On Saturday May 6th, Extension’s Harvest Kitchen and high tunnel were filled with families and friends enjoying the beautiful sunny day during the Grow and Preserve Open House. Visitors learned about numerous food preservation and gardening resources available at Extension through an assortment of activities. We shot some photos of all the happenings, check them out below!
Anyone who’s lived in the North Country knows the winters here can be challenging. I’ll be the first to admit the -30 degree Fahrenheit wind chill days and long periods of darkness were not easy for me to adjust to when my partner and I moved here seven years ago. I found myself dreaming of long sunny days, fresh foods, and humid, hot nights. But over the years, I’ve grown to appreciate the dark, cold winter and all that it offers: the slower pace of life that winter requires, the opportunity to cross country ski and snowshoe, warm nights by the wood stove, and intentional cooking.
Now, in March, as we shift from winter to spring, the transition takes some time, and I again get impatient for warmer weather. In doing so, I sometimes miss the small changes and processes our natural world is undergoing. So as a way to stay present and honor the earth reawakening during the spring transition, I look to our local foods and cooking as a ritual to celebrate these changes. March is hard on local foods. Root cellar food and freezer stocks start to dwindle before fresh produce is abundant again, but there are delicious upsides to this season as well. Maple syrup is being boiled and chickens are laying more eggs.
One recipe that is perfect for this time of year is a Sausage Egg bake. We make it for special occasions, or just because. Its main ingredients are all foods you can find locally either from stored and preserved foods or produced fresh. These ingredients include eggs, sausage, potatoes, milk, cheese, frozen spinach (or any type of dark leafy green), garlic, and onion. Mixed with spices, or maybe even a drizzle of fresh maple syrup, and baked in the oven, you now have yourself one tasty and easy dish to serve and welcome spring back to our region.
Read more Celebrating the Transition to Spring with Local Foods
So, you’ve found your dream dehydrator and you are ready to get started. The dehydrating process is not especially complicated: Food is dehydrated by subjecting it to low heat and a steady airflow, evaporating enough moisture to inhibit the growth of bacteria, yeast, and mold—things that spoil precious food. You want food to be as dry as possible before storing it. Along with your dehydrator’s manual, the Internet has many reliable sources of dehydrating instructions (see resources below), so I won’t reinvent that wheel, but I will share some things I encountered during my first year of dehydrating.
Prepping Food
Ideally, all dehydrated food should end up at the same level of dryness, so chopping, cutting, or slicing food into uniform pieces makes sense, right? Imagine starting one thick and one thin burger on the grill at the same time: You know that the thin one will cook more quickly. Some obliging vegetables like corn and peas come uniformly sized. To cut up larger produce, many people use a mandolin. Since I typically shred my knuckles on a plain old cheese grater, a mandolin is probably not in my future. Seriously, mandolins are out for blood. An egg slicer works great for strawberries and mushrooms. Depending on the size and shape of the food, I either use sharp knives or my trusty Oster Kitchen Center.
Dehydrating Times
As shown in the chart below, dehydrating times vary, with juicier foods like peaches and pears taking longer to dry than, say, apples.
Some people ignore the recommended times altogether, leaving the dehydrator on for 24 hours no matter the food. Can you over dry food? Most sources say no. So how do you tell if the food is “dry enough”? The USDA says that dried vegetables should be hard and brittle, to the point that some will shatter when hit with a hammer. Before you pull out the ol’ ballpeen, take out a few pieces of food and let them cool before testing—warm food tends to seem moister and more pliable.
You may end up varying dehydrating times, but do not mess with the recommended temperatures. For example, if the initial temperature is too high, the food surface might dry, making it hard for moisture to escape. Instead of upping the temperature to speed up drying time, cut food into smaller or fewer pieces.
