# Stuff and Things > Cooking >  Dehydration Thread

## HawkTheSlayer

I love to dehydrate all kinds of things. Onions, green onions, beef, pork, carrots, potatoes, apples. 
But my favorite thing to dehydrate is fresh herbs. I can't possibly use all of what I harvest fresh. 

I use a dehydrator. 
You don't need dehydrater and for large amounts a gas oven is better. 120-150 degrees is what you are looking for. If your oven doesn't go that low, set it to 140 or the lowest level and leave a crack in the oven door. 

Here's some fresh mint I dry to make tea and some fresh cut sweet basil. 20180524_103236.jpg20180524_103136.jpg

----------

Kris P Bacon (05-24-2018),valley ranch (05-24-2018)

----------


## Kris P Bacon

I used to dehydrate mushrooms by tearing the larger ones into smaller pieces then placing them on a horizontal window screen with a fan blowing on them for 2 days, then I stored them in honey, to prevent oxidization and preserve potency over time.

----------



----------


## Retiredat50

This is the dehydrator I use.  I use it mainly for beef jerk.  The trays are large and the digital control is nice.  Also, there is no need to rotate the trays like in the older one I had.

AQsTb1BXTQO7._UX300_TTW__.jpg

----------

MisterVeritis (05-24-2018)

----------


## Kris P Bacon

> This is the dehydrator I use.  I use it mainly for beef jerk.  The trays are large and the digital control is nice.  Also, there is no need to rotate the trays like in the older one I had.
> 
> AQsTb1BXTQO7._UX300_TTW__.jpg


I have a large electric smoker that can be set very low, digital controls also.

----------



----------


## Retiredat50

> I have a large electric smoker that can be set very low, digital controls also.


Are you happy with it?  I have been thinking about getting an electric smoker, they seem to be great, but have held off because it just feels alien to have a smoker with no fire.

----------



----------


## Kris P Bacon

> Are you happy with it?  I have been thinking about getting an electric smoker, they seem to be great, but have held off because it just feels alien to have a smoker with no fire.


It was given to me used, recently. I have only used it once, for mullet. Seemed to work pretty good, you set the time and temp and it does the rest. I only had mesquite chips, probably not the best. I will try chicken with hickory chips, soon. Masterbuilt is a well regarded brand.

----------

Retiredat50 (05-24-2018)

----------


## Retiredat50

> It was given to me used, recently. I have only used it once, for mullet. Seemed to work pretty good, you set the time and temp and it does the rest. I only had mesquite chips, probably not the best. I will try chicken with hickory chips, soon. Masterbuilt is a well regarded brand.


I am going to look into this, I have a ceramic grill that is good for smoking, but it does not hold much.

----------

Kris P Bacon (05-24-2018)

----------


## Old Tex

> Are you happy with it?  I have been thinking about getting an electric smoker, they seem to be great, but have held off because it just feels alien to have a smoker with no fire.


We also have one. The meat that it turns out is wonderful. We did a round steak on it once that was heaven on earth good. It has a remote control so I can control it without even going outside. I only have to go out to put on more wood & don't even have to open it up to do that so it doesn't affect the temp much. The only down side is that we tend to fill it up to smoke & there's only 2 of us to consume all of the meat. Yes we freeze it but that sure fills up our little freezer. We've had it a couple of years now & if it were to die tomorrow, it would be replaced tomorrow. We love it that much.

----------

Kris P Bacon (05-24-2018),Retiredat50 (05-24-2018)

----------


## HawkTheSlayer

> Are you happy with it?  I have been thinking about getting an electric smoker, they seem to be great, but have held off because it just feels alien to have a smoker with no fire.


Propane smokers are the best all around. You can use them anywhere and they are way cheaper to operate than charcoal. 
Plus, like electric smokers, you can set it and go about your business for the six hours without having to worry about any heat fluctuations and lighting an additional round of charcoal in a separate container or adding coals during the whole process. 
I do two runs of smoke at the beginning when smoking for myself. That's the only additional downtime I have, reloading the smoke box. 
Some folks don't like too much smoke , so most times its just one run of pecan shells or sticks. 

Propane at the Ace Hardware here is now $13.48 for a full(liquid shoots out of the bleed hole) 20lb. REFILL
WALMART is $14.98 for a 15lb. EXCHANGE.

----------

Kris P Bacon (05-24-2018),Retiredat50 (05-24-2018)

----------


## HawkTheSlayer

> I used to dehydrate mushrooms by tearing the larger ones into smaller pieces then placing them on a horizontal window screen with a fan blowing on them for 2 days, then I stored them in honey, to prevent oxidization and preserve potency over time.


 :Geez:

----------


## Kris P Bacon

> 


What? They were for "medicinal" purposes, only! :Cool20:

----------



----------


## Thing 1

This thread is making me thirsty.

