New Dehydrator

Good morning dear friends!!!         I hope your morning is going well for you.        we just got out and done our walk and it was so refreshing.       you can tell that Fall is in the air.       but, the days warm up, so that's a plus.       I got some of my fall gardening planted not quite 2 weeks ago and this morning I can actually see some of the baby sprouts from the back door.       yay!!!!   grow babies grow!!!!       I planted a lot of lettuces, beets, carrots and radishes.        I also have 4 pots of potatoes.      I don't know if they will do anything or not, as late as it is.      my hubby and I said that if they look like they will do something, we'll move the pots to the garage and set them out during the day to get heat and sun and put them up at night to protect them from the cold and frost.        it was just an experiment for fall anyway.      but this is definitely something we will do next year to have potatoes.      I hope I can keep several pots in varying stages of growth to have potatoes along all year.      anyway, we'll see.

well, I did want to share something with y'all that I got here back.        I have a dear friend and we keep in touch via facebook and text messaging.       she is always so supportive of everything I do and asks lots of questions about it and I'm more than thrilled to answer questions.        I've been dehydrating for well over 25 years.         the first dehydrator I had was round and a set temperature of 165*.      that's it.      plug it in and unplug it was the only options.          hahaha         and I used it for many years and was thankful to have it.       so a few years ago, I had enough points accumulated on our credit card that I used some of those points to get me a new dehydrator.        it's a weston, 6 tray with adjustable temps and a maximum of 48 hours.    I love that dehydrator.        I really hate to say I love "stuff", so I guess I'll say that I strongly "like" that dehydrator.          it really opened my eyes up to what dehydrated goods should look like.      

as I said, I was always thinkful for what I had earlier.       there was no facebook groups back in the day.  there was no one to ask because it was considered a waste of time by most people.     honestly.        and I think a lot people today even consider it a waste of time.        well, you don't know what you don't know.      but I know how valuable it actually is.      

once I got this new dehydrator and started playing and experimenting with it and seeing how lovely my produce was coming out of that dehydrator, I knew I could do better.        so I started playing with lowering temps.       I kept meticulous notes on what stuff looked like when it was fully dehydrated.        most people want to take produce off the dehydrator with mositure still in it and then compplain when it molds.       yes, it will mold if there is any moisture in it.       I've always been one to try to research and learn.       most people today will get  something and come to facebook and say "now what?"

well, look at the instruction manual and see what it can do as far as the mechanics of it.       what's the temp range and the max time setting?         read up about it.      when it comes to the instructions of what to do and how long to do it, I always say "IGNORE" their times and temps.       time means nothing if your produce isn't dry.      if it isn't dry, it will mold.    remember that, if you remember nothing else.       if it isn't dry, it will mold!!!!       pure and simple.      everyone wants to go as high as they can for the shortest amt of time possible and then they end up with black, wet moldy crap.       so you get what you get when that's the way you want to do it.      dehydrating is NOT instant gratification.

so, I started lowering my temps and setting my dehydrator to 48 hours and walking away.      a lot of people always say they flip everything after an hour or two on the dehydrator.       I'm happy they have time for that, I don't.        I'm not going to babysit my dehydrator and that's what I call having to babysit it. 

most people will blanch everything!!!   or they dip everything in lemon juice!!!         the only thing I blanch is potatoes and I soak them 3 times in cold water to remove as much starch as possible.     then I'll blanch and then put in an ice water bath to stop the cooking process and on to the dehydrator till they are completely "cracker crisp, rock hard and bone dry".      that ain't gonna mold or turn black.      I also set my temperature at 110*.       yes, I said 110*.         that is what my years of experiment showed me was the sweet number for my dehdyrating process.      everything stays its natural lovely colors.        I keep everything on there till it's completely "cracker crisp, rock hard and bone dry".        with the humidity that everyone has had this year, this has turned out to be the best possible scenerio for me, because I'm used to doing that as it is.       as far as dipping anything in lemon juice or lime juice, that's fine if you want everything to taste like lemon or lime.        for me, I rpefer my food to taste like it's supposed to taste.        something is wrong if you think you have to dip everything to preserve natural color.        try lowering the temperature before you start sousing everything in some kind of juice thinking it will preserve the color.      this is a couple of pics of why I dehydrate "low and slow".      low temps at 110* for as long as it takes.         both batches of peppers were green.        you can see that the 130* batch turned brown while the 110* batch picked at the same time and dehydrated a day later stayed beautiful and green.

this pic of grape tomatoes.         some dehydrated in 2021 at a higher temp and then some dehydrated this year at 110*.    there is a significant difference between the two.

