Comments on: A Time for Drying

By: Brady

Brady — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:29:20 +0000

I see you 108 degrees and rise you 90% Humidity! I am sure you can rember that from your days in the Commonwealth!

By: Audrey

Audrey — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:58:15 +0000

Great post. Like Lang we find there is too much moisture here in Seattle to reliably dry fruits and veggies, but herbs are do-able on the hotter days. Friends with dehydrators love them and can get much lower sustained temps than your standard oven which is how I dried tomatoes and plums/prunes last year. I’d definitely recommend drying tomatoes — the bigger ones made for better drying, the Sun Gold halves shriveled up to almost nothing.

By: hank

hank — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:49:47 +0000

Diana: GREAT idea! I love persimmons.

Josh: Several people have mentioned that dried pears are addicting. I assume you pick them as normal and then core, peel and dry them, yes?

Brady: I would be hard pressed to find a place outside that was as low as 90 degrees right now. It is 108 degrees here and it is 6:45 pm. Sigh.

By: ntsc

ntsc — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:01:39 +0000

I’ve not tried drying yet but probably will this year.

I do can, but commercial canned vegetables taste better and have better texture than what I can do at home. Tomatoes are an exception here, although mostly we do sauces and vegetable juice.

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 01:25:10 +0000

All I have so far is herbs- mostly chive and sage flowers since they’re done already. For us, September is the time for all this (provided the sun ever comes out again.)

Our garlic is full of fail this year too; I’m blaming the rain for that as well although I have no idea why.

By: Lang

Lang — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:46:16 +0000

Thanks for the shout-out, Hank! I’m wondering how many of your readers have invested in dehydrators. Where I live (Seattle) the drying conditions can be questionable. So far I’ve been okay, but I wonder if I would dry even more plants & fungi with a reliable and efficient dehydrator. Anyone want to chime in here?

By: Cecilia

Cecilia — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:28:25 +0000

Another interesting piece. I’d like to see a picture of the inside of your garage when it filled with the drying fruits of your labor.

By: Brady

Brady — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:25:56 +0000

Can’t wait for the post on strattu. I use a $50 Walmart dehydrator for everything from morels to venison jerky. I like the fact that I can set it to 90 degrees, much lower than the oven. Putting the jerky in the oven, even at lower temps cooks the meat, which aint jerky!

By: Albert A Rasch

Albert A Rasch — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:07:12 +0000

Great info!

I’m looking forward to trying some of your techniques in the future.

Thanks,
Albert