----------


## Kris P Bacon

> This thread is making me thirsty.


lol, when I first read it, it reminded me of a western I recently saw. The town drunk ran out, he was stumbling around slurring "how dry I am, how drryyy I ammm'.

----------

Retiredat50 (05-24-2018),Thing 1 (05-24-2018)

----------


## HawkTheSlayer

Somebody PM me and said they thought the thread was about me sweating and passing out.  :Geez:  :Smiley ROFLMAO: 

I love that lady.

----------

Retiredat50 (05-24-2018)

----------


## Old Tex

so most times its just one run of pecan shells or sticks. 

Oh my God Hawk, I NEVER thought about pecan shells to make smoke. I shell masses of pecans every 2 to 4 years & now I have a use for the 100 lbs of shells that we throw away. Thanks for saying that.

----------



----------


## HawkTheSlayer

> so most times its just one run of pecan shells or sticks. 
> 
> Oh my God Hawk, I NEVER thought about pecan shells to make smoke. I shell masses of pecans every 2 to 4 years & now I have a use for the 100 lbs of shells that we throw away. Thanks for saying that.


Shells are almost all I use. Like you,  we have tons of shells. 
I hand crack plenty but we have a Meyer's Mechanical cracker too. Depending on the size, i can crack about 120 lbs an hour. 
When i smoke at the shop out on the farm , i usually just pick sticks under the nearest pecan tree and break them down small and put then soaking. 

When i had a barrel smoker/pit , i would cook and smoke with straight pecan logs. 

My whole house sure does smell good and minty from dehydrating. Especially when you first walk in from outside.

----------

Old Tex (05-24-2018)

----------


## HawkTheSlayer

> so most times its just one run of pecan shells or sticks. 
> 
> Oh my God Hawk, I NEVER thought about pecan shells to make smoke. I shell masses of pecans every 2 to 4 years & now I have a use for the 100 lbs of shells that we throw away. Thanks for saying that.


I use the smallest , very fine shells because they pack good in the smoke box. Any size will do, though. 

After cracking, i have a hardware cloth coonass, hand shelling box set up. The first screen is 1/2 inch hardware cloth. The cracked pecans are poured on the screen and moved around to loosen the shell and allow the already loose shells to fall through onto the next screen which is 1/4 inch hardware cloth. 
Here, the shells accumulate with smaller pieces of pecan meat. The little scraps of meat are picked out. The very small shell pieces fall through the 1/4 HC into the bottom of the collector. 
These are the ones i prefer. Somtimes they contain some small pieces of pecans too. 

The larger shells I give away. Everyone's happy.

----------

Old Tex (05-24-2018)

----------


## Kris P Bacon

Pecans are a big deal in north florida (hardly ever grows here) I remember a sign I saw in Quincy 
Pecans
Buy, sell
Crack.                     lol

----------



----------


## HawkTheSlayer

> Pecans are a big deal in north florida (hardly ever grows here) I remember a sign I saw in Quincy 
> Pecans
> Buy, sell
> Crack.                     lol


That is A popular sign here. You see them everywhere. 
I never thought about it like dat.  :Smiley ROFLMAO: 

We have a large shelling operation here and the family truly has the best quality product I've ever encountered. 
The men owners are some good folks but their personalities could use some tuning up. I went to high school with some of them. 
Next time I see one of them, i going to raise hell about their signs and tell them to take that down or I'm going to report them to the DEA.  :Headbang:

----------

Kris P Bacon (05-24-2018),Thing 1 (05-24-2018)

----------


## JMWinPR

> Propane smokers are the best all around. You can use them anywhere and they are way cheaper to operate than charcoal. 
> Plus, like electric smokers, you can set it and go about your business for the six hours without having to worry about any heat fluctuations and lighting an additional round of charcoal in a separate container or adding coals during the whole process. 
> I do two runs of smoke at the beginning when smoking for myself. That's the only additional downtime I have, reloading the smoke box. 
> Some folks don't like too much smoke , so most times its just one run of pecan shells or sticks. 
> 
> Propane at the Ace Hardware here is now $13.48 for a full(liquid shoots out of the bleed hole) 20lb. REFILL
> WALMART is $14.98 for a 15lb. EXCHANGE.


I have 2 20# tanks, last one was filled to 17#, the other to 18. Is this due to ambient temperature, or just plain ole bait and switch?

----------


## JustPassinThru

> This thread is making me thirsty.

----------



----------


## HawkTheSlayer

> I have 2 20# tanks, last one was filled to 17#, the other to 18. Is this due to ambient temperature, or just plain ole bait and switch?


Most folks here set the scale at 37 or 38 pounds and fill without cracking the air bleed screw at the top. This is suppossed  to give you 20 lbs of gas and 17-18 pounds of tare weight for the bottle. The tare weight is stamped on every bottle. 
Yet , they hook that huge brass coupling up and it must weigh two pounds. 

