We have a Mennonite food market nearby and I've been purchasing their dehydrated onions and peppers in bulk. Does anyone know how long these and other items can be stored and what is the best way to store them?

 My mil has dehydrated eggplant that is over 25 years old and tastes just like it was dried yesterday.  I have dried onions, in differing cuts, that I have moved around the world over the last 10 years that are so tasty we eat them like potato chips for snacks.  : )  I store all my dried goods in plastic peanut butter jars, glass canning jars, and rubbermaid food grade containers.  As long as the seal is tight and they are stored in a cool dark area they have an indefinite shelf life, for the most part.  I also take all my instant rice, instant potatoes, powdered milks and cheeses, etc., and seal them for longer shelf life in these containers.

The only thing I do dehydrate that I store in the freezer is smoked salmon, I can never seem to get it dry enough for my tastes or safety level.  It is a veyr oily fish by nature and doesn't seem to dry well.  But I do take it as far as I dare and freeze that in peanut butter jars also, makes very tasty dip, mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, etc.  : )

Brianschef Michelle 

I was looking for bulk dehydrated onions at Smart and Final to add to my long term food storage inventory but no luck finding them there. My next step was looking at Emergency Essentials (thanks, Brandy)  and liked the looks of their onions and a can of dehydrated celery. My plan is to put into storage all the common things we use in cooking. I have plenty of flour, sugar, oil, yeast, etc. but when going over the list I realized I should also have stocked up on salt and the onion and celery. I went and bought the salt at Smart & Final.

Has anyone put any other kinds of dehydrated vegetables into long term storage, that is used commonly, like mushrooms, peppers or tomatoes, potatoes? Edey

Thanks for the replies. I do find cooking with dehydrated food works out well for soups, stews etc. Well I guess my follow-up question is how much should we be stocking up. Its just my husband and I. We don't use flour or sugar all that much (diabetic) but I'm trying to stock up on stuff that won't go bad too fast. I figure if I have a years supply of laundry soap, cleaning supplies etc, I can spend more on food should prices go higher.

 Edey ~ I have everything you can think of dehydrated, except garden apples(red radishes).  I usually do 4 cases or about 40 + pounds a year of dehydrated mushrooms up for us.  Peppers I dice and dry for soups, stews, fritters, corn bread muffins, breads, scrambled eggs, savory waffles, etc.  I do tomatoes by the bushel!  I do powder part of them for making pastas, flavoring soups, gravies, sauces, etc.  I, for the most part buy dried potatoes in slices and dices, we just dont use them much anymore, but like to keep them on hand for casseroles and quick meals.

This is how I plan things out.  When I met Brian he loved Campbell's Chunky Soup(can you hear me say BLECH!).  So I took each flavor he liked and wrote down the ingredients, then started dehydrating and stocking those items.  I also love sofrito(fried onions, peppers, garlic) and use it most every day in my cooking and baking so I stocked and dried extra of those items.  When I find something I use a lot of I make or store extra(only enough for about 2 years as I have the space).

Then I started tracking the fruits he/we liked and would dehydrate them.  I can always make a dessert, pie, cake, cold fruit soup, cookies, etc. with this on hand.  I do can and preserve this stuff also it is acceptable for us in place of fresh picked during the lean or winter months.

Now for meats, I do dehydrate meats, well some meats.  I dry 4 canned 8 pound hams a year(buying them at Easter for the best price), I dry only white meat chicken and turkey(dont like jerky, dont make it), I dehydrate canned tuna packed in water, I dry white fishes(less oily if any), I dry shrimp, really any of these that are pure meat products.  I buy bacon bits by the large #10 can(3 a year)for baking and eating.

One rule for me is, if I can get it already dried(think raisins, figs)in a package that would cover my menu for 1 year, at a price I want to pay, I buy it.

You may want to look at these sites also:

http://waltonfeed.com/

http://www.barryfarm.com/

http://www.barryfarm.com/  (dehydrated cheese powder ; ))

Brianschef Michelle 

 

 Toni B. good thoughts!  ; ) 

I have spent hours tracking our yearly usage(2 adults, 2 - 50 pound pups and one gnarly cat).  My best adivce is to start with the basics, celery, onions, garlic, tomatoes, lettuces, cabbages, carrots.  Watch and track what you use for one month(if doing this in summer double the use for winter storage), then go from there.

Look at your weekly menus and see what you use, cook and eat.  If you like onions and use say 1 - 5 pound bag a month, then you should dehydrate 5 pounds for each month.  You may have some, half or most of it left at the end of the year, but it will last indefinitely.  And you can track your monthly usage for the next stock up using this information.

You can use this guage for most everything you want to dehydrate yourself or buy in dried form.  Also check out your local Ethnic sotres, we bought a 12 pound bag of dehydrated whole shitake mushrooms(enough for 5 years for $35) last week I just rejarred them for our use.  We also bought a bag for the in laws to store for winter(part of their Christmas).  : )

Also, you can dehydrate frozen fruits and vegetables, when bought at a good price of course.  I also dry canned foods, mushrooms, vegetables, fruits, potatoes, etc.   

And to let you know I have saved one gallon pickle jars and designated each one to one product that we use every now and then.  Things like split green peas, dried beans, pastas, sugars, salt, pepper pods, dried foods, etc.  Great storage and they seem to last us forever.  : )

Brianschef Michelle 

Holy mackerel Michelle, what kind of dehydrator do you own? I just got rid of my American Harvester last year not anticipating the current state of events. But thank you again for all your great advice. It helps to have someone explain all this. I imagine this is what a good ol' fashioned Home Economics class feels like. One thing I have been doing is carefully measuring everything that goes into a recipe so there is no excess and I can get the most out of what I have. Even my cats are getting measured portions and have trimmed their waistlines a bit. :) Toni

You do quite a bit of drying, do you use several counter top type dryers or do you have something much larger? In doing all this drying is electricity usage a problem?

I'm going to order just one can of each item I want, just to see if I can use it efficiently for our needs. I thought of the fruit also, because we need something sweet occasionally and I think dried or dehydrated fruit would fit in well; other than raisins which I always have on hand anyway.

Thanks Michelle Brianschef.

Edey

I have 3 dehydrators I dumpster dived in the boxes years ago, all 3 are American Harvester!  lol  I also dived a bunch of shelves over the years and have stacked them as high as 16.  : )

I never thought of this in that form, "good ol' fashioned Home Economics class", LOL.  I think that is wise to measure, so many people just estimate(including some TV "cooks", crazy waste)not always a good idea from any stand point.  I love to mess with recipes but have had may failures a long the way because I didn't measure properly.

Gnarly, my obese male cat, deosn't understand portions or dieting any more than we do!  LOL

Brianschef Michelle 

 Edey ~ I do do quite a bit of dehydrating, love doing it and finding new ways of using the things I dry.  I have 3 American Harvesters with lots of extra shevles and have one or two of them going at all times per say(when I get a good deal or when I have some things on hand that I wont use right away).  As far as eletrical usage, we compenstae by not using electricity elsewhere, but normally dont find the cost that high for the benfit we gain.

"And, calculating all the attendant costs, using a mechanical dehydrator costs half as much as canning and is almost seven times cheaper than freezing."

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2003-06-01/Choosing-a-Food-Dehydrator.aspx

Brianschef Michelle