NEWBIE: Dehydrating purple onions..

[Ruffsta]

Hello everyone!

I'm totally new to dehydrating, tho I have worked in kitchens for over 12 years. I was a head chef at one time - I knew they were selling the place and they needed someone and of course I took the spot.. That was years ago, but I have always been in a kitchen for the most part since then. This covid crap made me lose my job and look for another job outside the field currently but I plan to return back into a kitchen again. I want to open my own little place some day if I can. I have done pop-up events and I do well. I want to make my own spices and such for the business.. I make my own sausages as well.

Anyways, that's my intro.. lol


So, today I received my first ever dehydrator.. It's Cosorio 600w and at this very moment i have a 2lb bag of red onion (7ct) in my dehydrator.. Set at 125 for 8hrs - but I personally don't think it will take that long as they are small and thinly sliced and openly spread..


Now, I don't know what this yield in the end.. but I can say this:

I can buy onion powder for $1 that is 2.5oz - ( we'll say 2 to equal the price of the following bag of onions) - so $2 gives me 5oz store bought..

so, i bought the 2lb bag for $1.99 - now after buying, prepping and the electricity.. is dehydrating really worth it in the end or did I screw myself buying a dehydrator?

yes, the dehydrator is for home use only atm..

 

[Ruffsta]

15 views and nobody can say "Hi" or leave a comment, suggestion? maybe I joined the wrong forum.. things like I mentioned makes one feel unwelcomed.. maybe I should leave then.


last post on this forum before mine as I can see: 11-12-2020, 09:06 PM


So, yeah... I won't waste my time on here... Thanks anyways...

 

[Ruffsta]

Admin, delete my acct please... Ty

 

[taxlady]

I would have answered if I had any idea what kind of ratio there is between fresh onions and dehydrated ones. This particular forum, dehydrating, is busier when people are harvesting vegis.

Welcome to Discuss Cooking.

 

[pepperhead212]

Welcome to the forum! I dehydrate a lot in the summer and fall, but not onions or garlic - those I grow just for what I use fresh. But I would guess that onions reduce from a pound to an ounce, totally dried - what many veggies do for me, though eggplant and tomatillos give a little more. What I do, just to see, is put one of my trays on the scale, tare it, then weigh them, as I put them in the dehydrator. Then, I weigh everything after it is totally dried, and ready to store. Eggplant - what I dry more of than anything - goes to 1.35 to 1.45 oz, per pound.

It sounds like the dried onions will be about the same price as the commercial powder. So if the flavor it gives foods is no better than the commercial, it probably won't be worth the time, effort, and electricity! You'll have to answer this after trying it. If not, wait to dry something else!

Good luck in achieving your ambitions in the food field! It's always been a tough place to work in, but this covid pandemic has been especially hard on them. Hopefully, we will soon be seeing some major improvement.

 

[Roll_Bones]

15 views and nobody can say "Hi" or leave a comment, suggestion? maybe I joined the wrong forum.. things like I mentioned makes one feel unwelcomed.. maybe I should leave then.


last post on this forum before mine as I can see: 11-12-2020, 09:06 PM


So, yeah... I won't waste my time on here... Thanks anyways...

Don't be silly and childish.
No moderators cannot delete your account.

 

[Kathleen]

Welcome to DC! I don't know much about dehydrating, but love to make our own sausages. Ours are fresh though. I don't know much about making cured sausage.

 

[pengyou]

I have noticed that most of the people that are ardent dehydrators are either bargain hunters or gardeners/farmers. They have surplus and are trying to find a way to preserve them.

 

[taxlady]

I have noticed that most of the people that are ardent dehydrators are either bargain hunters or gardeners/farmers. They have surplus and are trying to find a way to preserve them.

I sometimes dry onions and then chop them in my Magic Bullet. The little dry pieces are great for adding to homemade dips. They just need to sit in the dip for a bit to rehydrate. Much handier than having to mince a teaspoon or a tablespoon of fresh onion. Hmm, now that I think about it, those could also be used in remoulade or when making flavoured cream cheese.

 

[blissful]

We dehydrate stuff a lot with the garden. I keep it outside in a cabinet covered in a tarp for rain and snow, year round. It's been going 24/7 for at least a few months, herbs, teas, zucchini, tomatoes, watermelon rind, eggplant, peaches, pineapple, grapes/raisins, cooked black beans, strawberries, asparagus, so many things I can't think of. Anything that is a loss leader that we eat, produce from the garden that I'd usually can but I have too much of it.



Anyone can calculate the water lost in vegetables and whether it makes sense to buy them or dehydrate them yourself. Figure out the cost/lb fresh and at full moisture, and cost/lb dehydrated at 10% moisture or less. I do buy granulated and minced dried onion, and also I will buy garlic dried if I ever run out, but usually I like garlic minced and frozen, for cooking. We just harvested about 600 winter keeper onions, so we use those fresh and they last through the year.



Another thing that is difficult to grow for us, difficult to find on sale, fresh mushrooms, the calculations make it about equal to buy mushrooms on sale or dried mushrooms 11-13% moisture, so I buy those too.