We recently snagged a bargain on some Near Infra Red Dehydrators that were ‘smart’. This means they detect how much moisture is in the food and adjust themselves automatically.
Think it sounds like a gimmick? We did too…
Boy were we wrong! The quality build & stainless trays sort of gave it away so we purchased a number of them and offered them on a first in first served basis (sorry they are all gone!).
We especially like the way this machine tries to mimic the natural God created way of drying fruit (in the sun). This leaves more of the needed nutrition in the fruit – possibility the only way of getting healthier results is in the actual sun?
Our first attempt was a large variety of different things…all just sliced with a V Slicer (must have for home made pizza, burgers or dehydrating!!) after being cored (for the apples)
We did:
- Zuccini
- Peppino
- Banana
- Apple
- Kumquats
On this device all we had to do was select ‘cloudy’, auto and GO! A few hours later, we started testing the results. Unfortunately, the smell got to us before we took any photos – and once we tasted one piece – there was no turning back!
The flavour was INCREDIBLE. Dried apples have never been big for me – but the texture and flavour of these left me instantly hooked.
Fresh out for morning devotionals and nearly gone…
Next, we were given quite a quantity of tomatoes so began experimenting – halves, quarters, eighths and more…
We put the skin side down for the halves and laid them flat for the rest.
We found the best results for our liking were:
1/2’s for Cherry Romas
1/8 or even 1/10 for normal tomatoes
For seasoning, we just used salt for the bulk of them, however you could use anything from paper to parsley, rosemary or mixed herbs.
The flavours were amazing – quite unlike the shop bought ones (shouldn’t be surprised I guess!). It is amazing to think that something so tasty is actually healthy!
Basil topped – incredible!
My favourite were the ones I had ripped up some fresh basil on top…couldn’t stop eating them!
The next fruit we tried was more challenging but much easier to prepare: Grapes, Cherry Guavas and plums. Grapes were left whole, the cherry guavas cut in half and the plums were cut either side of the seed.
Yup, that is right, we left the seed in the plums. Rough, but very quick & effective. No complaints from anyone when they get to eat these delicious bites – after all, they have a seed in when eaten normally…
The grapes and cherry guavas were amazing on their own – but also fantastic to put in with some different nuts as part of a mix. Grapes, guavas, cashews and walnuts…like the Almonds & Kumquats – amazing & healthy snacks!
To say this machine will get a work out with us is an understatement! Any fruit that we are given, is on special or we have excess of will be thrown in. So worth the investment!
Get drying!
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