Dehydrating Questions (I'm such a newbie!!)

[Gossy]

So far with my lovely dehydrator I've tried kale chips (which I posted about separately), cauliflower popcorn (which was much better non-dehydrated IMO) and yesterday I sliced up and attempted to make potato chips.

I went to check on them this morning and they all curled up all crazy, got very small, and were still kind of chewy. I sort of semi-soaked/rinsed them in ACV before lightly seasoning them and putting them on mesh trays to dehydrate. I tasted one this morning and like I said, still chewy (though my mix of spices were nice!) and the ACV was a bit much for me.

Now I'm confused and want to know how to fix certain things so I can have more crispy chips! Help!

How do I keep them from curling (if I can) so much? Should I cut them thicker? I sliced them almost paper thin. Also, should I be soaking them in something for longer? I don't think I care for the ACV, but oils or water? Also, are they ever going to get super crispy, or am I doomed to have chewy chips?

Same goes for other veggies too. I want to try some zucchini chips, but now I'm worried I'll mess those up too. Is it always good practice to marinate/soak things for a while first? I'm really aiming for having nice, crispy, salty snacky type food. I was a total chip addict pre-raw, and would loves some healthy veggie chips to have on hand for those salt craving moments - and as an easily portable and snackable at-work food.

Thanks, as always, for the help!

[cbritton]

Hello!
I'm a total salty snack person, so I had to find snack replacements to help keep me on the raw and narrow. =)
I make sweet potato chips all the time and they are delicious. I use a regular veggie peeler and do very thin strips. I then toss it with all sorts of fun spices (curry powder or cumin and salt) and then just dehydrate until crispy. They do get a little bit curly, but I've never had them curl up on themselves or anything.
I've heard that regular potatoes don't get fully crispy because of the starch in them, but I don't know if that's true. I just know that my sweet potato chips come out super crispy and tasty! =)
Best of luck!

[GlimR]

You can slice the potatoes and let them soak in water for several hours, drain and rinse...it removes some of the starch. Also slice them a little bit thicker...things shrink up a great deal in the D~

[Gossy]

Thanks guys! I'm going to try another batch this weekend, since I have plenty of spuds to experiment with. If they don't work out I'll try sweet potatoes next time and see how that goes.

I really want to make some veggie chips too, like tomato and carrot and zucchini and whatnot, but I'm finding it cheaper to experiment with the taters first ;)

[nadien alexandra]

I made sweet potato chips for the first time recently and I found that they curled up but in a nice way, not in a hibernating hedgehog way.
I found also, that they were still chewy when I took them out (i think if I wasn't impatient, they would have crisped up), but the thinner I sliced them, the more crunchier they were.

I am going to try veggie chips soon. perhaps we can both post our results :)

[Gossy]

Hey Nadien! I'm thinking of trying out some veggie chips this weekend. Likely will throw them in on Saturday. I'll let you know how it goes!

Although, I feel like I am doing something wrong with my dehydrator. NOTHING seems to come out crispy no matter how long I leave it in. Everything comes out kinda shrunken and chewy. ARGH!

I'm going to take a gander at the book that came with the dehydrator this weekend too. Maybe that'll have some tips about why I am not having success with it yet.

[RawKnitster]

You are not doing anything wrong. :) It has been my experience that dehydrated potato and veggie chips simply are not the same as fried chips. Kale is the only veggie I've found that has the same satisfying crunch. Another alternative is crackers. I make "chips" by using cracker recipes with the batter spread out to a thickness of about 1/8 inch.

[Maintime]

Hey Gossy, Zuchini makes a wonderful crispy chip.

I had the same problems at the start of my dehydrating experiences and I found I just wasn't leaving them in long enough. I live in florida and it's a lot more humid here so it just takes long for me. Try just extended their time in the dehydrator.


Psst: Zuchini makes a wonderful crispy chip.

[Jisreadyforthehealthy]

I am just starting as well. I can't wait to get my juicer and dehydrator.

[anniez]

I found that there's quite a learning curve with dehydrating. I wasn't at all successful at first, but if you keep at it the success will come. I love kale chips and zucchini chips. Alissa has a good recipe in her book.

annie

[Soose]

We're struggling with dehydrating here, too. Please everyone keep posting so we can learn. :)

My ds is trying not chips but some garden burgers tonight. I think the recipe was too strong on the spices, because it's going to be even stronger once it's dried. I'm sure he's made them too small, I know they're going to be TINY when they're out.

My dehydrated cherries just did not come out dry like I thought they would, though I kept putting them back in. I guess I thought they'd be like the purchased craisins or purchased dry cherries; they're still soft/damp like fresh raisins. I'm afraid to leave them out of the fridge, think they're not really DRY.