Has anyone successfully dehydrated potatoes to hash browns?

[Taz]

I am wanting to take about 100# of potatoes and dehydrate them into both hash browns and scallop potatos. I have followed the directions re blanching them first. But so far all I have gotten after lots of work is

I would appreciate any instructions from one with experience, OR where I could buy them in large quanity and seal them up myself.

Taz

 

[Onebyone]

Taz,

I have never tried to dehydrate potatoes but you might want to google Aztec or Incas (sp) as I remember a TV show from years ago one of those cultures dehydrated potatoes. It showed how their decendants still do it and they had no modern implements.

 

[Splicer205]

We do, Taz, and they're really good. Maybe you can be more specific. Is it the ugly gray color? Soaking in salt water, and rinsing with cold water after blanching will eliminate that. Also, some varieties of potatoes work better than others. Hope you don't give up; once you have it mastered they're equal to, or better than what you can buy.

 

[Onebyone]

Splicerswife,

Can you give details on how you do it? That would be good to know.

 

[It'sJustMe]

Try bulk grocery stores, Taz. We purchased huge sacks of dried hash browns, and also sliced potatoes, for scalloped or dried potatoes, from one in our area several years ago. I think they were around 15 lb of dried potatoes in each sack, which is a LOT of potatoes. We then put them down into buckets lined with Mylar plastic, used oxygen absorbers, and sealed them up. This is around 6 years ago, and they are still just fine. We got them from a restaurant supply outlet store here in Washington State. Surely you have such an outlet near you. Smaller mom and pop stores buy from them. Ours has no canned goods in under than #10 cans also. Good luck. It's Just Me

 

[Splicer205]

Sure, Onebyone. Thanks for asking. I just peel, and slice or shred, depending on what you want, but as they are peeled, they go into salted ice water. Then, I blanch them for a very short time, maybe a minute. Then I run cold water over them til they're lukewarm, drain, and dry them.

The first time I tried it, they were nasty. They tasted o.k. but you'd have to be blindfolded to actually enjoy them. They were a repulsive gray. It goes beyond being picky, it was truly a repulsive color for potatoes.

 

[Onebyone]

Splicerwife,

How much salt do you put in what amount of water? Do you use table or pickling salt?

How do you dry them? Do you just lay out on paper on a table or dry in the oven at low temp?

When you use them how do you rehydrate them by what percent of water per cup potato?

Thanks this is good to know.

 

[squeeksmom]

I blanch till transparent, then soak for 45 minutes in 1/2 cup lemon juice to 2 qts water. Then put in dehydrator. I usually set up two bowls with the water/lemon juice mix - goes a little faster that way.

squeeks

 

[Splicer205]

Splicerwife,

How much salt do you put in what amount of water?

I don't measure. Helpful, aren't I? Probably a Tablespoon per gallon of water?

Do you use table or pickling salt?

Pickling or canning salt.

How do you dry them? Do you just lay out on paper on a table or dry in the oven at low temp?

I use a dehydrator, but I'd imagine any way would be fine.

When you use them how do you rehydrate them by what percent of water per cup potato?

I don't know. When it looks right. Maybe half and half? If I'm going to use them for hashbrowns, I don't use much water at all. If you don't put enough, you can add more. You want just enough to have it absorbed, not an excess. If there's an excess, drain it off. I don't like to do that because of losing some vitamins, but it won't affect the taste or quality if you get too much.

Thanks this is good to know.

You're very welcome. I'm always glad to offer high tech assistance.

 

[Splicer205]

I blanch till transparent, then soak for 45 minutes in 1/2 cup lemon juice to 2 qts water. Then put in dehydrator. I usually set up two bowls with the water/lemon juice mix - goes a little faster that way.

squeeks

I've used the lemon juice too, and it turns out great too.

 

[Onebyone]

Thanks Splicerswife.

I have copied and saved it to disk and intend to use it when I get more than enough potatoes either by sale at store or homegrown or both.

