food preservation: dehydrating

There is a surplus of apples this time of year - there always is.

Many people in our town have apple trees but don't harvest the fruit.

So often times we find ourselves with our apple-cup overflowing. I'll usually can some applesauce or apple chutney, but without a proper kitchen right now (we are still in the middle of a major remodel) it seems unlikely I'll be able to can this year.  

A great alternative method of preserving fruit is to dehydrate them.

We picked this Nesco dehydrator up at a yard sale a few years ago for a couple dollars and we love it. I always thought I would make a dehydrator - either with a light bulb heat source, or better yet, a solar dehydrator. Alas, I've just never had the time to make one.

Maybe someday. But in the meantime this one works great.

There are many books on the topic of food preservation and dehydrating specifically.

These are a few that I happen to have.

The "Stocking Up" book my grandmother bought for me back in 1986.

The other three, including the "American Harvest" pamphlet,

I picked up at thrift stores over the years.

(American Harvest is now Nesco, by the way.

So this pamphlet actually goes with the dehydrator I own.)

Books (or I suppose the internet) can help with what sizes to cut your fruits and vegetables, general drying times and temperatures.

Even though my apples are grown organically, I still peel them.

I find that the peels can get a bit tough after drying
- but that's a personal preference.

I would suggest that you experiment with some peeled and some not

- and see what you prefer.

I don't treat my apples with anything as I actually don't mind the honey-golden color they turn. If you want them to stay the whitish color of the fresh fruit you can look into ascorbic acid or I've even heard of salt or lemon juice baths. Again a book on dehydrating will steer you towards the best product to use based on the fruit or vegetable you are drying.

We usually just snack on the dried apples during the winter months,

although I also add them to cooking breakfast oatmeal on occasion.

I'm hoping this winter to try some more serious cooking

with the dried apples.

I noticed a recipe for Dried Apple Fruit Cake in "Putting Food By",

and "Stocking Up" has a recipe for Schnitz and Knepp

(a Pennsylvania Dutch recipe that I've never heard of before)

- both sound rather intriguing.

Right now I am all about drying apples

but there are many other fruits (and vegetables) that lend themselves to drying.

A few years ago friends gave us some wonderful surplus tomatoes from their organic garden. 

As I had limited freezer space
and was busy canning applesauce at the time

I thought maybe I could make my own "sun-dried tomatoes"
using the dehydrator.

I cut the tomatoes and placed them in the dehydrator
and they turned out wonderful.

I tried reconstituting them in olive oil with no luck

(but they did make a beautiful photograph!).

But I have good luck soaking them in a little water instead.

They are delicious added to various dishes,

giving them that rich, tomatoey flavor of expensive sun-dried tomatoes.