Every year around this time, I make a commitment to pack healthier snacks for the kids when they go back to school. It’s easy and exciting to do for the first couple of weeks of the school year, and then slowly but surely we slip back into the trap of pre-packaged snacks. This is actually quite frustrating for me because I’ve done pretty well at eliminating packaged food everywhere else in our house. We no longer use soup from a can, or any pre-mixed dinners in a box, and the veggie drawer in our fridge is overflowing, but we can’t get our act together when it comes to snacks. When I found out that the appliance I’d be testing this month as part of the Hamilton Beach Social Kitchen program was a food dehydrator my first instinct was to try to make a papad recipe (then I started thinking about vadian and kasoori methi), but just this once, I gave the desi foods a break and decided to work on the school snacks issue. Since I’ve never used a dehydrator before, I started with very basic foods like; blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, banana chips, and fruit leathers; I’ve made mango and blueberry so far. (If you haven’t caught on already I’m trying to banish the fruit roll-ups and Dora snacks from my house.)
For some reason I thought that dehydrating fruit was going to be more complicated than it was, but the Hamilton Beach Food Dehydrator makes it ridiculously simple. What I love about this machine is that it’s pretty compact and easy to store, it has five trays you can use all at once and don’t have to rotate, and it has a timer with auto shut-off.
So far I haven’t ventured out of the fruits realm, but I’m already in love. If you decide to get a Hamilton Beach Food Dehydrator (which you totally should), here are some tips I’ve picked up about dehydrating fruits:
- Give yourself time. Some fruits can take 14-16 hours to dry and I did not realize that the first time I tried to make snacks for a road trip! The good news is, you don’t have to do anything while the fruit is drying – no flipping, no rotating trays.
- Wash the fruit and let it dry before dehydrating. If you are using soft berries like raspberry however, just wash, shake off the excess water, and put them right in the machine.
- Spray fruits that might discolour with a water lemon juice solution (I did one part lemon juice, 3 parts water) before dehydrating.
- Follow directions for blanching certain fruits. I did not do that with my first batch of blueberries and they didn’t dehydrate properly.
- Store your dehydrated foods properly in air tight containers. Don’t let your hard work go to waste.
{The dehydrator comes with a special solid sheet for making fruit leathers and rolls}
Now the big question is, what did the kids think of dehydrated fruit? Complete honesty; they loved the strawberries and blueberries, and liked the mango fruit leather. I think they would have loved the mango leather if I had chosen in season and sweet mangoes. The problem is those store bought fruit rolls are loaded with sugar, so the ones I made at home didn’t seem sweet enough to them. The husband and I on the other hand loved them!
The dehydrator is a hit, but also a gentle reminder for me that I need to keep working on weaning them off of all the sugar laden “foods” they eat, and mamas new favourite kitchen appliance will definitely help with that.
My next experiment with the food dehydrator will probably be veggies. How great would it be to dehydrate local in season veggies and have them on hand for soup and pasta sauces in the winter. I wonder if I could use dehydrated veggies to make sabzi (vegetable curries) too?
Want to learn more about the Hamilton Beach Food Dehydrator? Check out these awesome posts from my fellow #HBSocialKitchen ambassadors; Small Batch Beef Jerky, Dehydrate All the Things, and Sensational Snacks for the Cottage. Want to win your own food dehydrator? Enter below – contest is open to Canadian residents only.
This post is sponsored by Hamilton Beach Canada. In exchange this review, I have received special perks in the form of products and compensation. All opinions on this blog are my own.
So many things!! Kale chips, for sure. Also, several kinds of bread and crackers I’ve been dying to try!
I would love to try dehydrating Strawberries and Apples first if I won.
I’d definitely dehydrate some plums and strawberries! Thanks!
I would dehydrate apple slices first 🙂
Everything!!! HA I’ve been dying to try Zucchini Chips!
I would try to make banana chips.
Obvs I would make beef jerky! My mum has a fantastic recipe.
I think I would dehydrate some strawberry slices first!
Jeannie Lam
I would make beef jerky
Peaches or strawberries
I would dehydrate strawberries and bleuberries.
