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!