Dehydration Failure

OK, I was drying some tomatoes, boy they either end up paper thin, or take forever to dry...
But that wasn't my failure.
MM34, why didn't you tell me that when I dehydrate cucumbers... that I should salt them first.

They taste like nasty cucumber chips, FAILURE!

Rancher

 

Thanks for lesson. I appreciate you doing the research.

 

You want to dry food lightly seasoned, the way you would if it was being eaten fresh. Just a little less, especially sodium!

 

Wow, I have never tried reconstituting cukes! But, you could to do it in salty water! I'm guessing texture will be a problem!

 

Large Freeze Dryer

 

Some things are best not dehydrated

 

No that was not me. I would not do cukes because the kids dislike them. I actually had a discussion on salting things. Slightly off topic but when cooking steak many throw salt on their steak for season pre-cooking. The person I was speaking with said this dries the steak out and salt should never be used when cooking meat. This included roasts and such.

 

^^^ This. Coarse salt and a searing fire are key.

 

Salt is a great tenderizer for cheap cuts of meat. Bury the meat in salt 1 hour for every inch of thickness.

Wash off the salt after. You can make tough meat tasty

Back to tomatoes.. I blanch tomatoes run them through the food mill and make tomato leather which can be dried enough to make powdered tomato as well. It's a lot of work

 

The person I was having a discussion on salt on meat keep saying, "If you dehydrate with salt then what do you think it does to your steak." Some believe that salt dies period. I have never tenderized with salt, interesting @Ganado

 

Salt closes up the grain of Meats. It also firms up Fish. We use salt to cure Sardines and herring for fishing as it stiffens the flesh up really well as "fixing" any cure you use AND color! For Cooking, Use coarse salt just before grilling as it helps trap the moisture inside, thus making your meat more juicy and tender! It can be used as a tenderizer too but takes longer! The trick is to use butter when cooking as it helps draw off the salt as the meat cooks, and you end up with less sodium in your meat! Sorry for the thread drift!