Quick Dehydrator Question

[qwerty988]

So my new dehydrator just arrived!!! :woot:

But I didn't order any sheets for it. I'm ordering some now, but in the meantime until they arrive.... what should I use?

I have parchment paper and plastic wrap, would either of these work to make some flax crackers or onion bread?

[Traceyraw]

Everything sticks to the plastic wrap. Plastic wrap was a disaster for me. I use wax paper. It works good for me. Then I found these teflon cutting boards at target. 3 per pack. I cut one of them to size and use it. They are a little thicker than the teflex sheets but they work.

[Revvell]

Use the parchment.

[qwerty988]

Thanks, I'll use the parchment for now!

I'm inventing a recipe so this first batch looks like it's going to be a stinky orange disaster hahahahahaa! Oh well :throwhearts:

Oh -- I looked at Target online but couldn't find the teflon cutting boards!

[qwerty988]

For anybody wondering -- everything came out AMAZING!!!

I made flax crackers just with what I had on hand -- a big sweet onion, 2 carrots, half a red pepper. Processed it all up with soy sauce and nutritional yeast and spices..... and frankly it smelled pretty awful uncooked hahahahhaaa!

But this morning..... WOW, they're incredible!

I also put up a pineapple, a few bananas and my first batch of kale chips.............. Now I'm in love with dehydrating!!! Wooo-hoooooooooo!!!!

One more quick question: can you eat too many flax crackers? I think I remember reading that you need to be careful as they soak up liquid from your system?

[Revvell]

Did you soak the first or grind it?

Drink more water. Your body will not want crackers after awhile if you eat "too many".

[ZombieDawn]

Haha! You are a dehydrating queen now, huh? That's awesome!

[qwerty988]

Thanks, Revell! I soaked the flax seeds first for a few hours..... hoping that makes them easier on the digestive system? Ultimately, I do trust the body's innate wisdom and believe if I'm still craving the crackers that means I haven't had more than my body can handle.

And yes, Z.Dawn...... I'm like a total dehydrating fool now!!!!!!!! hahahahhaa

Words cannot express the bliss of sitting down to a lunch of guacamole and flax crackers -- WOOOO-HOOOOO!!!!!! SO delish. :excited:

[Revvell]

Soaking's a good thing. All's fine!

[PunkRotten]

Dehydrating can get addicting. I remember when I first got my dehydrator I went crazy drying everything.

[qwerty988]

I remember when I first got my dehydrator I went crazy drying everything.


Hahahahaa -- yes!! This is precisely my plan :excited:

Seriously, I'm not sure I'll ever be making elaborate dishes, but I'm DEFINITELY making crackers, breads and kale chips every week. They're so simple and add so much!

[Traceyraw]

Try Flax pumpkin and bananna. I love those. I use both ground and whole flax. I also used sprouted Quinoa.

[qwerty988]

That sounds SO GOOD. Do you mean fresh processed pumpkin or pumpkin seeds?

[Traceyraw]

Pumpkin seed soak them and a little sprout comes out the end. They are soo good. I love them with flax. You can make a sweet version or savory.

[qwerty988]

Yum -- I haven't tried pumpkin seeds yet!!! I'll definitely pick some up because now I'm ALL ABOUT THE CRACKER hahahahaa!

[ZombieDawn]

Ugh, me too.... I make them out of everything! I found out that it is possible to make a bad cracker, a really horrible cracker, lol! I just threw tons of stuff in there thinking, it's all good, it'll work. BLEH! Zucchini, tomato, corn, carrot, garlic and I don't know what else. Then I topped it off with tons of curry powder. I don't know what part it was that made those crackers head south, but in the future I'll try to be more simplistic!

What's your recipe you're using?

[qwerty988]

Wow.... a BAD CRACKER? Really????

Hahahahhaha now I'm scared....

My recipe was to process in the FP:

one huge sweet onion
2 carrots
half a red pepper
garlic powder
cayenne pepper
italian seasoning
soy sauce
cumin

I mixed this all up with 2 cups of soaked flax seed and threw it in the dehydrator and prayed for mercy!!! This made 3 trays.

I did an hour at 145 degrees and then lowered it to 105. About 9 hours in I flipped it over and removed the parchment paper. I let it go another 8 or 9 hours. It was SO crunchy and delish!! I guess beginners luck.

[ZombieDawn]

Ooh, I'm gonna try those! My favorite so far is corn, tomato and onion with flax and seasoned with braggs. I swear, they remind me of a SAD chip! Soooo good!

[PunkRotten]

You can do a lot of experimenting with dehydrating. You can make a cracker and there is so many other combinations you can try and come up with different crackers/different flavors. You can also keep it simple and just blend some pineapple and mango or banana and coconut, or strawberries and raspberries etc and make fruit roll ups.

[RawDad]

I'm new to the dehydrating game too even though I've had mine for months. Try this

The crackers I've been making that I like, any of the ingredients can be varied for a variety of flavors, just keep the seeds consistant: Carrots, Red Bell Pepper, Parsley, Celery, 1c Soaked Pumpkin Seeds, 1c Soaked Sunflower Seeds, Onion. Blend them together in my Ninja Blender, scrape the sides and bottom, blend more, scrape more, blend more, until well blended. (No food processor or vita mix here.) make cracker shapes out of the blend on dehydrator sheets, dry for 4 hours, flip, dry for three hours. They are fast to make for a dehydrated food but they are gone as soon as they are made.