Dehydrating/ dehydrator recipes

[schurchill39]

I was just wondering if anyone here dehydrates regularly?

I started slowly getting into hunting this year so the Mrs. and I figured we would make our own jerky. I did not know just how awesome a dehydrator was until we started playing around with it to see what else we could make. There are tons of fancy ones out there but I just went to crappy tire and picked up a cheap one and have zero complaints so far (except maybe capacity). Now every time we go on a road trip we will slice up 6 apples the night before and make apple chips for snacks.

I've made goose jerky, duck jerky, and a couple of batches of beef jerky so far. I've played with a few different recipes but my favorite to date is the Ducks Unlimited Spicy Goose Jerky. I just made a batch yesterday with beef and it turned out awesome too.

Typically I'll just go out and buy the cheapest cut of steak I can get and trim the fat off of it. Then I throw it in the freezer for 2 hours so it firms up a bit and makes it really easy to cut my 1/4" strips. Marinate for 24-72 hours then dehydrate for 8-12 hours and you've got awesome meat. With both the goose and the beef I've found that 3lbs of fresh meat gives you about 1lbs of jerky. (Not to mention the $$ you save if you were to buy that amount at the store!)

Does anyone have any of their own recipes or suggestions of other things to make?

[Colin_R6]

I just got one for Christmas, been using the convection setting on the stove up until now! Bro picked me up one of the 10 rack square ones from Cabelas! I'm a big fan of the cabelas jerky kits. 3lbs of ground moose and 2lbs of ground pork through the Jerky gun.

I've tried the Cabelas and the Hi-Country jerky kits so far. The Cabelas ones come in pre-measured quantities for three 5lb batches. The Hi-Country one is not pre-measured, pain in the ass to measure and store etc for next time - i'll just stick with the Cabelas ones when they go on sale.

I haven't done apples yet, will have to give that a try. Did you use any lemon juice or anything to prevent them from oxidizing and turning brown? I've done strawberries once, they tasted great, but the whole house smells like you are dehydrating weed!

Can you tell I got a Cabelas gift card for christmas in recent history? hah

Looking forward to seeing some good recipes on this thread!!

[relyt92]

I love dehydrated apples, banana chips can be quite good too.

[schurchill39]

I don't use any lemon juice for my fruits as the browning doesn't bother me. It doesn't affect the taste and I'm not trying to make a pretty salable product so I don't bother. I quite literally just cut up an apple into slices, cut the core out and put it in the dehydrator. I'm going to try bananas with the apples next time though!

[nzwasp]

Originally posted by Colin_R6
I just got one for Christmas, been using the convection setting on the stove up until now! Bro picked me up one of the 10 rack square ones from Cabelas! I'm a big fan of the cabelas jerky kits. 3lbs of ground moose and 2lbs of ground pork through the Jerky gun.

I've tried the Cabelas and the Hi-Country jerky kits so far. The Cabelas ones come in pre-measured quantities for three 5lb batches. The Hi-Country one is not pre-measured, pain in the ass to measure and store etc for next time - i'll just stick with the Cabelas ones when they go on sale.

I haven't done apples yet, will have to give that a try. Did you use any lemon juice or anything to prevent them from oxidizing and turning brown? I've done strawberries once, they tasted great, but the whole house smells like you are dehydrating weed!

Can you tell I got a Cabelas gift card for christmas in recent history? hah

Looking forward to seeing some good recipes on this thread!!

I prefer the smell of dehydrating fruit over dehydrating meat for 20 hours.

[Disoblige]

What about Kale chips?
I've had ones that were baked and they tasted great.

I would imagine a dehydrator could produce some amazing results too.

Oiled and pre-seasoned, should take 1-3 hours in the dehydrator depending on how it's seasoned.

[carson blocks]

In addition to the regular jerky etc, I like to dehydrate canned pineapple chunks or rings. Rinse them first to make them less sticky. Makes a nice sour candy that keeps for a while.

[syscal]

Will revive this one. Curious if you guys are still dehydrating.

Just picked up the small Excalibur dehydrator off Amazon. 40% off put it in the right price range, I was looking at Nesco until that sale.

I've made a couple batches of jerky from this recipe - pepper jerky

Going to see how these work out - Paleo Skittles

Not a fan of sweet potato so only making one color to see how good/gross it is.

On to fruit leather after that. Over all I'm enjoying the simplicity of everything, it really takes no time and at least there's one more thing in the house that's a little bit healthier.

[msommers]

Moose meat changed my life.

I wish I was a hunter or knew someone who bags moose.