Dehydrating Food in the Oven - Tested!

[Asheka]

I, personally, don't buy organic. I'd rather, but I can't afford it.

[CallaLily]

I buy organic when I can but it's just not always possible. I make sure to wash well and peel if it's not organic.

[Asheka]

Alright, celery, yellow pepper, and tomato tonight.

Celery slices were done in about 2hrs, and all of the super thin tomato slices were too. The thin pieces of pepper took about 2.5hrs, and the rest took about three hours.

Might try some kale tomorrow night if it's still good. I'm having far too much fun hahaha

[Asheka]

Still having fun with this. Did some cucumber and Asian pear earlier, and have some kiwi just about done

[fantasybookworm]

Awesome! I really need to get back to work. If I'm going to give up on the frozen/fresh foods, I really need to get more fruits & veggies dried so I can keep up the variety. I've been lazy in the past week (and more focused on the tote crabitat), so I ended up having to throw out the dragonfruit & young coconut because they were growing mold pretty badly. I need to get the mango & jicama done tomorrow before they join the moldfest. After that I can start getting some more stuff to dry. Peppers sound like a good idea, and tomato. I'll have to go through the food list for more ideas. And remember to only buy one or two things at a time instead of a bunch. :roll:

[Asheka]

I went through the list while at work Sunday, and just wrote things I'll eat too, and only bought two of each (other than the cucumber). The sugars from the Asian pear made it still a little "bendy" even after 4hrs, but I had put it in with the cucumber, so had to take it out. I'll probably do some alone next time, and flip them after a couple hours. I need bigger containers haha
I haven't even started on frozen stuff yet lol

[fantasybookworm]

Yeah, I also found that fruit tended to stay a little more pliable even once dried. Except for the pineapple...which I baked until it was basically pineapple chips. I've been flipping everything I put in when I take it out to check on it. Helps me check each piece for whether it's done or not, and I think it might help it dry more evenly? Might just be my imagination though, who knows. I still have a bunch of frozen things that I'll probably thaw to dry instead - raspberries, blueberries, peaches, more mango. I'll probably just toss the veggies and pineapple, I cut them differently for freezing & I already have some dried of each (cucumber and squash). And I still have live watercress & some cactus leaves in the fridge. I have no clue how well the cactus leaves will dry, but I should get them out to try, I suppose. I'll have to make sure I don't try to go shopping before I have all of this stuff done!

Oh, and I put a pinch of my dried greens mix in the food bowl tonight. I can't wait to see if they try any! So far they've mostly been chowing down on the powdered protein mix, earthworm castings, and calcium, sitting on the bee pollen, and throwing around the squash/cucumber bits (can't tell if they've really eaten any).

[Asheka]

I don't know how much they liked the dried celery and peppers, but the tomato had been pulled from the dish heh I have lots of frozen mango I might try drying. Was thinking of trying banana too, just not sure how it'll turn out heh

[KellyCrabbieLove]

Mine love banana chips

[Asheka]

Might put that on the list to try on my next day off

[megmaholm]

Banana chips are a hit with mine, too! I bought some from Wode's store a while back that are soaked in honey (I assume before dehydrating) and they love them. That may be something for you to try

[Asheka]

Thanks for the ideas!

[CrabbyEmerson]

I dried some dandelion and blackberry leaves in the oven yesterday! Came out perfect, was surprisingly easy. I made sure to watch them closely though to make sure they didn't burn or catch on fire.