Preserving Your Harvest

[BReeder!]

I ordered a dehydrator...
It's a 10 tray cabinet style unit: Gourmia GFD1850. It's a model behind I think. The GFD1950 is the current model most similar. This is new in an open box and was a store display. It's supposed to have all original packaging and components. Ebay find. It will be here in a week.

 

[WthrLady]

I ordered a dehydrator...
It's a 10 tray cabinet style unit: Gourmia GFD1850. It's a model behind I think. The GFD1950 is the current model most similar. This is new in an open box and was a store display. It's supposed to have all original packaging and components. Ebay find. It will be here in a week.

Congratulations!
One of us....One of us... LOL

 

[Sally PB]

I have my mom's canning jars. Lots of Kerr, some old Ball. The old Ball jars had a more pronounced ridge just under the screw thread. And no decorations on them. Some may have been my Grandmother's...

I also have her paring knife, known as "my little knife." She was looking for it one day, and didn't want to use anything else, she said, "because I like how it fits my hand."

It's my favorite knife now, because "I like how it fits my hand" too.

 

[vall]

Cucumber chips are dehydrating in the oven (it has a dehydrate setting). Two hours and some are almost done already, can't imagine it'll take 10+hours total. They might be too thin. I stuck some figs in there too just because I have too many to eat.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

So I finally got done doing a batch of salsa. It made 15 half pints, so I'm glad about that. I hope it tastes good... I'm just really glad it's done. I still have to do chores and make supper and I'm already wore out.

 

[ladybrasa]

For the peeps doing the cuke chips - I ended up ‘baking’ them and they got brown and crunchy, and pretty good! Unfortunately the next day they were practically soggy. So from my experience, Cuke chips work and are pretty tasty, but you either need to eat them right away or have some way to store them in completely dry air. Not sure if it is because it’s pretty humid here or the nature of a cuke, but they just seem to suck moisture back in. I was hoping for longer term storage as a healthy snack alternative to potato chips and we had a bunch of them

These ‘twice baked’ ones are going to the chickens and become eggs No true waste!

 

[BReeder!]

On cuke chips I would think vacuum sealing would help. I intend to vacuum seal the pickle chips when I dehydrate them. I have a LOT so I really hope vacuum sealing works. Anybody think I have to get silica packs? On Amazon I can 100 of them for $8.52, which isn't terrible (8.5 cents each).

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

On cuke chips I would think vacuum sealing would help. I intend to vacuum seal the pickle chips when I dehydrate them. I have a LOT so I really hope vacuum sealing works. Anybody think I have to get silica packs? On Amazon I can 100 of them for $8.52, which isn't terrible (8.5 cents each).

I saw on the reviews that once you open the bag they activate. I'd like it better if I could find some individually wrapped.

 

[BReeder!]

I saw on the reviews that once you open the bag they activate. I'd like it better if I could find some individually wrapped.

I didn't think about that...

 

[WthrLady]

On cuke chips I would think vacuum sealing would help. I intend to vacuum seal the pickle chips when I dehydrate them. I have a LOT so I really hope vacuum sealing works. Anybody think I have to get silica packs? On Amazon I can 100 of them for $8.52, which isn't terrible (8.5 cents each).

I got mine from amazon and keep them in a vacuum sealed jar. Looking to see what I paid for mine. Mine are now 12.6 cents each. They were around a dime when I bought them in 2016.
Make sure they're food safe.
Onions are about done drying, approaching hour 10.
The spring onions were done about hour 5.
All are in their tubs with a packet for three days of conditioning before sealing.