one more thing before I move on.       a lot of people are telling others to dehydrate outside on the deck or patio or in the garage.        that is a bunch of GARBAGE!!!!!!!!!         have you ever tried to dehydrate the great outdoors?          have you ever tried to remove the humidity form the great outdoors?         that's impossible.       some of those people are the very ones concerned about electricity usage.       let me tell you something, if you're concerned about power usage, keep that dehydrator in the house where it should be.     in the lowest possible humidity in the middle of the summer.     if you're concerned about power usage, when will the light bulb go off that dehydrating outside in a humid area is impossible?      that one thing alone will cause a huge increase in your utility bill!!!!        so think about it before you do it.      if you live in a dry climate, then absolutley, yes, dehdyrate outside if you wish to do so.      but, don't tell everyone that's what they have to do.     because everyone can't do that and the newbies don't know that!!!!     also, outside, you have flies blowing your dehydraator, ants checking it out and all other kinds of insects.       if that's what you want, then go for it.     but as for me and my dehydrators, we'll be staying inside the house where they belong.         nothing I've ever dehydrated has stunk up my house as bad as others say this stinks up their house.      I say they have an underlying stink going on if they think garlic or onions is gonna stink the house for years at a time.      that's the way they make it sound.      and the newbies coming on don't know any better.       that's where my frustration comes from.

so that's a little background on my dehydrating history and why I do the things I do.       I know, "my kitchen, my rules", and I'm good with that.      because that's certainly my rule of thumb.       get some good healthy practices going in your kitchen and then say "my kitchen, my rules".   

back to my dear friend.        she decided she wanted a dehydrator.        I told her what I have.        she went to amazon and started looking.       she texted me and said she one ordered.       she sent me the pic of it and I loved the looks of it.        my weston is a 6 tray stackable with the heat source from the bottom.       the dehdyrator my friend got was a small 4 tray cabinet style.      I loved it!!!!      she got it and we was conversing back and forth and she was dehydrating stuff and was so thrilled to have it and I was tickled pink for her that she was dehydrating and building confidence in what she could do and how to do things.   

I kept looking at her dehydrator on amazon and I said something to my husband about it.      he asked me to send him the link to it and I did.      he ordered it for me.      hahaha        yay me!!!       I had always wanted a cabinet style, I just didn't want one of those big heavy ones, so I never even looked at anything else.         but my friend found exactly what I had been wanting.      so when my husband ordered it for me, I also knew I wanted something to be able to do liquids and semi-liquids so I got to looking and found some silicone cake pans and I got 4 of them.    upon arrival of my goodies I seen how much I'd have to cut off the silicone cake pans in order to use them in the dehydrator.     they cut really easily so it was a quick task.       I ended up with them between 1/2 and 3/4 inch tall.       some of my cuts got a little wonky, but that's ok.   they work perfectly!!!!

now for some pictures.       the brand of dehydrator is Septree.       I think they make 3 sizes and this is the smallest size.        it's really nice.        so easy to operate.

you can see the trays in the dehydrator.         I make sure the silicone cake pans are at the front of the trays and not pushed all the way back.        depending on what I'm dehydrating, I will check on it more frequently than I do my weston.        this one has a 24 hour timer, so I definitely keep an eye on time and make sure I check it before bedtime.         I don't want it going off in the middle of the night. 

my first project was dehdyrating some canned salsa and pasta sauce.        if I remember correctly, I put between a 1/4 and 1/2 cup on each tray.        popped them in the dehydrator and let it do it's "thang". 

this is my first batch of salsa done.

this was some pizza sauce.     it all turned out wonderful.       I powdered it all and can use it in soups and stews and in meatloaf or make dips and sauces with it.

this was really good.    again, it all powdered up nicely.    

so, if you're in the market for a new, small cabinet style dehydrator, I would definitely recommend  the Septree.       I really enjoy it and my dear friend enjoys her too.     we are each others enabler.       hahahaha         my husband said that it wouldn't do for us to live next door to each other, because we would always be in trouble.        hahahahaha           I think everyone needs a wonderful friend to get in "good" trouble with.    thank you Sylvia!!!!!!         love you my friend!!!!

well, this post turned out to be much longer than I had planned but I hope it's useful to anyone looking for a dehydrator.      I can definitely recommend this Septree and the 6 tray stackable Weston that I have.        they both are good little work horses.       they are small enough to handle easily and pack from one place to another.      

that's about it,  other than to tell you  God has provided a way for us to be in right relationship with Him thru the shed blood of His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.       I hope that if you haven't already accepted Christ as your Savior that today will be the day you do so.       Admit and confess that you're a sinner, believe that Christ is your Lord and Savior  and accept the greatest gift, the gift of Salvation from Christ.        He is the only way to the  Father.       just know that you are loved.      have a blessed and wonderful day.      who know's, I may be back again real soon, I hope so.     hugs and love, patty