Dehydration Abounds

Nothing beats the heavenly smells one can create in the kitchen with very little effort. This week I borrowed my Aunt's dehydrator and have been "drying" nearly anything I can get my little fingers on. Beginning with the basics, I dehydrated fruit (bananas, strawberries, blueberries...), whatever I had on hand that needed to be used before going to waste. Within 24 hours of possessing this device, I had 1 quart of an assorted dried fruit mix (HELLO TRAIL MIX!!) but desired to be a bit more adventurous.

Fruit leather was the next attempted creation... Success abounded plentifully. Each night before bed I would puree the fruit as it was or add a few small things (nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, other fruit, etc.) and spread it onto the Saran Wrap I cut specifically to fit the trays of the dehydrator. The following morning I would awake to smells of apple pie, strawberry-bananas, juicy pears, and a mix of all the above.

Cherry tomatoes sat on my counter for several days before they were finally put to rest on the dehydrator tray. Having returned from work early one afternoon, I simply cut the tomatoes in half and laid them cut side up on the trays. 7 hours later I had myself some "SunDried" Tomatoes. :)

Zucchini chips are great too! Sliced paper thin to 1/8" thick, dried overnight and harvested in the morning... a quick nutritious snack is right on hand. The thiner the slices, the less time necessary for drying. I recommend uniform cuts so they dry consistently. I also tried drying some without the skin on to see if there was a difference but did not find anything to have changed.

Beef Jerky was the original reason I requested the use of my Aunt's dehydrator. A recipe given to me from my host family in Europe has sat in my recipe-book for too long to be ignored any longer. So I sliced my meat and marinated it overnight in two different marinades. One was teriyaki and the other was sloppy joe. Yes, sloppy joe jerky. I made sloppy joes for the kids while I was in Europe and my host mother absolutely loved the flavor of the sauce. So she used it for other things and one of the other things turned out to be beef jerky. Yummy. That is all that needs to be said. As I placed the strips of meat onto the dehydrator the next morning my mouth began to water in anticipation. I left for work and returned almost 9 hours later. The room smelled divinely, a mix of teriyaki and sloppy joe; I couldn't wait to try a piece. But, as I lifted the lid of the dehydrator, my heart sank. The meat had dried for too long... I ended up with completely dried and crackly pieces of meat, nothing jerky about it. Upon taste testing a piece, it instantly melted in my mouth. My meat was now filled with flavor but lacking the chew. This could have discouraged me from further attempts at making this jerky, but it has not. As I type this post out, there is a new batch in the dehydrator. Since I will be around my apartment more today than the last time I attempted this creation, I foresee a better result. Or at least am praying for a better result. Have no fear though, the first batch will still be consumed and not be put to waste.

Tomorrow the dehydrator will be returned to it's rightful owner. Should this current batch of jerky turn out better from simply observing it more frequently, I hope to borrow it again to create more goodies.