dehydrating food

I recently bought a dehydrator. I don't know much about it, but I was wondering how long dehydrated food might last? Could this aid in survival? Would I be able to dehyrdrate fruit and store them for some time?

 

One summer I attempted to dehydrate herbs in my oven. When I took them out, they appeared to be dried so I placed them in a glass container. However, I noticed a month or two later that a white fungus (?) had begun to grow on the herbs. Apparently, I didn't take all of the moisture out. I don't recommend the oven method to anyone for drying out herbs.

 

That sounds like my luck. No matter how hard I try it always goes wrong. I won't be using an oven thankfully I just bought a dehydrater.

 

I will be using a dehydrator so hopefully it will help take some of the guess work out. Thank you for your tips, those pumpkin chips look delicious. We tried making beef jerky, but unfortunately it came out too tough.

 

I had the same thing happen to me too. I had a whole basil plant that I trimmed back, ground up and dried on the oven tray. I even left it on the pan in the oven for a good hour or 2 after I was done baking it and I still had this happen to me. It was super frustrating. I haven't tried an actual dehydrator though. I've been wanting to get one so I can make different types of jerky.

 

I have a dehydrator and I absolutely love it. I primarily use my dehydrator for beef jerky and strawberries (not together obviously). I've taken to drying out excess fruit and veggies from my garden as well as anything else I can pick up cheap in the discount section at the grocery store or farmers markets. After I dehydrate everything down I use my food saver and package it up. With the food completely dry and in an air and moisture proof packaging I expect the food to last a very long time. This being said I still rotate some of the older stuff out and use it, if I find a really good deal and can replenish with a fresher supply. While strawberries are my personal favorite for dried fruit, I'm also a big fan of apples and apricots, and I just recently dried some pears for the first time and they are delicious. I've also dried carrots, onions, garlic, potatoes, peas, tomatoes and just about every fruit I can get my hands on. I also will visit the dollar store and dehydrate some of the canned fruit and veggies I find to cut down on size and weight. Another cool thing is if the fruit or veggies are starting to be over ripe you can dehydrate them and the flavors are actually way more intense. Nothing better than strawberries that are way too ripe dehydrated down.

 

I've never heard of anyone dehydrating vegetables. I know fruit is common. I have also done beef jerky. What is your favorite of the vegetables you've tried? I'm just curious. I will have to try this with some of the vegetables in my garden this year. I wander if squash would be any good.