I have been dehydrating a lot and wanted to share a bit on the process. I prefer a dehydrator to hanging herbs. The idea of dust collecting on them is off putting to me though that can be avoided. You can do a lot with a dehydrator. It is a great tool to have on a homestead. This season so far, I have used it for dehydrating parsley, rose petals, chamomile, thyme, dill, and fruit leather. I use my dehydrator year round. One of my favorite things to make in it is yogurt. My dehydrator (Excalibur) can fit 9 half gallon glass ball jars of yogurt to incubate. It stays on the counter as a kitchen staple in our home.
I keep it simple. Some tips: don’t chop up your light herbs prior to dehydrating. If you do, they will end up all over the dehydrator from the the fan blowing. Wait until they are dry, then pull the leaves off the stalk in the case of parsley, dill, cilantro, thyme etc. Chives I harvest long, dehydrate, then toss in a jar. I leave what I can whole and break them up as I use them to retain freshness.
I use parsley a lot so am happy to fill the dehydrator with it. I use to buy it by the pound from Mountain Rose Herbs. If you cannot grow your own, I highly recommend theirs. The quality is excellent. Parsley is however easy to grow. If you have not done so yet, head on over to a good seed source like Baker Creek and get yourself a pack of seeds. Don’t forget to leave one plant to go to seed and you will really get your moneys worth out of that one packet of seeds! This entire bed seeded itself. It made an otherwise difficult year easy for my family. It really doesn’t have to be hard folks!
I dehydrate rose petals for tea. Rosa Rugosa Alba is a lovely addition to the homestead. They produce nice sized hips which are a good source of vitamin C. They are however invasive so do be careful of where you plant them. These can be a great natural barbwire fence in the form of a hedge or under windows as a ”pest” deterrent. Both human and animal alike would not enjoy a tangle with this bush. She is sharp indeed and doesn’t mess around! I love the alba (white) variety as it has a very subtle soft pink tint to it which can really be seen in the dried state pictured above. Also, if you haven’t made rose petal jelly yet, I highly recommend it! It is delicious!
Certain varieties of chamomile are perennials here in our zone 4-5 climate. If you need a little calm once in a while like me…grow some chamomile. In fact, I could use a cup right now! I love growing perennials. You only have to plant them once and they keep giving as long as they live. You can’t beat that! I started a couple different varieties by seed. I harvest them fresh for tea too but I have more than I can use fresh. I also want to preserve them to use throughout the year. Dehydrating allows me that luxury. I use a sheet below my chamomile especially when dehydrating with other things because they have little tiny parts that with fall below the tray otherwise. If you are doing all chamomile, it doesn’t really matter.
Strawberries…oh lovely strawberries! We grow Cavendish strawberries here. They are cold hardy and long lived. We really enjoy these berries. They are an early to mid season variety. They have been plentiful for us. Once the novelty of eating something new wears off, you start to preserve. We are still eating them fresh but grow enough to put up to enjoy throughout the year. After we made strawberry ice cream and strawberries over angel food cake, we started freezing some. We have oodles of applesauce from last fall so took about half a jar (quart) to an equal amount of berries plus a little maple syrup or cane sugar and blended. Once blended, pour on lipped mats. These are much better than the flat sheets for leather. They give the leather a nice chew because of the thickness.
Here we have dill. I use dill in different dips, dressings and preserves such as pickles. This lovely herb reseeded itself with no work from me. Are you starting to see how simple this can be? I hope so. There is something so wonderful about using something that you grew and processed. It is a beautiful experience.
These pictures are from a previous season but I wanted to include them because it is one of my favorite ways to preserve tomatoes. I dehydrate these until they are thoroughly dry then store in jars after they are cool. As needed I dip using tongs into balsamic or apple cider vinegar then place in olive oil and let them absorb the oil for a couple of days before using. These are fabulous. I prefer balsamic vinegar over apple cider but both are good. I use extra virgin olive oil. I think these taste so good…much better than fresh tomatoes do in salads or on sandwiches. Don’t get me wrong, I love regular old fresh tomatoes, but the depth of flavor is fantastic in these yummy treats. They can be made as needed through the year. I make a pint at a time. They sit right on my counter since they get used up in a short amount of time. You do have to be careful when preparing them in this way. You do not want bacteria growing in there. I use tongs to remove them from the jar. Below is a last harvest before a frost. This is a big table. She gets covered with lots of food over the summer for processing!
Here we have thyme. Another wonderful perennial where we live in zone 4-5. I have planted this all around edges as a lower growing herb that can get mowed over and keeps kicking! I enjoy thyme in my food as well so love having it around. It has many good uses medicinally too.
Well folks, there is a bit on dehydrating. These are the ways that I use a dehydrator currently. There are many other uses. You can make jerky and crackers and all sorts of things. I love this dehydrator because it has a thermostat and a timer with an automatic shut off. What does that mean? You can set it and walk away or go to bed. In my opinion this type of dehydrator is much more efficient that the stackable types. I have used both and they do not compare. The Excalibur design dries much more evenly. I do still rotate the trays depending on what I am drying but find it to be a great addition to our homestead! I can make a post on making yogurt in there another time. Below are the exact tools I personally use and recommend. I hope I have inspired you to add dehydrating to your homestead! Enjoy!
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