Food dehydrator?

[hoggs222]

I got a simple 5 tray dehydrator for my birthday. What do you put in them? I started tonight with a few trays of chives, just to test it out.

I was thinking of doing some super chilis for some home made chili powder.

[DTro]

JERKY!

[hoggs222]

I was thinking of doing some moose jerky. Any recipes? Or do you just buy the seasonings from the store?

[DTro]

I gave up on recipes.

I cut the meat into thin strips and marinate them in a mixture of equal parts:

soy sauce

Worcester sauce

Teriyaki sauce

Toss in some brown sugar, maple syrup, and liquid smoke.

Marinate for a couple hours and then dry for about 10hrs or so

[Deitz Dittrich]

Like DTRO said... JErky.. I make burger out of my meat and them mix with store bought stuff.. Shore lunch makes great stuff!!!!

OTherwise.. fruit roll ups.. or anything!

[BLACKJACK]

I'm with Deitz, I like the venison burger and some of the store bought mixes, its on my list to make up a bunch over Labor Day weekend, then I vacumn pack and freeze it into small packages and take them out when I'm on road trips during the hunting season. Or even after a long pheasant hunt its nice to have a couple of sticks to chew on.

Bananas are good too for snacks, if you find them on sale, buy a bunch and dehydrate.

[Sandmannd]

Jerky is what I use mine for. I do the buger and venison. Find a jerky works gun. Makes it easy to do and you can find all kinds of spices for it.

Another I've done is sliced apples up. Simmer in sugar water, like two cups suger in a kettle, for about a half an hour. Dehydrate. Pretty tasty.

[BobT]

Here's a favorite at our house.

Core, peel, and slice apples into thin slices. Sprinkle with cinamon and suger and dehydrate. Makes a great healthy snack food. Can do just about any fruit you want.

Mix with raisins, nuts, and M&M candies for a great trail mix.

Bob

[TroyMcClure]

I didn't know that those things make anything but jerky.

I like DTRO's recipe, but add some chili powder and red pepper flakes and you get a wonderful little kick at the end. Sometimes you get a sweaty kick, so just make sure it is spread out evenly.

[Cicada]

Lots of fruits work well. Used to do bananas all the time. Throw grapes in and make your own raisins. Pineapple, apples, stawberries are all good. I didn't have good luck with citrus though. Best results is you use the ripest fruits, they are usually the sweetest.

[LMITOUT]

Only jerky has touched mine so far. I like the Hi-Moutain mixes. Cracked Pepper w/Garlic and Black Pepper are the two flavors I like the best. Throw a little liquid smoke in for kicks.

[archerystud]

Jerky. I add Habenro flakes to mine.

[buddha]

I have a mess of tomato, green peppers and hot peppers. Slice them thin, dry them till they are crispy and then use a blender to make a great spice. I personally love spicy food but I do take out most of the seeds. I have some pretty hot peppers in my garden so by taking out the seeds and the membrane it takes the heat down and little but has great flavor.

[mnwaterfowler13]

One thing I would always love growing up was home-made fruit roll ups made from store bought applesauce.

[DonBo]

Only jerky has touched mine so far. I like the Hi-Moutain mixes. Cracked Pepper w/Garlic and Black Pepper are the two flavors I like the best. Throw a little liquid smoke in for kicks.

This is exactly what mine is used for. Right down to the custom mix.

The wife uses it to dry fruits. Apples, pineapple, bananas are probably the best.

[jeff042479]

I just made jerky last week. Here's the recipe I use. If you google "Minnesota Whitetail Jerky" I put the recipe on Allrecipes.com It is written from before I had a dehydrator, but I used a dehydrator for about 7 hours.

1 tablespoon curing mixture (e.g., Morton® Tender Quick®)

1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon whole mustard seed

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/8 teaspoon liquid smoke

1 pound lean venison roast, trimmed of all fat and sinew

DIRECTIONS

Combine curing mixture, sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, mustard seed, ground pepper, red pepper, and liquid smoke in a large bowl. Mix until evenly blended, and set aside.

Slice venison with the grain into strips 3/16-inch thick, and 2-inches wide. Add to curing mixture and gently mix together until every slice is coated with curing mix. Place into a plastic bag, squeeze out all air, and seal; or place into a glass or plastic bowl and cover. Refrigerate for at least 18 hours to cure.

Turn oven to 150 degrees F (65 degrees C). Spray two wire racks with cooking spray, and place onto cookie sheets.

Squeeze excess liquid from the venison, and lay the strips onto the prepared wire racks, making sure the pieces do not touch each other. Place the jerky into the oven, and cook until dried, 3 to 8 hours, depending on the temperature of your oven.

You can tell the meat is done when it no longer bends and you could break off a piece with ease, but the meat should not be so dry as to be crisp and break. It is better to be less dry than over dried, because you can finish it by letting it air dry to perfection. Do not worry about color changes of the jerky, it will get lighter and harder as it continues to dry over time. Jerky can be frozen or kept in sealed containers in the refrigerator.