I would try to make some Moose Jerky. 🙂
i would make some fruit for my kids lunch. i find it hard to send fruit as it seems to go soggy or off come lunchtime
I would make fruit snacks
I would try to make some dried kiwi and pineapples
RAFFLECOPTER: CAROLSUE
I would make fruit rolls — apple and others
I would dehydrate strawberries.
The garden has been producing tomatoes like crazy, so I’d love to dry them to save for winter.
I would love to try beef jerky and fruit leather.
I would dehydrate banana’s and strawberries first if i won 🙂
I would dehydrate apples or strawberries.
I’ve been dying for a dehydrator and would do banana chips!
I would try to make banana chips
bananas!!!
I Would dehydrate strawberries and mango slices
I would dehydrate apples first; apple rings and apple (maybe mixed with some berries) fruit leather. My apple tree is loaded this year and they should be ripe in a couple weeks
Apple slices!
I would try strawberries first than potatoes.
Strawberries and apple slices.
would love to try making a fruit leather with berries
i would like to try apples or sweet potatoes
I would do sweet potatoes.
I would dehydrate bananas and apples
I would dehydrate strawberries first
I would dehydrate papaya and mango…..I buy them dehydrated all the time, so to do it myself would be awesome!
I would dehydrate strawberries and peaches!
I would dehydrate some mangoes
I would do wild blueberries and strawberries.
I would try strawberries first 🙂
I’d make strawberry fruit rollups!
apricots
I would dehydrate cranberries first.
i’d try apples first!
Bananas & cranberries.
I would love to try strawberries first, my fave fruit 🙂
I’d love to try dehydrating bananas first.
wanna try mango fruit leather..and strawberries.
I would try making crunchy raw cookies! Or dehydrated cheezy tomato chips!
At this time of year I always have a freezer full of wild blueberries. It would be nice to free up some space by drying some of them.
i would make bannana chips and apple chips – and fruit leather
I would do apple first. The Fruit leather looks good also.
I would try making the fruit leather thing… maybe a strawberry banana flavour
I would make some apple chips first. My son loves them!
i would dehydrate blackberries. They will be in season soon.
Strawberry fruit leather! Yum.
I would love to dehydrate fruit & veggie that we grow in the garden. These would make perfect snacks for the trail mix I make for the kids!
Gosh, that’s tough haha I’ve wanted one of these for yearssss. Hmm either apples or kale! Yummy!
I LOVE cranberries and banana chips!Thanks for the chance!
I would dehydrate apple slices first
beef jerky
candied ginger
dehydrate my wife’s sense of humor
EVERYTHING!!! Thanks for this contest 🙂
I would dehydrate the plums from my tree!
I would dry some apricots
I would dry strawberries for a natural and healthy version of red licorice. Thank you for the great giveaway and the chance!
My son loves blackberries, so I would dehydrate those.
I would dry Papaya first. I just love dried papaya. So expensive to buy at the Fruit & Nut store, this would save me a small fortune 🙂
Yay, would luv to dry blueberries when they are in season. Wow, prize dehyrator is fab. & splendid. 2 fingers snap. It is tight, fly & off the chain. Thank you for the awesomeness, the contest, and generosity. 🙂 Pick me, pick me!
I think I would do a test-run with apples.
Bananas
I will make loads and loads of Fruit roll-ups. Aam -papad..yummm!!!
I would dehydrate apples if I won! Thanks!
I would make Beef Jerky , thanks for the chance 🙂
I would definitely make beef jerky, we use our oven right now and this would be easier!
I think I would have to try beef jerky. My husband and daughterlove it and I never want them to get it due to all the chemicals in it.
plums
I’d love to win! I want to make fruit roll ups like I ate as a kid. But without all the added sugar and chemicals!
apples or mango
apples, kale, zucchini
we would try apples first 🙂
Want to try to make crackers with leftover pulp from juicing.
The first thing I would do is beef jerky!
I think I would go with strawberries.
I would dehydrate sweet potaoes first.
I would dehydrate peaches and pineapples first , they are the fruit the most eaten at home , i wonder what they would taste like dehydrated ! 🙂 Great giveaway such a awesome prize to be won.
I would dehydrate apple slices and banana’s first 🙂
I would totally do a jerk for hubby and fruit rol ups for the kids!!
I would dehydrate pineapple or strawberries I think. So good!
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