 

[LilRose8]

I blanch till transparent, then soak for 45 minutes in 1/2 cup lemon juice to 2 qts water. Then put in dehydrator. I usually set up two bowls with the water/lemon juice mix - goes a little faster that way.

squeeks

YUP! That's what I do and I have never had a grey potato. I don't even peel my taters, just slice, blanch, soak in lemon water and then dehydrate. They come out great.

 

[Taz]

I want y'alls definition of blanching. Are you using a steamer and is it jerry rigged or something you have bought? Or are you just dropping them into boiling water and draining them in a collander? When you put in the dehydrator are you putting the hash browns on the grid or the sheets? And are you greasing the grid first if thats how you do it?

I know of no restaraunt outlets here. Just one that sells pots and pans, etc. However, I am going to ask around. Thanks everyone....

Taz

 

[WonderWhy]

Don't refrigerate the spuds first!

Once I found some spuds on special, but didn't have time to peel, cut, blanch, rinse, dehydrate them just then, so I stored them in the fridge for a couple of weeks. Very bad - even processing them in the regular way, as described above, using lemon juice in the chill water, they were an ugly color and poor texture when dehydrated.

 

[Choices]

As for the refrigerator, ideally you should keep them out. Cold temperatures can turn the starch in potatoes to sugar and may darken the flesh when the potatoes are cooked. But potatoes stored out of refrigeration often sit around for long periods--especially if you buy large quantities--in temperatures that are often too warm. They get "eyes" and turn soft with wilted skins. You can refrigerate potatoes, but take them out a few hours or more before use them. This helps to return the starch content to normal.

 

[herbgarden]

I have only had success with sliced. I just purchase the hash browns in #10 cans.Wasted way too many potatoes on the hash browns. And all that digging them up to be wasted was foolish.
For sliced I just wash,slice, then place in a regular pot of actively boiling water that has 1tsp salt added,let boil 1min then dump into a collander to drain,rinse with cold water and place in the dehydrator on the regular sheets.I follow the instruction book that came with my dehydrator for time and temp.
Good luck.

 

[AnniePutin]

Thanks for good tips everyone! Anyone tried to dry the potatoes without a dehydrator? Do those of you who have dehydrators find it to be a very useful item?

 

[pandora]

Here is a link with some useful information for drying various fruits & veggies.
http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/foods/348-597/348-597.html

Also, have any of you ever tried sun drying?

 

[AnniePutin]

Thanks, Pandora! I'll check it out!

 

[Splicer205]

Thanks for good tips everyone! Anyone tried to dry the potatoes without a dehydrator? Do those of you who have dehydrators find it to be a very useful item?

Very, very, very useful. Mine has a permanent home on the countertop all sumer. And sometimes in winter. I'd give up my microwave before I'd part with my dehydrator. We're good pals.

 

[prudentwatcher]

Well, I guess I cheated. I bought frozen hash browns (the stringy kind, not the chunks) and put some cheesecloth over the trays of my dehydrator and let them go. Then when they are nice and dry, I put them in glass jars. Really easy. I figure that WTSHTF, they will make nice potato pancakes.

 

[AnniePutin]

Splicerswife-think I'll look into getting one--and prudentwatcher, I gotta' admit it, this sounds like the way I would go, too. Hard to get much done in the way of prepping from scratch after working all week, but this sounds like a good time-saving shortcut. If you dry these and put in jars, do you have to seal the jars, as in canning? Also, what would be the shelf life you could expect of them? Thanks for this great info!!.

 

[Taz]

If you are going to purchase a dehydrator you need to educate yourself. There are many that will dehydrate, but the quality is another thing. You want one that when you put in an orange carrot, you get out the same orange carrot and not a hard lump of gray. A good dehydrator is going to run you $200. I have the Excaliber. Look at their web site and then go to ebay and see what you can find. I too would give up the microwave first.

Taz

 

[AnniePutin]

Good advice, Taz. I'll check out the Excaliber and would definitely check eBay before buying!!