That's why I go to the local Ace hardware. They put the bottle on the scale, but crack the bleed vent open and fill till liquid shoots out the bleed hole screw. I know I'm getting a full bottle. 

I never thought about it , but I'm sure the ambient temperature is a factor in filling bottles where the bleed screw remains unopened.

----------


## HawkTheSlayer

There's some real butt faces that fill bottles close to the farm. They are high at 20 dollars and don't vent. I hate going there but every so often I have to because of travel distance. 
They always make you pay first. 

One day I went there to get filled. Knowing what was going to happen and I was going to get screwed , i just unscrewed the valve myself and brought the screwdriver along. 

The old hag starts filling the bottle and has no idea. If the bottle was full at the scale weight of 37 pounds, it would have vented. It never vented. I went in the truck, got the screwdriver and closed the vent screw. She asked me what I was doing. I told her closing the bleed screw. 
Then, she got angry with me(for exposing her) , yet I never spoke a word. Till I was leaving. 
I told her next time i would bring an audience.

----------


## Kris P Bacon

> Are you happy with it?  I have been thinking about getting an electric smoker, they seem to be great, but have held off because it just feels alien to have a smoker with no fire.


 @Retiredat50 just cooked skin on, chicken thighs. Tender and juicy (thanks to a water pan that catches drippings and releases steam) It would be very hard to dry out things or overcook. My opinion? Make the purchase.

----------



----------


## HawkTheSlayer

> @Retiredat50 just cooked skin on, chicken thighs. Tender and juicy (thanks to a water pan that catches drippings and releases steam) It would be very hard to dry out things or overcook. My opinion? Make the purchase.


Water pan is a must. 
If you keep a clean water pan and use clean water, you can make a gravy or sauce with the water/drippings reduction. Just start with some onion, bell pepper, garlic, etc. Cooking down in the pan with the water. If you do it right , you'll get a great sauce. Just be careful not to run out of water. Lol. But don't add too much if you get low. 

You can add additional salt pepper to taste after cooking and if it's not thick enough , You can add a little cornstarch dissolved in water.

----------

Kris P Bacon (06-03-2018)

----------


## Thing 1

> Water pan is a must. 
> If you keep a clean water pan and use clean water, you can make a gravy or sauce with the water/drippings reduction. Just start with some onion, bell pepper, garlic, etc. Cooking down in the pan with the water. If you do it right , you'll get a great sauce. Just be careful not to run out of water. Lol. But don' add too much if you get low. 
> 
> You can add additional salt pepper to taste after cooking and if it's not thick enough , You can add a little cornstarch dissolved in water.


Onion, bell pepper, celery - the Cajun trinity. Never been to Louisiana but I can't live without these staples, or a bag of rice.

----------


## HawkTheSlayer

> Onion, bell pepper, celery - the Cajun trinity. Never been to Louisiana but I can't live without these staples, or a bag of rice.


I can do without them but have to have onions. Plenty sweet, cooked down onions.

----------

Thing 1 (06-03-2018)

----------


## Thing 1

Walla Walla onions?

----------



----------


## Kris P Bacon

The only down side to my smoker? It is a digital setting for time/temp. temp starts at 100, I cooked the chicken on 220. I had to press temp + button, 120 TIMES.

----------


## Thing 1

Walla Walla is depressing, except for the onions, which can make you cry.

----------


## Kris P Bacon

> @Retiredat50 just cooked skin on, chicken thighs. Tender and juicy (thanks to a water pan that catches drippings and releases steam) It would be very hard to dry out things or overcook. My opinion? Make the purchase.


Chicken was to die for. Rubbed in Tony Cachres and cooked about 4 hours.

----------



----------


## HawkTheSlayer

> The only down side to my smoker? It is a digital setting for time/temp. temp starts at 100, I cooked the chicken on 220. I had to press temp + button, 120 TIMES.


Did you try just holding your finger on the button? Lol.

----------

Kris P Bacon (06-03-2018)

----------


## HawkTheSlayer

> Walla Walla onions?


Usually Vidalia or purple/red Creole onions.

----------

Thing 1 (06-03-2018)

----------


## Kris P Bacon

> Did you try just holding your finger on the button? Lol.


Wont work, ditto hitting it really fast. Next time I use it (probably tomorrow, lol) I will do the gravy thing. Chicken and rice and gravy and steamed okra (if it is at the market)

Just told Mrs Bacon about the steamed okra, she said, "fu@k okra" lol

----------



----------


## Kris P Bacon

> @Retiredat50 just cooked skin on, chicken thighs. Tender and juicy (thanks to a water pan that catches drippings and releases steam) It would be very hard to dry out things or overcook. My opinion? Make the purchase.


Just did a rack of St. Louis style, spare ribs. I am having a food orgasm.

----------

