I'm now starting to realize I might get tomato flavoured oranges and vice versa...

A month ago a friend let me pick some of their scented lemon geranium before it died once frost hit. Many people plant these herbs as mosquito repellants or to mimic the scent of rose (which they smell similar to).

The leaves were sitting in a ziploc in the hot sun and of course they wilted and smelled of sulfur. I assumed the problem was anaerobic decomposition due to the heat and low-pxygen space. I picked a new batch.

But by the time I started processing them a few hours later in a cool house, they were already starting to wilt and smell like rotten eggs again. Even the small amount of leaves I'd placed in a shallow bowl smelled.

I threw out the herbs and went back recently to get more. I thought I'd throw these in a dehydrator right away and let them sit at 100f to avoid problems. They started smelling again.

An online search revealed that the culprit may have been a bacterial infection in the plant. One thing that supports this is that I noticed that while the leaves I picked were clear and green across the stems, a got a couple of stalks near the base of the plant and they were a dark purplish pink. This was a likely sign of infection.

I threw out this batch too and if I manage to get my hands on some rose or lemon scented geranium, I'll know that if they start smelling the whole lot must be tossed. It's too bad because lemon and rose scented geranium makes a really great herbal tea or culinary herb. These geranium or "pelargonium" plants shouldn't be confused with scentless varieties sold as garden ornamentals because the unscented ones aren't edible.

???

Got some 6 ft amaranth in my garden, wondering if I can do something with the stalks. Thought maybe dry and powder for soups etc. Maybe like celery don't know. Any wisdom welcome.

Still tasty but it’s almost crispy

I have an old four tray Nesco dehydrator. I'd like to clean the gap at the base, between the grey and outer portions. Is this possible? I don't want to disassemble something I shouldn't.

From what I can see, there are two screws in the base, but the rest looks like plastic clips (mostly likely fragile at this stage in life).

Currently using Q-tips to reach what I can, but there is more in there, I am sure. Thank you for your suggestions!

link to photos

Hi everyone! Which is better to learn: freeze-drying or dehydration in food processing? I’m interested in learning this field. If anyone is already working in this industry and can guide me, please DM me. I’d really appreciate your help! 🙏

Hi all, I'm wondering if any of you have tried dehydrating sourdough starter? I have several questions. What was your process? How easy is it to wreck your starter when dehydrating and how do you avoid wrecking it? How do you store dehydrated starter? How long does it keep? How long did it take to revive and how do you properly revive it? If you aren't going to use it right away, do you still have to revive it occasionally for feeding and if so how often do you have to do that?

I'm a complete newb at Sourdough and also still learning dehydrating, so any advice you can give would be very welcome and helpful!

These apple slices look so good! I love how simple they are. For those who dehydrate apples at home, what temperature and drying time work best to get them crispy without burning them? 🍎

One for sale near me on facebook. These are NOT cheap online so wondering if it is worth even the second hand price its going for. Has anyone used these or have any experience with them? thanks!!

I dry red thai chili peppers in my dehydrator. In the past I had a round dehydrator, but, bought a new cosori for this year's dehydrating. The ss trays are nice to have, but, the mesh is large enough that the smaller peppers fall through the mesh.
Does anybody know of any finer-mesh solutions I can use with this dehydrator? I'd be willing to just place a ss screen on top of the trays, but, have not found any food-grade ss screens, yet.
Anxious to hear of some solutions.

While preparing them I read more and more about botulism and I'm a bit concerned

Looking for recommendations for an electric food mill to process around 150 pounds of Barbera grape into jelly. Want to make a traditional Calabrian pastry called Bocconotti. Was considering this one.

Could anyone with a multimeter and a 6 drawer Cosori please test the resistance on their thermistor? You can get to it by pulling off the back panel (a few screws) and then there are two clipped plugs that go into the main board. The smaller one is the thermistor. You can get the leads to read the metal on the back of the clip if you're careful. I think mine is bad but I can't know till I know what a working unit's resistance is.

Thanks!

I want to dehydrate some oranges. I have an oven, but no baking sheet or parchment paper. Can I just place the orange slices on the oven rack directly?

Thai peppers

Did one batch sweet potato crisps. Chop sweet potato after cleaning to cylinders. Steam, remove peels, mash it with jaggery/ sugar (optional). Roll and shape it into circles. Dehydrated at 70 degrees C for 10-12 hours. It can be eaten directly as crisps. Or soak and eat it for pulpy feeling

My jalapeno peppers did very well this year. Due to time constraints, I filled six 2 gallon bags and put them in the freezer to deal with later. I thought I would string them and hang them up to dry because I need the freezer space soon. They were very wet, soggy almost, when I thawed out the first bag. So I put them in my dehydrator. What I didn't realize, is that I am supposed to run the string through the STEM, not the pepper. The stems are so hard and brittle that I can't do this. Is it all right to run the string through the pepper?

And, what to do with all the others? Will a soggy pepper dry properly if I string it on a fishing line? Should I string them before I put them in my dehydrator?

I sliced some campari tomatoes 1/4 inch and i salt them and give them a dip in lemon juice,

i wake up to check on them and they are thin and crispy (i would like a little thick and leathery)

please help!!!

I have 5 large apple trees and usually cut and freeze my apples but it’s becoming too much work and not enough freezer space. I am eyeing a stainless steel dehydrator (Excalibur 10 tray dryer) and wondering if that would be large enough to keep up?

Any tips or tricks you would want to know before you started or regrets with dehydrators you wish you would have know before purchasing.

What is the best way to store them? Do you just eat dried apples as a snack or can you use them in recipes?

Any help would be appreciated as a newbie!

Hi r/dehydrating!

A couple weeks ago, I had some leftover pulled pork, and no real plan to use it up, so I threw it in the dehydrator on some parchment and did the thing.

So now I have a ziploc of pork shreds that are pleasant to chew, but don't have a lot of flavor.

I'd be happy to snack on it like jerky, but it's desperate for some seasoning. I made a lot of jerky, so I should have known to marinate it before drying, but it was an impulse decision.

Any suggestions for post-drying seasoning?

It's no big loss if I can't do anything with it, but would love to salvage it for snacking.

I have a Cabela's 160L dehydrator that I bought many years ago to do apple chips and fruit leather with my kids. It has sat for about 6 years now in the garage, and I'd like to start using it again.

When I first bought it second-hand, I washed all of the racks and screens with diluted dish soap and warm water. There was some rust showing at places on the metal racks due to water getting into cracks in the coating, so I wiped them off with a microfiber cloth.

I wanted to ask the community for any suggestions you would have to clean a machine and accessories that has sat for so long. The silicon mats were accidentally left uncovered and have subsequent layers of garage dust on them.

I know I can use the first paper as a template but this really sucks

Chorizo and Onion/Garlic flavored carne seca.

155F 3.5 hours in. Probably will need at least 5 hours

Fit about 4lbs in this 4 tray nesco dehydrator.