Dehydrate With Microwave Or Refrigerator
To preserve vegetables and herbs simply and quickly, dehydrate the harvest with microwave or refrigerator. While freezing works for some things, drying is better for some uses.
Dehydrate Mushrooms Using The Microwave
It’s been 8 years since we’ve had wild puffball mushrooms. So, it was a great surprise to see them in the yard again. Instead of cooking them, I decided to dehydrate them. I can always rehydrate them to use in meal recipes. But for extra flavor, I grind them and add to stocks, soups, stews, and chili.
Recently, I started using the microwave to dehydrate. It’s a simple and fast method. Line a microwave safe pan with a paper towel. Clean mushrooms, by just wiping away any dirt (avoid rinsing them with water). Cut them into similar sized pieces. The batch pictured below is in a 9×13 pan. I started microwaving them for 3 minutes. It took 7 minutes to dehydrate them. I continued microwaving at 30 second to 1 minute intervals, until dehydrated. If they aren’t completely hard, set them in a mesh strainer, uncovered, in the fridge. The refrigerator easily dehydrates them the rest of the way.
Dehydrate Tomatoes Using The Microwave
Dehydrate tomatoes, using a similar method. Lay slices on a paper towel lined, microwave safe pan. Start with microwaving for 2 minutes. If you happen to overdry them, just grind them into a powder.
Dehydrate Herbs Using The Refrigerator
As for herbs, any small leaf herbs (like thyme), can be dried by leaving them in an open container in the fridge. Make sure to leave some airspace around them. This method works well for rosemary and dill, too. As for oregano, the refrigerator does dehydrate it, or leave bunches hanging upside down (away from direct light).
In order to quickly preserve vegetables and herbs, Dehydrate The Harvest With Microwave Or Refrigerator.