It probably is a good idea to check those vacuum sealed jars every once in awhile.  I have had some that unsealed.  It may have been my fault but I still recommend check.  I just did/doing that pesky 10 lbs of potatoes that have been on my counter for a week now. 

MrsFuzz,

I think I read somewhere that garden seeds need to be dried at 90 degrees or below to keep them viable.  Anyone else remember that? 

Speaking of soups with dried goodies.  I've got a batch of bean soup in the crockpot for dinner. If it tastes edible, I'll let you know about it!  It really is a handfull of this and bunch of that but oh so easy because all the chopping has already been done!   I also used 2 quarts of home canned navy beans. 

Space saving is one of the best reasons to look into drying your foods.  The space needed is minimal.  I can get about 4 pounds of frozen corn, once dried, in a one quart mason jar.  That's a huge space saver.  I also think it's a great method for people just starting food preserving or who have crazy schedules.  The actual amount of hands on time is minimal, the dehydrator does the rest.

Wowza, Kellyb.  4 lbs to a quart??  Now I've GOT to try it.  :D  Especially since…………MY EXCALIBUR ARRIVED TODAY!!!!!  

I've got 9 trays of potatoes drying right now. The frozen veggies with potatoes were blanched before freezing.  You have to steam, blanch or cook potatoes before dehydrating or they will discolor, some turn black, not very appetizing.  I was experimenting with shapes so I cooked up a bunch of potatoes, put them in the fridge overnight and then sliced, diced and shredded to see how they would turn out.  I find it easier to cook until almost done and then cut/dice vs cutting/dicing and then steaming or blanching.  I love having dried sliced potatoes to make scalloped potatoes or just to add to soups, etc.

Pete, do you have a mandolin for slicing?  They are wonderful and quick, but very sharp and make quick work of slicing a great deal of food.  Chopping is no longer the favorite activity for my wrist either.

mamajhk said:

I have a dehydrating question.  I made instant(from a box) mashed sweet potatoes for supper tonight.  It uses milk and butter in them.  Is this something I could possibly dehydrated?  I know on one site it says that milk and butter must be done commerically. 

You could try drying them.  The milk and butter may make it more difficult to dry.  If they dry to your satisfaction I would store them in the fridge because they the fats might become racid.

You can make your own instant sweet potatoes by baking/blanching sweet potatoes then slicing and drying.  Rehydrate and add milk and butter or whatever else you like.  I cook a bunch of butternut squash and sweet potaotes and dry.  We love them mashed and in soup.  Last year I pureed some of each and then spread them on the fruit leather sheets and made leather out of them.  When dry the pieces go in jars and are vacuumed sealed.  The thin pieces rehydrate very quickly and are delicious.  My granddaughter loved the squash.

Hey, this sounds like my house.  Some of it wasn't too great but others were really good.  Have some more apples snacks going and also some plain apples. 

Isn't it funny how we all have these modern appliances and still find that the old fashioned (as the 10 year old granddaughter says) or manually operated equipment works better sometimes.  I didn't like the way my food processor was grating the potatoes for the dehydrator so I used the hand held cheese grater to do them.  Also used the hand crank meat grinder to grind the onions and cabbage and peppers for my relish.   Did a much better job than the food processor.