Dehydrating & Why You Should Purchase a Dehydrator

I did not know about dehydrating for most of my life. Then I retired early ( thank you, hubby ) and the world of food preservation and food storage was finally able to move into my now vacate work-brain space. I knew I was going to be on a set income for the rest of my life, so I went about learning ways to store food when it was in season and at a reasonable price. Who can forget paying one dollar for one red pepper in the dead of winter here in Ontario.

My first projects were in canning. That was an adventure, a story for another day. Then came dehydrating. Then came fermenting, things like kefir and yogurt and sourdough starter.
Below is a picture of my beloved "mighty mouse" Nesco dehydrator. I purchased it with five shelves and it cost 35.00 from amazon. I have had it for more than four years now and it still works like new. I invested in a small dehydrator because I did not know if getting the Cadillac version was smart until I knew I would use and get my investment back. We all have appliances in the basement that we thought would magically make us superwoman of some kind or other.

As you can see from the picture, one of the first things I made was the dehydrated mushrooms. I was so happy and hooked from that point on. I can now have a supply in the cupboard for addition to stews and the like. I also could (and did) powder them in a coffee grinder and use as a duxelles of sorts. I add the powder to omelets, soups meatloaf and all manner of other food I want to add a savory taste too.

I have dried many foods now. Here is a pineapple, my family's favorite:

Here are sweet peppers, lovely in a stew or powdered for eggs and soups:

Here are apples:

And finally here is a picture of bananas and a pineapple:

All delicious and a wonderful way to keep food for longer periods of time. There are many books on this subject and many websites that I would recommend. http://www.21stcenturysimpleliving.com is one of my favorite resources.