Wednesday, October 15, 2014

DEHYDRATED GREEN ONIONS


Last night, I went to bed with tears in my eyes. Literally!

I couldn't help myself. I just HAD to load up the dehydrator before retiring for the night. While I sleep, I want my Nesco Dehydrator to be working!

I am an avid fan of GREEN ONIONS. I love it in my scrambled eggs, in my homemade dressings, on top of casseroles, as seasonings. I even LOVE green onion potato chips (oh trust me, I'll be making THAT too!)


I normally grow this in abundance in my backyard, but this batch, I picked up from the store. I am going to trim and wash 4 large bags.


Some of the onions being washed. I also added these WET to the dehydrator.


I saved the roots so that I can regrow these. I added this to a bowl of water.

At the top where I trimmed, new onions will emerge. Once they reach a certain length (about an inch or so) I transplant in a pot of soil. Voila! New green onion plants. I plan to keep this batch on the front porch and they should do well in the cold weather, as long as it's not freezing.

I packed the trays pretty heavy. Since the onions are hollow, I wasn't worried about them being too thick for the dehydrator. But I did slice the stems really thin, as I knew they would take much longer.

From what I've read, they say to dehydrate the onions for 7-10 hours. I normally don't pay too much attention to the time. I normally dry much longer than suggested. Since I usually dry things when I'm headed for bed, I know they're going to at least be drying for 7-8 hours before I check on them. Since we can't really "over dry" the food (our goal is to eliminate all the water - with less than 5% remaining) I just inspect in the morning, and if I want them more dry, I turn the machine back on. Or, if needed (like bananas) I'll turn the food over and dry again.

With this batch, I ended up drying for close to 12 hours. Mainly because I forgot (the machine is actually quiet) and because I know that the "drier" the better.

ALSO, depending on what you're dehydrating, some foods WILL cause tears in your eyes. Almost immediately the onions drying traveled through closed doors and to the back of the house. It was bearable, but it really reinforced my decision to NOT try this with hot peppers indoors. 



Dried and ready to pack!


The sliced stems fell to the bottom. So perfect now for garnishes! I really love how the drying has packed in the flavor too.

I found these quart sized green jars at Walmart. I had stopped by the canning section on a whim and was surprised to find these. The darker jars are excellent for storing dehydrated food, as it's best to store these in a cool dark place.

Since I'm not storing this for ultra long term, I've only added an oxygen absorber. I figured I would keep this batch for a few months at the most. When I do store some dehydrated green onions long term, I'll be using a Food Saver and some Mylar bags (more on that later.)


I've recently done a book review for the book - The Ultimate Dehydrator Cookbook - this can be found on The Survival Mom's website. In the book, I learned that when it comes to canning, freezing, or dehydrating, HANDS DOWN, dehydrated foods maintain their nutrients!

If you are new to dehydrating, or are thinking about giving this a try... I can't stress enough how important this is to preserving your food. It takes up less space, and less time!

8 comments:

A slice of Urban Living said...

Look delicious!!
Your onions will do just fine all winter outside.. I planted several root systems outdoors last Fall and was surprised that last Spring they were growing tall and I've been cutting tops off all Summer.

Unknown said...

Really like this. Thank you

Unknown said...

Can I sun drug them since I don't have that machine. I live in a sunny dry climate city (Damascus syria ) thx

Unknown said...

Can I sun dry them since I don't have that machine ? And I live in a sunny dry city (Damascus syria) thx

Helen Ruth said...

Hi Samer, Yes you can dry these in the sun. There are lots of websites that show how our ancestors dried without these machines. Thanks for visiting and I hope all is well in Syria. Salaam!

Unknown said...

Thanks a lot Helen all is great here just hopping to get my life back like b4 ..here with the unstable electricity most of us are living just like our great grand parents ... But we are much better than others less unfortunate .. So I guess that's what I will do.
Ps thx for taking the time to answer me

Helen Ruth said...

Hi Samer, do you have a blog? I would be interested in knowing how you handle living off grid in that situation. How you garden, cook, etc. I have always wanted to visit Syria.

Best Regards,
Helen

Unknown said...

Sorry I don't I only have a facebook page
I have a small balcony and I buy all of my fruit and Vegtables from a farm that is close to my home and all depend on the season. Otherwise we dry most of all the summer Vegtables and keep them in a cloth bag and just add some water to it when cocked and voila tast like it was fresh so we can have eggplants in winter and cornflower in summer. And whatever can't be dry can be put in a jar ( after cleaning and having in a presser cocker )
By the way I am a man and I just love cocking ..
I am sure you can visit here when all of this madness is over
Five years ago we used to have many tourists from Germany France Italy Japan from all over the world but not many Americans since it is on the black list
My FB page is.
https://www.facebook.com/samer.samman
Welcome to add me
Ps most of my posts are in Arabic so you can use auto translate ...and not too much about cooking either lol
Have a good day