How can i dehydrate fruits without having one of those fancy machines?!
How can i dehydrate fruits without having one of those fancy machines?
Answers:
135F oven on cookie sheets. Get a thermostat for the oven - digital are better/more accurate usually.
Prop the oven door open with a butter knife or something if you can't get the temp low enough.
Dip the fruits or veggies in a solution of water and vitamin C if you want to help preserve the color. (Just buy some cheap vitamin C tablets and dissolve them in some water.)
Cut the fruit in sort of thin slices. For example, when I dry bananas, I cut them about as thick as I do to put onto some cereal - maybe 1/4" or a little less. Just try and keep the slices about the same size so they all dry at bout the same time. Rotate the trays too to avoid hot spots in the oven and keep things drying at the same rate.
Put them in the oven to dry overnight - depending on the fruit, that might be 6 to 10 hours.
I started off with the oven, and it works. When I found myself doing it a lot, I asked for a "fancy" machine for Christmas - a 5-tray Excalibur. It works great and I've used it lot. This is mostly to create food for multi-day backpacking trips. See this link for what I have - http://www.excaliburdehydrator.com/5-tra...
Some people do it on open trays covered with cheesecloth or nylon screen (not touching the food), but I haven't tried that.
in your oven, lowest possible temp
You can use your oven on a very low temperature.
I have a fancy machine.paid 5.00 for it at a thrift store..BUT i would say turn the oven on real low & do it that way..on foil with toothpick holes,perhaps..If ya do jerky,poke toothpick through top & hang on oven rack..Ive done this,dry it for like 8 hours or till done...try this...
http://farmgal.tripod.com/dehydrate.html...
Suck all the juice out with your mouth. Or you could just put it on low in the oven. Either way works :)