting them completely dry before putting them in the jar. It may very well be location too, as here in the cabin, humidity runs as low as 7% at times, and seldom above 45%. If you are in the east where 80-100% humidity reins, you are working with something I wouldn't know how to get around. I dry boletus and morels with great luck fresh, and the shaggy manes, I blanche, then dry.

Do your jars have the rubber seals, like canning jars? That would probably help. I have two quart jars full sitting here. One with the rubber lid, one with a plastic lid,and both are in perfect dry condition. Mine are dry enough you can either drop them into a stew to rehydrate, or easily crush a handful to add to a recipe.

Ric, do you mean blanch as in quickly boiling? I always thought you had to either have the butter melted when you picked shaggies, or put them in ice water for up to a day before they turned to black goo. How long do you blanch them for, a couple of seconds, or longer?

[tommag]

We slice bell peppers and put them on the dehydrater, works good. Like Waksupi said, mushrooms dry well. Dry them until they are crisp. Dry mushrooms have an intense flavor, and are great for soups and sauces. Use the water you rehydrate them with in your soups, it has a lot of flavor.
Fruit can be pureed and spread thin on a peice of plastic and dried for fruit leather.
Apples and pears dry very well, too. Don't eat a bunch of either when you are hungry and then drink a bunch of water. Strange things happen in your stomach if you do.
If you take under-ripe pears and slice them and dry them, the result is tart, like jolly rancher candy.
Dehydraters are easy to make, just a three sided box with racks that slide in, and a very light heat source at he bottom. Have the top cover loose, so you can regulate the air flow.
For canning and drying, I would recomend the book "putting food by" It is filled with material, and warns about potential hazards for almost every ingredient.

[waksupi]

Ric, do you mean blanch as in quickly boiling? I always thought you had to either have the butter melted when you picked shaggies, or put them in ice water for up to a day before they turned to black goo. How long do you blanch them for, a couple of seconds, or longer?

Ok, ya got me. I'm not familiar with the proper terms. I guess sautee would be the correct word. I put them in the frying pan with some butter, and maybe a bit of white wine. I don't let them cook completely, just enough so they get firm. under a minute, I am sure.
You are right about saving the juice, you end up with some of the richest mushroom soup you could ever have.

[jh45gun]

Maybe that could be Waksupi they sure looked dry leather like in appearance and they were light sure did not appear there was any mosture in them I put them in gallon jars that did have a rubber seal on the lid. Why I dried them is I got a whole bunch of them from a outfit that had gotten them from a food wholesaler and was giving them away I got several flats of them. It was kinda disapointing to have them start to puff back up again and you are right I live in WI and it is humid here.

[nekshot]

Right, we do have high humidity here. I don't have trouble making good jerky, but i freeze it in bags as soon as it is dehydrated. I wonder if one of those vacuum pack units that cabellas sell would help us keep what we dry? I don't feel like going thru the motions only to freeze it so it keeps.

[tommag]

Maybe that could be Waksupi they sure looked dry leather like in appearance and they were light sure did not appear there was any mosture in them I put them in gallon jars that did have a rubber seal on the lid. Why I dried them is I got a whole bunch of them from a outfit that had gotten them from a food wholesaler and was giving them away I got several flats of them. It was kinda disapointing to have them start to puff back up again and you are right I live in WI and it is humid here.

Dry msurhooms until they are crispy, the slices should break in half, rather than bend. If you can get them this dry, put them in a sealed glass jar and keep them sealed, they should keep well. We slice them about 1/4 " thick before drying.
My wife gets funny comments at the grocery store, as whe usually buys 20 or 30 lbs at a time for drying, as well as the wild boletus, morels, and truffels I dig up.
When she explains the virtues of dried mushrooms, they are all intersted.

[jh45gun]

Thanks for the info Tommag I guess I could have dried them a bit more from what you say.

[MT Gianni]

My wife dries them and keeps them in a freezer bag in the freezer. Throw a little in when you need to cook with some. Blanch in boiling water for 15 seconds them dry.

[Gray Fox]

Something I read on a preparedness site I'm going to try here in humid Hotlanta this summer; drying fruits and veggies on screen racks in the back of my wife's station wagon. It gets hot enough that I'll have to crack the windows for some air flow. I'll monitor it with a thermometer and if it gets too hot I guess it'll be a solar cooker. I'll report the results.