In mid to late autumn vegetables like carrots, turnips and cabbages are plentiful and priced to sell. We paid five dollars for this ten pound bag of carrots, and today we will dry to add to our winter soups.
After washing and peeling we cut the carrots into pieces of uniform size.
These carrots were very large, so we had to cut them into quarters before slicing. Smaller pieces need less time to dry.
Vegetables are usually blanched before drying. Blanching destroys enzymes that would otherwise survive the dehydration process and cause the food to decline in quality over time.
After a three minute bath in boiling water the carrots are placed into a bowl of cold water for the same amount of time. Ice added to the cool water bath cools the water quickly, then the carrots are drained and placed on dehydrating racks.
After about twelve to fourteen hours the carrots done and ready to go into a wide mouth canning jar.
All ten pounds of carrots fir into this one quart jar.
A quick trip to the food saver to remove air and seal the lid, then the carrots are labeled and put away until needed.
Cabbage is even easier to dehydrate because it is one of the few vegetables that does not require blanching.
After slicing it is put on the racks and set to dry overnight. We usually put our veggies into the dehydrator at night, and by late morning they are done.
We put the cabbage into the jars and seal just as we did with the carrots.
Dehydrating is a great way to preserve vegetables when they are plentiful. We dry our own peppers, tomatoes, corn, green beans, cabbage, celery, carrots, onion, garlic. Even potatoes can be sliced or shredded, blanched and dried.
Dehydrated foods are lightweight and take up far less space than canned or frozen. They have a very long shelf life and they are so easy to re-hydrate, especially in soups. Just add water, spices, salt, pepper and what ever you like.