 

[AnniePutin]

Okay, Taz--I did it! I got the Excalibur 2400 (the 4 tray) on eBay. It is the smallest model that supposedly does as good of job as the bigger Excaliburs, but without the auto shut-off and only 4 square feet of drying area. One of the things I want to make is chicken breasts jerky strips. I'm sure I would like them very much myself, but also, this is the most favorite snack of my two beloved pups and I buy them. They are not cheap! If I could make my own, I could probably pay for the dehydrator with savings on that alone. I guess it's also time to do some serious prepping. Thanks for the good tips, and I'm sure I won't be sorry I did this!!

 

[oldladydoolin]

Thanks for starting this thread. Last week I was trying to find out how to do potatoes. What else is good for dehydrating?

 

[Airborne Falcon]

When we have done them, we do them as spicerswife described. However, we long ago determined that simply purchasing large quantities of carton freeze dried hash browns from our local restaurant food distributorship, is much more cost effective both in terms of time and money.

Russ

 

[Splicer205]

Splicerswife-think I'll look into getting one--and prudentwatcher, I gotta' admit it, this sounds like the way I would go, too. Hard to get much done in the way of prepping from scratch after working all week, but this sounds like a good time-saving shortcut. If you dry these and put in jars, do you have to seal the jars, as in canning? Also, what would be the shelf life you could expect of them? Thanks for this great info!!.

Your very welcome. Taz brought up a good subject.

You don't have to seal the jars. Just make sure that whatever you make, it is thoroughly dry and cool. If you put it into the jar while warm, condensation forms and can mold your food. I've used potatoes stored this way for over a year and they tasted wonderful. The jars don't have to be sealed. Any jar that will keep out moisture and insects will work. Used mayonaise jars will even work.

I'm so glad you got an Excalibur dehydrator. It's what I have. You can raise bread in it, dry flowers for potpurri, etc. It looks so nice that it can set on the countertop, and be attractive. We've had a couple people ask us why we had two microwaves.

If you have counter space, it's really nice to leave it there because just about any leftover you have from meals can go right into the dehydrator. Makes for a good mix to put in a bag for a camping trip or quick lunch. You're going to love it!

 

[Splicer205]

Thanks for starting this thread. Last week I was trying to find out how to do potatoes. What else is good for dehydrating?

Carrots, beans, okra, tomatoes, cantelope, celery, onion, garlic, peas, corn, herbs, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, rasberries, peaches, apples, pears, cherries, chicken, beef, ham, any fresh spice, leftovers from meals. Is that enough, or should I think on it a while?

 

[Choices]

OT: Excalibur / cart

I have a 9 tray Excalibur and today I did pears and bananas.
Tomorrow will do the Asain pears and who know what else.

Costco has a great cart if your short on counter space as I am.

Price $37.99
It is a 3 shelf chrome storage cart. #920488
Dimenstions: 24Lxx 18W x 39H
Includes 1 flat top shelf and 2 basket-style shelves
with casters (2 locking)
Easy to put together.
It is not listed online.

fooddrying group for ideas and tips
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fooddrying/

 

[Walrus Whisperer]

I dehydrate my leftover fresh mushrooms. The regular white ones do fine with slice and dry. I do the portabellos also because we can never get the package of them eaten up-they still smell wonderful but the taste is gone when dried. I crumble them up and sprinkle on a lot of things I make just for the smell, put the dried ones into soups for some chunky things in there. The regular ones I do the same.

 

[oldladydoolin]

Carrots, beans, okra, tomatoes, cantelope, celery, onion, garlic, peas, corn, herbs, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, rasberries, peaches, apples, pears, cherries, chicken, beef, ham, any fresh spice, leftovers from meals. Is that enough, or should I think on it a while?

Cantelope???? WOW!!! What is a good book to buy? I have never dehyrated in my life.

 

[ofuzzy1]

We used canned dried potato "strings" for making hash browns with very poor luck.
Always had less than savory results.

Our questions for reconstituting:
Soak in water, salty water [brine]...?
How long do you soak?
How much water do you soak with?

