Drying Foods

The LDSCN Weekly Recipe Archive
Drying Foods

Dried Fruits (recipes used with permission)
Coconut Crunch Macaroons

2 cups almonds

1 cup shredded coconut

1 T almond extract

6 - 10 pitted dates

1) Soak almonds 8 hours, dates 2 hours
2) In blender: blend with 1/2 cup water from dates, with almond extract, dates, and shredded coconut (keeping dough thick)
3) Drop 'dough' on wax paper, or teflex sheets on dehydrator trays. Dehydrate 12-24 hours at 105 degrees, turning over when dough is firm.
4)Serve warm at desired chewiness.
Time: 10 minutes to prepare, 12-24 hours to dehydrate, makes 30-45 cookies.
From www.rawtimes.com
Apple Raisin Cookies

2 C sunflower seeds, soaked 4 hours and rinsed.

2 fuji apples, grated

2 large bananas

1/2 C dates

1 C raisins

1 t cinnamon

1 T flax oil

1 C walnuts, soaked 2 hours, chopped.

Process sunflower seeds and bananas through a champion juicer with no plate (grate). Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Spoon dough on a dehydrator tray with a teflex sheet and form into small round cookie. Place cookies close together on the sheets. Dehydrate at 105 degrees for 4 hours, turn cookies over and remove teflex sheet. Continue dehydrating until desired moisture is obtained, approximately 3-5 hours.
From www.rawtimes.com
Paleobars III
Tools needed: food processor, bowl, spoon, muffin tins, freezer, food dehydrator or warm oven.

4 Large Bananas*, peeled

10 Large sticky dates, pitted. I use Black Sphinx from

Arizona Date Gardens in Phoenix, AZ USA

7 Large Medjool dates, pitted

1/2 Small Lemon, juice only from

2 Medium Apples, cored & diced (I used Fuji)

3 C Coconut, dried, unsweetened, medium shred

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (omit if strict Paleo)

1/2 tsp. sea salt, optional

1/2 tsp Vitamin C as ascorbic acid (omit if strict Paleo)

Whip the whole mess up in a food processor until smooth, pour into the bowl and then fold in:

1 C Almonds, shelled, roasted slightly

1 C (scant) Hazelnuts/Filberts, shelled, roasted slightly

1/2 C Pistachio meats, dry roasted

1/4 C Pumpkin seeds, hulled, roasted slightly

Whole nuts are great for texture & crunchability, but I suppose chopped would do fine as well.
Coat muffin tins with coconut oil and spoon in the batter-like mixure until about 3/4 full. Freeze the filled tins, then pop out the frozen slugs and place gently on the rack of a food dehydrator. Dry for 24 hours at the "Fruit" setting, maybe 145 deg. F, then let cool. Store in tins and try not to eat all at once. Drink lots of water after eating.
Makes about 18 tough little chewy biscuit-like cakes.
* If allergic or sensitive to latex, one might omit the bananas & substitute some other sweet, sticky fruit.
From: Alexs on the PaleoFood list
Blueberry Cookies

2 cups Blueberries

2 cups Almonds (soaked overnight and blanched)

1 cup soaked raisins (small cup)

Blend until the crumby consistensy, use a spoon to spoon the batter out on a dehydrator plastic tray. Dehydrate for 24 hours or until dry (do not overdry) at the temperature of 105 F. Turn them over in 8-12 hours or when you see that one side is dry enough.
Walnut Apricot Cookies

2 cups Walnuts soaked overnight

1 cup Sweet and sour dried or fresh apricots

1 cup soaked Raisins (small cup)

2 overriped bananas

Blend until crumby consistensy, use a spoon to spoon the batter on a dehydrator plastic tray. Dehydrate for 24 hours or until dry (do not overdry) at the temperature of 105 F. Turn them over in 8-12 hours or when you see that one side is dry enough. Experiment with your favorite nuts, seeds and fruits. It is always good to use a combination of a fresh fruit and some dried soaked fruits with nuts. For veggie/'salty' crackers use sunflower seeds, they tend to give some salty flavor when dried. Of course, you may use any other soaked nuts/seeds. From www.rawtimes.com
Wild Strawberry Fruit Leather
Add 1/2 Tbsp of honey to each cup of wild strawberries. Bring just to a boil, cool, and process thru a food mill. Pour no more than 0.2 inches (5mm) thick onto a Teflon cookie sheet. Heat in oven at lowest setting for 6-7 hours. When leathery, roll and seal in plastic wrap. Stores well at any temperature.
From 'Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide' by Elias & Dykeman.
Fruit Leather

