Now that the temperature is cooling off, and slowly but surely the leaves on the plants that make up my garden are turning yellow, I decided it was time to do something if I wanted to save what was left of my vegetables.
That something just happened to be purchasing a dehydrator. I hadn’t thought anything about it until my boss mentioned eating cucumber chips that a friend of hers had made when she wanted to save her cucumbers from a certain frozen death in the winter. It sounded like a plan to me since I didn’t want to throw away the last bit of growing veggies I had. So, off to the computer I went to do a little bit of research. I looked up dehydrators on Wal-Mart’s website and found a few that looked like something I would like to try. The cheapest model was $34 and some change but I wasn’t sure it was what I wanted, especially after I read the reviews. It seemed like only one person was happy with that model so I decided to go one up from there.
The next day I headed out and searched the aisles at my local store. Low and behold, the only dehydrator my Wal-Mart had in stock was the one I wasn’t sure I wanted. Time was of the essence though so I went ahead with the buy. I got my dehydrator home and opened it up. It was a bit bigger than I had expected and had a very cheap, flimsy look to it but really, what more could I expect for 30 bucks! I did, however, like the fact that it had five layers that allowed me to dehydrate five different items at the same time. This was an idea that I really liked. Next I found the instruction book and the paperwork for my one year warranty that is included with the purchase (another plus in my book). After reading the first few pages of my instruction book, I landed on a page that gave instructions on how to make dried fruit rolls. Yey!! Fun! I guess in my excitement to start using the machine, I didn’t notice that the instruction book was also a book of recipes. For an amateur dehydrator user like me, this was a fantastic bonus. I really liked the fact that the book gave detailed instructions on preparing the food before it is to be dehydrated. Personally, I never knew that not preparing certain items correctly can cause some serious issues like botulism. Scary! I’m also pleased that the book explains how to properly store your items and about how long you should expect them to last.
Anyway, after a bit of reading I began my first dehydrating experience. I sliced some cucumbers, some tomatoes, and some green onions and added each one to their own little “layer” inside the dehydrator. I placed the heater (which also happens to be the top of the machine) inside the “doughnut hole”, and plugged it in. About four hours later my items were ready. The green onions and tomatoes came out fantastic!! The cucumber chips however, were just not my thing. The dehydrator did its job and turned the cucumbers into chips but I just couldn’t get past the overwhelming flavor. Yuck! However, that is totally a personal thing. To each his own I guess. I did a few more rounds with some other veggies and was never disappointed. As a matter of fact, I am going to order a few accessories so that I can start making my fruit roll ups and possibly some beef jerky.
I must admit that this product is not for the professional or serious jerky maker since you cannot change the temperature nor can it do anything that the more expensive ones can but for the amateur like me that just wants to save a few veggies, this machine was perfect.