 

[Splicer205]

Cantelope???? WOW!!! What is a good book to buy? I have never dehyrated in my life.

Gosh, there are so many good books out there and it would depend on whether you want one on strictly dehydrating, or preservation in general. My experience has been that regardless of what the books say, after you do it awhile you're going to find experience teaches you more than the books.

A good all round book for covering freezing, drying and canning is "The Busy Person's Guide to Preserving Food." It lists the different methods, tells how to do it. For example, under drying food, it has a short section on each of the following:
Drying:
To Pretreat or Not Pretreat
Testing Dried Foods
Storing Dried Foods
Drying Foods in a Dehydrator
Drying Foods in a Conventional Oven
Sun Drying
Making Fruit Leathers

It's very condensed, but covers the basics without droning on forever. The remainder of the books lists different foods, tells you which is the best way to prepare and store, and has recipes.

The dried cantelope I bought seems to have the rind still attached. What's amazing is that it's good. I bought it just to compare to what I did (which I removed the rind). They were about the same.

There's nothing to it. Just slice and dry. If you want good color to it, you can pretreat it with the ascorbic stuff like "Fruit Fresh" or crush a vitamin C tablet in the water you dip it in. But it doesn't look bad even if you don't pretreat it. You're going to love dehydrating once you see how easy it is and how well it stores, and really stretches the budget in winter. Someone will probably offer a specific book on dehydrating that will help you decide. Good luck and happy drying.

 

[It'sJustMe]

When we have done them, we do them as spicerswife described. However, we long ago determined that simply purchasing large quantities of carton freeze dried hash browns from our local restaurant food distributorship, is much more cost effective both in terms of time and money.

Russ

That proved true in our case also, Russ! Potatoes are already pretty cheap, but already dried ones are even cheaper, a lot less work, and even energy consumption counts. But there are times the Excaliber comes in so handy, like when for instance, Taz comes up with extra spuds and doesn't want to waste them. I am like her, as I also found them difficult to do, and make taste worthwhile, even armed with the info and machine. UGH! But the food dryer can do an awesome job with other things, year around. When mushrooms are cheap, or bananas, I usually buy extra, to dry in the Excaliber. Right now, nothing is in season here, in soggy Washington State. Unless you know a good Chantrelle patch, and we don't . But the restaurant supply stores are awesome to just walk in, pay cash, walk out and you pay no membership fees. Love those stores. BTW, I found out ours here, in PNW, are called Cash 'n Carry. It's Just Me

 

[Taz]

Well....I did it and did it well. I have done 60# of potatoes. Did the first couple of batches using slices, but finally settled on hash browns as they too can be used in casseroles and more fit into my gamma lid buckets. I used the lemon juice method and no yukky gray ones. Even discovered that I could process two dryers of the taters and put one in the dryer for the day and then the other load ran all night. Right now I am not too interested in potatoes! lol I have the dryer full of bell peppers right now. Tomorrow its carrots.
Admittedly I would rather get them cheaply from a food distrbutor but I haven't been able to locate any. Anyway, its been fun and I appreciate everyone's help. I have a new skill to put on my Survival Resume'.

Taz

 

[squeeksmom]

Glad they turned out good for you, Taz! I grow about 600# a year, most go in the root cellar for use till they run out, some get canned, and a bunch get dehydrated. I love the dehydrated for the times I feel too lazy to even want to peel something.

squeeks

 

[Ed]

I was successful today in dehydrating potatoes. Did so
while cooking supper to the wife and boys. Am sure my
wife will compliment me on my success.

Ed

 

[LilRose8]

I make dehydrated potatoes all the time.

I dehydrate lots of celery, carrots, red bell peppers, fresh corn, potatoes, bananas, strawberries, onions and apples.
I like Splicerswife idea of dehydrating leftovers but haven't tried it yet.

 

[AnniePutin]

Congratulations on your success, Taz, and thanks for the thread. Thanks to this thread, I ordered my 4 shelf Excalibur dehydrator and I love it!! (Ed, sounds like you did great, also!!)