2 large pears

3 small fuji apples

1 t cinnamon

Clean, core and dice pears and apples. Place in a blender and add a small amount of purified water and cinnamon, process for approx. 30 seconds. Pour mixture on teflex sheets and place trays in dehydrator. Dehydrate for 6-8 hours, remove teflex sheets and flip fruit leather over. Continue dehydrating until desired moisture is obtained. You can make a fruit leather using any fruit and any combination and amounts. From www.rawtimes.com
Hans' Jerky
My main food is jerky made from ordinary ground meat ("organic" 10 % fat, or game) as I buy it in the shop (sometimes frozen). I mix cautiously with a little olive oil and seasoning (herb) or grated raw carrots. NO SALT. Then I just spread "meatballs" onto the dehydrator wire mesh with the help of a fork. Dry at 30 degrees C (=centigrades). Can be stored (above the fridge) for at least a month without any spoilage.
Cheap, easy, practical, tasty!
From: Hans Kylberg
Hans' Recipe for Dried Meat
You can certainly dry meat in any dehydrator. In fact it is easier than most veggies/fruits. Just cut thin slices, or do as I do: Buy lean ground meat, mix with herbal spices (such as thyme), and smear with a fork directly on tray mesh, making flakes 1 - 2 inches across and 1/16 - 1/8 inch thick.
From: Hans Kylberg
Basic Beef Jerky
Use lean beef with as much of the fat trimmed off as possible. (Actually, just about any meat should work -- the original recipe calls for buffalo.)
Cut into strips about 1/8" thich and 1" wide. (I tend to cut mine a little thicker. Doesn't really matter, just be consistent.)
Marinate strips in sauce for at least 30 minutes. This gives it a slightly salty taste and helps bring out the flavor when dried.
"Jerk" or pull strips lightly and lay out on an ungreased cookie sheet in a single layer.
Set oven at the lowest temperature, and keep it propped open while drying the meat. It should not get above 140-150F during the drying process. If you have a gas stove, you might be able to get away with the heat generated from the pilot light.
Dry the meat until it is tough and chewy. The original recipe says 12 hours or overnight, but I've found that around 4 hours is sufficient in my oven. The drying time is really dependent on your oven. I suggest testing a small piece every hour or so until it gets to the right consistency.
DO NOT over-dry the meat. It tends to powder and loses flavor if it's over-dried.
I've experimented with spices a little - I've found that a mix of curry powder, cumin, garlic powder, turmeric, and white pepper adds quite a punch to the flavor. After marinating, coat the meat on ONE side ONLY with the spice mix and then place on the cookie sheet. (Since curry is rather over-powering, dipping both sides loses the meat jerky flavor and all you taste is spice.)
The jerky keeps very well in an airtight container, or it can be frozen (make sure it's very airtight).
(The basic recipe is from The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American)
From: the rec.food.recipes archives
Beef Jerky recipe
For each pound of meat:

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. FRESH black pepper - Fresh flavor is important!

3 tsp. marjoram

Garlic powder - Optional

Sprinkle above ingredients onto a *THICK* steak. Pound in with mallet. Cut beef into strips and lay on oven rack with aluminum foil underneath to catch drips (If available, an arrangement like a roasting pan is perfect. Heat oven to 150 degrees F and open oven door slightly to allow water to escape. Cook 7 to 8 hours, or until the meat is dry and slightly brittle -- It should "splinter" when bent.
From: rec.food.cooking
Jerky
We've made Jerky for years from beef and venison, and I believe this will work for almost any kind of meat.
We cut the meat into thin strips, the thinner the strips the crunchier the jerky comes out, maybe 1/4" thick will make chewy jerky. By the way, cut all the fat off the meat as you're stripping.
Lay out the strips on a cookie sheet lined with foil, turned up at the edges so juice won't get over everything. Lay out in rows and a single layer. Sprinkle liberally with black coarse ground pepper, or spices that you like the taste of.
Set the oven to WARM, and leave in the oven overnite, or 8-10 hrs. This causes very slow drying. Store in a plastic container, jar, or can after well cooled. Too much moisture left in the meat will cause mold, and putting it away while warm will cause sweating inside the container.
From: moynes_r@qis.dofasco.ca (Richard Moynes) in rec.backcountry
Chicken Pemmican
Dry chicken in dehydrator, process in food processor; add melted coconut butter/oil and put in paper muffin cups. I freeze these so I won't eat them all at once.
From: Susan Carmack
Coconut Oil Pemmican
Susan Carmack wrote:
>I think I ate too much pemmican with coconut oil last night! >But it tastes so good!
Yes it does. It is the most delicious dish I have ever had. I mix in some thyme or dried lingonberries. Yum. I can't resist it, so I eat too much.
From: Hans Kylberg on PaleoFood list
Pemmican

2 cups buffalo jerky or beef jerky, shredded

1 cup dried chokeberries or tart red cherries, chopped

6 TBSP tallow (beef fat)

Combine all ingredients and form into 6 patties. Refrigerate until serving.
From: dgkmom@pinn.net (Diane Karnbach)
Pemmican, According to Ray
I make pemmican by grinding up several lbs of dehydrated eye of round slices with a handfull of dried cherries in a food processor or blender (or between rocks if you're a purist). The meat should be dried until brittle to facilitate grinding and eliminate any moisture which could facilitate bacteria or mold. To this I add tallow until the dried meat is totally saturated. It's then done. Total time (apart from dehydrating meat) 15 minutes.
I save tallow from broiling (cheap) hamburger during the previous week. I leave the broiling pan in the oven after the burgers are done for about 10 minutes at 350 then leave it in the warm oven until I do the dishes. I then srain out the tallow into a bowl. As it now contains no water, it dries hard and white (it can be substituded for wax in making candles). If kept dry, pemmican will keep longer than you will live. Beware of condensation in airtight containers. I keep mine in a cassarole dish with a loose fitting glass lid on top of (not in) the refrigerator.
From: Ray Audette
Author "NeanderThin: A Caveman's Guide to Nutrition"

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Revised: 18 Jun 01