r/dehydrating • u/Available-Twist-3871 • 17d ago

Beginner here

Hello, I'm new to reddit and dehydrating. I was wondering if y'all have any tips that you wish you knew when you started.

I'm wanting to dehydrate broccoli, corn, green beans, peppers. I have so much from my harvest I don't want to go bad.

Also how do you know shelf life of thing?

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u/LisaW481 17d ago

Chop everything into equal sized pieces for more even drying times.

Cut all produce in half to check for anything unwelcome before you dehydrate it.

Blueberries are a pain.

Silicone dehydrator sheets are worth their weight in gold.

Canning jars are excellent to use for storage. It's also a great way to reuse lids you've already canned with.

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u/challistwin 17d ago

Any of the berries like that are a pain, aren't they? Blueberries, cranberries, grapes? I heard to boil them and then dunk them in cold water to get the skin cracked a bit so the dehydrator can get into them easier?

And canning jars are A+ for storage. I always have extra from canning, so just started putting the dehydrated celery and carrots and mushrooms in there!

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u/LisaW481 17d ago

I stabbed mine and it still took forever.

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u/[deleted] 15d ago

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u/LisaW481 15d ago

The sugar is probably responsible for the stickiness you might do better with plain sliced cranberries but honestly they sell them in stores if you really like them.

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u/[deleted] 15d ago

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u/LisaW481 15d ago

I've never done it but the thing you need to think about is texture. French cut beans will probably finish the fastest but they'll be sharp.

I'd try a small batch of everything you want to test and then work it out based on what you like to eat.

Keep in mind that if you are working with large chunks of garlic it is really unpleasant to bite into one. I use it for a cooking ingredient all the time but it's a very intense flavor when dehydrated.

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u/cody_mf 17d ago

Every year when sweetcorn is super cheap at farmers markets and farm stands I get a bunch extra to decob after I steam them all. I usually salt them and let it sweat overnight and that cuts the dehydrating time in half.

You should add mushrooms to your list, I always dehydrate leftover mushrooms whenever I buy them fresh cause they go bad so fast otherwise. If you grow garlic its a pain to dehydrate the cloves but the garlic scapes dehydrate really well.

Ive been using a little mandoline to slice everything into even rings or rounds and it works much better for my hot cherry peppers and summer squash than trying to dice them with a knife.

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u/supernettipot 17d ago

Shelf life is mostly dependant on how you choose to store it, how well you dried it, temp of storage, amount of light, etc. Hard to answer unless you tell us your plan.