I am a huge proponent of having the right tools for the right jobs. I mean, what a chore certain tasks become when you don't have the tools that can make it easier and faster and, well, let's admit it - more fun! Right? Let's look at carrots as an example. I buy my carrots currently at the grocery store. What option do I have in the middle of winter? It is what it is. Anyway, I buy them in the large, five pound bag. I could keep these carrots in my refrigerator, where it would take up about half of one vegetable drawer. I primarily use carrots in soups and stews because we are just not huge fans of cooked carrots. Unless they are cooked in a honey glaze - which is really not all the good for you. So, these carrots would most likely just turn nasty. Come on, we've all been there. Holding our nose with one hand while trying to throw away the white, slimy mess that was once a bag of carrots. My solution to this dilemma? My dehydrator!
But I'm getting ahead of myself. We were talking about the right tools for the job. Okay. Back to the carrots. Now, because these are store bought and definitely not organic, you absolutely should get the skin off. Have you ever tried to peel a carrots with a knife? I just tried - for the fun of it and to see if it was possible. Yeah - only if you want to risk losing a finger or two and waste most of the carrots. See, a peeler is the right tool for the job.
Okay, I know. Pretty dump example, right. But how about slicing the carrots? The way I see it, you have four options: (1) bribe your husband or bully a child to cut them. Assuming, of course, that they don't just jump up and volunteer for the sheer joy of it! Good luck. Especially since they will not be consistent in thickness. (2) Cut it yourself with a knife and try to be as exact and precise as possible. Take a day of it and have fun. Me, I have better things to do. No, really, I do. I don't spend all day in the kitchen. (3) Use a mandolin to slice the carrots. This works okay and is a much better option than a knife. But you do increase the risk of losing a finger tip. And carrots don't fit in the safety holder handle grippy thing. They are usually to hard and skinny. (4) The best tool for the job to slice carrots? A food processor with a slicing tool. You can slice five pounds of carrots in like ten minutes. It's awesome. And with three kids "helping" they could barely keep up handing me the peeled carrots. See, the right tool for the right job.
Now, once those carrots are nicely sliced, put them on the screen of the dehydrator. Now, some people recommend blanching them before dehydrating. Me, forget about it. It's an extra step that isn't necessary - providing you are using them in soups. It also minimizes the time it takes to dehydrate them. However, if you really like your carrots on the side, as in an actual side dish, you may want to blanch them first so that they look a more bright and bold orange. Personally, I could care less. My cooked carrots are usually a caramelized brown when I am done torching, I mean cooking them.
See, don't these look so pretty? Now, I have enough screens to dehydrate ten trays at a time. Believe it or not, that is only a little more than half the bag of carrots. The next day, I did it again and filled another nine trays - so for the math challenged, that means I dehydrated 19 trays of carrots in a two day period. I put this together in the late afternoon once we were done homeschooling and let it dehydrate overnight.
In the morning, we put the finished carrots in jars. That one five pound bag gave me a quart and a half-pint of dehydrated carrots. Now, the last time I did this, I used it in my convenient meals in jars for about 12 of them, if my memory serves me correctly. So, five pounds really doesn't go as far as you think. But still, don't they look so pretty? Orange is really not my color, but I just love seeing these jars. I know, I know, it's probably just me.
Anyway, you really do need to get a dehydrator because you can use it to make your own minced onion, onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, tomato powder, cheese powder, instant rice, tomato paste, celery, parsley, cilantro, chives, strawberries, mangoes, blueberries, apples, bananas, grapes, etc. I think you get idea. And all of these things can be used to make your food taste absolutely wonderful. And you can prepare meals in advance. Bonus, right? And minimize space required for the refrigerator. And eliminate having unidentifiable plastic growing stinky things in your vegetable drawer. Out of all the reasons to have a dehydrator, that has to be the one that does it for me.
Now, if you'll excuse me for a bit, I have some celery to slice and dehydrate.
Be blessed!
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