I have just found this tip on an American Kayaking site that refers to methods of reducing the weight & storage issues for most food types. It may be of assistance to those of you who bush camp for extended periods.
You could always make you own dehydrator with some old window glass and mesh - this costs nothing to run and there are heaps of plans for solar driers on the web..
We have a Sunbeam dehydrator but the problem is that it draws between 340 and 370 watts when running so if something takes 2 days to dry, it will consume upwards of 16 kw @30c per Kw or $5 worth of electricity during the 2 days drying period....this makes it expensive to run and consequently we rarely use it. There are plenty of other brands but make sure you check how much electricity they use as in our case after paying $109 for the drier plus electricity running costs we are not saving a penny. Check also how easy they are to clean as trying to remove dried tomato or whatever from the racks can be difficult.
Regards
I'll have a go at making a Solar drier as a first step.
I grow lots of tomatoes (& basil) & would like to try sun dried toms. Got piles of chutney & relish left from last year.
We used a polystyrene box, lined with foil, cut tomatoes in half, place seed side up on a biscuit tray, also lined with foil. Sprinkle with ground sea salt. Place in poly box, cover with a sheet of glass or Perspex (glass is better) Leave air flow by propping up the glass. Place in full sun for as long as it takes (2 - 3 days), depending on heat and humidity. (We used cherry tomatoes). Bottle when dried with vinegar (balsamic or red wine) and good quality oil, garlic cloves, basil and/or rosemary. We used to make batched of these everyweek when we had a surplus of tomatoes.
__________________
Pay it forward - what goes around comes around
DUNMOWIN is no longer on the road and still DUNMOWIN!
I'll have a go at making a Solar drier as a first step.
I grow lots of tomatoes (& basil) & would like to try sun dried toms. Got piles of chutney & relish left from last year.
We used a polystyrene box, lined with foil, cut tomatoes in half, place seed side up on a biscuit tray, also lined with foil. Sprinkle with ground sea salt. Place in poly box, cover with a sheet of glass or Perspex (glass is better) Leave air flow by propping up the glass. Place in full sun for as long as it takes (2 - 3 days), depending on heat and humidity. (We used cherry tomatoes). Bottle when dried with vinegar (balsamic or red wine) and good quality oil, garlic cloves, basil and/or rosemary. We used to make batched of these everyweek when we had a surplus of tomatoes.
Thanks for that ...
Just pulled out the last of my tomatoes ... bloody leaf curl!!!
Will replant in different beds in a couple of months.
When the glut of toms comes again I'll try this method..
I'll have a go at making a Solar drier as a first step.
I grow lots of tomatoes (& basil) & would like to try sun dried toms. Got piles of chutney & relish left from last year.
We used a polystyrene box, lined with foil, cut tomatoes in half, place seed side up on a biscuit tray, also lined with foil. Sprinkle with ground sea salt. Place in poly box, cover with a sheet of glass or Perspex (glass is better) Leave air flow by propping up the glass. Place in full sun for as long as it takes (2 - 3 days), depending on heat and humidity. (We used cherry tomatoes). Bottle when dried with vinegar (balsamic or red wine) and good quality oil, garlic cloves, basil and/or rosemary. We used to make batched of these everyweek when we had a surplus of tomatoes.
Thanks for that ...
Just pulled out the last of my tomatoes ... bloody leaf curl!!!
Will replant in different beds in a couple of months.
When the glut of toms comes again I'll try this method..
Let us know how you go, Cupie, I miss my jars of sundried cherry tomatoes.
__________________
Pay it forward - what goes around comes around
DUNMOWIN is no longer on the road and still DUNMOWIN!
