Dehydrating question

[finallyfree]

Hello all,

This past weekend I tried to make cookies in my new Excalibur Dehydrator, but could not get the middle of them to dry (ended up throwing them out as they were just NOT palatable to me this way). :(

Does anyone have any tips, ideas etc...as to how to get things like burger buns, falafel balls, cookies etc...to dry in the middle at least to the point where they don't taste like (or have the texture of) dough, or don't taste "uncooked"?

Thanks

Finallyfree

[finallyfree]

Just bumping up this question. I would love to be able to enjoy yummy cookies or brownies...please, does anyone know how to get these kinds of things to dry in the middle?

Finallyfree

[Ama]

The thinner you make something the drier it will become. Also depends on how long you leave it in the dehydrator.

[Carmella]

Hi finallyfree. Welcome to this board!

Ama is right. Thickness is the key. I think that, as a general rule, you don't want to go much beyond 1/4 to 1/2 inch, depending on what you're making.

Let's see, when I make crackers, I spread the batter real thin, say 1/8 " or so. For breads, some people like to make loaves but for me, it just makes more sense to make slices instead as it dehydrates much more quickly and therefore avoids the risk of fermentation -which you definitely don't want happening. So, roughly I spread the batter 1/4 '' for breads and then score it into slices.

For the same reasons, you might want to make patties instead of nutloaves. Again 1/4 ' thick is good.

And cookies are basically sweet patties so same thing here. For example, I've made a banana bread recipe from this board as cookies instead and they turned out great.

Again, as Ama was suggesting, temperature is another big factor. Some prefer to start off dehydrating at a slightly higher temp for a couple of hours, and then turn it back down to 105 or so for the remainer of the time. The logic behind this is that it apparently takes 2 to 3 hrs in order for the temp to be reached inside the food. Not everybody feels good about this perspective though, so I suggest you do a banana search on the subject as it has been extensively discussed on this board.

This should help you get going with your dehydrated creations!

Happy uncooking!

[fairygirl]

Another thing i thought to mention is....make sure to dry them for a few hours on the teflex sheet and then flip them over and continue dehydrating on the mesh sheet. this way the heat can get to them on both sides.

good luck! :)

[finallyfree]

Thank you all for your quick responses...unfortunately, the cookies in question were the Chocolate Chewies (Maraw's) recipe. I piped them onto the Teflex Sheet as I have seen them done, so they were a bit taller than your average "cookie"...that is why they did not dry on the inside.

Everyone seems to be raving about these chocolate and lemon chewies, but doing it the way I did it did not dry them out in the middle...has anyone made these successfully?

Thank you to all...what a great site.

Finallyfree

[fairygirl]

I did pipe maraw's lemon chewies onto the teflex and dehydrated them just fine. When i piped tho, they were fairly small. DId you make sure to remove th em to the mesh from the teflex after a while?