I have not used my dehydrator in awhile so I thought I would see how zucchini, apples and bananas turned out. In the past I mainly used my dehydrator to dry many varieties of peppers or citrus fruits. You just plug it in, turn the temperature to 135 and dry depending on the product, the size, whether you dipped it in a lemon mixture, etc. Items can take anywhere from 4 to 10-15 hours.
The only drawback is that a dehydrator (at least mine) makes some constant noise but it is over 30 years old. When I did my peppers I dried them in the garage as the smell was very strong, especially the hot peppers. See also Kitchen Gadgets – Dehydrators.
You can also use a 170 degree oven to dry vegetables and fruits anywhere from 4 to 10-15 hours as mentioned above. Just place the produce in a single layer on nonstick baking sheets. Keep the door open slightly during drying and stir and turn over the fruit every hour or so. Properly dried it should be chewy, not squishy or crispy.
Shredded zucchini before and after to be used in baking later…(I will rehydrate it)
Zucchini chips, apples and bananas… Zucchini chips drying…
I did not treat the zucchini in any way with flavorings. I just sliced it or shredded it and put them on separate trays. No for the zucchini chips, maybe if I would have soaked them in a lemon/water mixture first? They definitely need some type of seasoning to eat as a snack. I will see later how the shredded zucchini turns out in some bread…
For the apples (I used Gala, McIntosh and JonGolds but you can use any favorite apple). Smaller apples are a lot easier to cut and I used my Wusthoff Santoku knife which has a very thin and sharp blade. Cut out the hard core with an apple corer and then slice your apples 1/4-inch thick. Dip the apple slices into 1 cup water and 2 tbsp. lemon juice mixture and pat dry; sprinkle generously with a cinnamon/sugar mix (1/2 cup sugar and 1 tbsp. cinnamon, more or less depending on your taste) on both sides. These are a favorite!
For the bananas dip the 1/4-inch slices into 1/4 cup honey mixed with 1/4 cup lemon juice. Pat dry and sprinkle with nutmeg. I did dry some plain and I did not care for them but the ones with the honey/lemon juice were good. However, I prefer to have a fresh banana rather than dried.
Once the items are dry, remove and let stand overnight on scott towels at least 12 hours before placing in storage containers. If you see any moisture in the containers (I use glass canning jars) remove and dry some more.
I like the apple chips and made some more after a trip to my Farmer’s market – 4 trays of apple slices…
I also tried Weight Watcher’s apple chips. There is 1 point per 1/2 of an apple, not bad for a nutritious snack.
- 2 small apples, cored and sliced thin
- 1 tbsp. sugar
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (I have a jar with cinnamon/sugar)
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Place apple slices in a single layer on paper; sprinkle with the cinnamon/sugar combination. Slowly bake for about 2 hours until lightly browned.
Perfect timing on your blog. We have been thinking getting a dehydrator to store fruits and vegetables, but didn’t have a clue how to the whole process worked. You provided me with much needed information and answers. Thank you so much. I’m also just now seeing you are an Advance Organic Master Gardener…I may be asking some questions about that also. We have a couple of friends that are wanting to become certified Organic Farmers and not so sure how that all works. Anywhoo….love your post.
A dehydrator is a fun gadget to experiment with – the fruit/vegetables just take time to dry. The apples are really good!
Organic Master Gardeners and Organic Farmers are two very different things – but they both practice gardening and farming without the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.
MG’s are volunteers helping people in their community improve their quality of life by providing instruction on growing plants using environmentally sound practices. I took 3 months of classes in addition to volunteering 40 hours just for the first year. Each year I have to continue a certain amount of volunteer hours as well as education hours. I am also an Advanced MG because of all of my volunteer hours. My Organic training again came through classes and volunteer work to be certified. This is not a business but volunteering in my community.
Organic Farmers have a business, I am sure there are very strict rules and regulations to be certified as an Organic Farmer, I believe controlled by the Dept. of Agriculture.
I am happy that you enjoyed this post and I am just as happy to provide you with more info…
My dehydrated fruits and veggies go into sealed plastic bags straight out of the dryer. I like zucchini chips get spiced up to the max with sauces to make flavors such as wasabe horseradish zucchini snack chips or dehydrated hot mustard zucchini chips.
Thanks for the suggestions – zucchini chips do need some flavoring 🙂
OMG! I am not computer savvy so I don’t know/remember how I reached this site but I am so happy that I stumbled upon it. I’ve printed out 1/3 ream of recipes being afraid I won’t remember how to get here again! I have an on-going membership to WW which I have not used and you reminded me it’s to my advantage to get in to those meetings in order to drop 30 lbs. Your added notes on their recipes are most welcomed as I have tried some of their recipes in the past and literally tossed them down the disposal. A waste of good food and money. I mostly broil or saute very simple meals but get bored quickly but love to cook from tasty lo-cal/fat recipes. Thanks for getting me interested again and back on track.
I hear you on being computer savvy! I am a lifetime member of WW and have not done so good in the last few years – I blame it on this blog and all of the cooking 🙂 I have a lot of WW recipes and some have not turned out too good. The ones I have posted are tasty – of course it is portion control and I find you really can cut back even further on the fat when cooking. I’m glad I sparked some interest for you and I think your comment has done the same for me 🙂
Great. Keep those tasty lo-fat recipes coming my way. My downfall is bread. The mini-zo is trouble! Too easy and too good and easily puts on the lbs!