Off Grid Dehydrating Update
Greetings sisters!
I'm thankful for you sisters who love the Lord and are striving in obedience. Praise God for His mercies and patience when we fall short but by His power we get back up and keep going.
I just posted about my new off grid dehydrator, you can read about it here:
https://titus24sisters.blogspot.com/2020/04/off-grid-dehydrator.html
And today I want to share with you how it worked....
I couldn't be more pleased with it! I was concerned how the layers would hold up while I loaded it but it seems to be very durable and I have no complaints about how it was made. (I'll post if I end up finding any issues down the road.)
In my previous post you see I first tried mushrooms and they dried very fast!
I did keep the woodstove going during the night to keep it hot and dry in there. Some people just run a fan over mushrooms and dry them that way.
My next trial was frozen corn. I like drying frozen veggies because they are already blanched. There are controversies about drying fresh vs blanched and I can get into that some day but I prefer blanched on some veggies such as corn, green beans, potatoes and broccoli. Maybe something else but I can't think of it right now. What I did was buy a 5 lb bag of frozen sweet corn and let it thaw in the cooler over night. The next morning it was super cold yet so I warmed it up in hot water for a bit, drained it, gently pressed it and then pushed a paper towel around in it to soak up most of the moisture.
I sprinkled it all around the trays and let it dry with the woodstove going over night and by the next afternoon it was done.
The 5 lb bag of frozen corn dried up to fit in half of a gallon bag. I plan to do more at some point and over time get us stocked up with more dried foods. I have quite a few but we will be eating the old as I create new.
The cost savings on buying dehydrated foods compared to doing it yourself is definitely worth it in most areas, depending on what you pay for the food that you dehydrated. Another bonus of having dried foods is that you can do this with your garden harvest (which is virtually free) or discounted produce that you find at the store or farmers markets etc. It's excellent for off grid, tiny house living or for travel because it takes up a lot less room and easily rehydrates.
I want to also note that freeze dried foods are a great addition as well but what I've found out is that they have significantly raised the prices on them and you have to shop carefully otherwise you end up paying much, much more per meal than you normally would. I've always liked doing a mixture of both because each have advantages. You can look into dehydrated and freeze dried and see what works for your house.
I'm thankful for this dehydrator and am looking at a much smaller one for inside the house in the winter, if we are here. I might as well be drying all along when I can :-)
Hopefully this info helps some of you in your keeper at home duties! What have you been doing lately?
I leave you with a picture that I took in the hardware store while brother Jim was finding his items.
Aren't they beautiful? Praise God for revealing His awesomeness in His creation!
Love,
Sister Deb
I'm thankful for you sisters who love the Lord and are striving in obedience. Praise God for His mercies and patience when we fall short but by His power we get back up and keep going.
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27I just posted about my new off grid dehydrator, you can read about it here:
https://titus24sisters.blogspot.com/2020/04/off-grid-dehydrator.html
And today I want to share with you how it worked....
I couldn't be more pleased with it! I was concerned how the layers would hold up while I loaded it but it seems to be very durable and I have no complaints about how it was made. (I'll post if I end up finding any issues down the road.)
In my previous post you see I first tried mushrooms and they dried very fast!
I did keep the woodstove going during the night to keep it hot and dry in there. Some people just run a fan over mushrooms and dry them that way.
My next trial was frozen corn. I like drying frozen veggies because they are already blanched. There are controversies about drying fresh vs blanched and I can get into that some day but I prefer blanched on some veggies such as corn, green beans, potatoes and broccoli. Maybe something else but I can't think of it right now. What I did was buy a 5 lb bag of frozen sweet corn and let it thaw in the cooler over night. The next morning it was super cold yet so I warmed it up in hot water for a bit, drained it, gently pressed it and then pushed a paper towel around in it to soak up most of the moisture.
I sprinkled it all around the trays and let it dry with the woodstove going over night and by the next afternoon it was done.
The 5 lb bag of frozen corn dried up to fit in half of a gallon bag. I plan to do more at some point and over time get us stocked up with more dried foods. I have quite a few but we will be eating the old as I create new.
The cost savings on buying dehydrated foods compared to doing it yourself is definitely worth it in most areas, depending on what you pay for the food that you dehydrated. Another bonus of having dried foods is that you can do this with your garden harvest (which is virtually free) or discounted produce that you find at the store or farmers markets etc. It's excellent for off grid, tiny house living or for travel because it takes up a lot less room and easily rehydrates.
I want to also note that freeze dried foods are a great addition as well but what I've found out is that they have significantly raised the prices on them and you have to shop carefully otherwise you end up paying much, much more per meal than you normally would. I've always liked doing a mixture of both because each have advantages. You can look into dehydrated and freeze dried and see what works for your house.
I'm thankful for this dehydrator and am looking at a much smaller one for inside the house in the winter, if we are here. I might as well be drying all along when I can :-)
Hopefully this info helps some of you in your keeper at home duties! What have you been doing lately?
I leave you with a picture that I took in the hardware store while brother Jim was finding his items.
Aren't they beautiful? Praise God for revealing His awesomeness in His creation!
Love,
Sister Deb
The biblical gospel...