TdeV

I don't know. This is a new venture for me. I did marinate some zucchini chips, and I'll report on the flavour.

Scott Heimendinger (Anova) published a recipe for dehydrating apple chips. He uses heat on the bottom of the oven only. A few days ago I dried cherry tomatoes, little noticing the pool of sticky stuff on the bottom of the oven. I subsequently made a steamed cheesecake (100% steam), so afterwards, all that black muck mopped up just fine. But now I'm curious, if one has all racks covered with drying vegetables, there isn't room for the baking tray. Unless it's okay to be putting the tray on the bottom of the oven while using the bottom heating element?

A while ago I did one apple, which I turned into some kind of meat or vegetable sauce. Very yummy. None of the following have been used yet: I dehydrated some strips of Japanese eggplant the other day. Also some cherry tomatoes, which after 15 hours were still half dry. Today I'm marinating zucchini which has been sliced in half, seeds removed, then sliced into 3/16" moons. I will probably start drying it today. I also have more zucchini which has had the seeds removed which I plan to grate. (Can I dehydrate these two zucchini products at the same time?) Jo, have you ever dehydrated peaches?

I'm looking for "preparations" for dehydrating food. Mary T Bell seems to have a few in Food Drying With an Attitude. For instance, as a marinade for zucchini chips: -soy sauce -rice vinegar -garlic, roasted -sesame oil I'm also looking for pictures of how folks are preparing the vegetables for dehydrating. I'm doing this in the Anova Precision Oven, and thanks to @JoNorvelleWalker, I have some nice Silpats with itty bitty holes.

I'm trying my hand at dehydration this season (in the Anova oven). I believe the cookbook authors recommend that one cuts the vegetables in the shapes one will use it: i.e. shredded, sliced, chips. Tammy Gangloff (Ultimate Dehydrator Cookbook) says Don't waste time trying to dehydrate mashed potaotes; getting the quality found in-store bought requires special commericial equipment. (She also can't get out the lumps). Recommends Yukon Gold or red potatoes. Doesn't recommend russets, Idahos because they do not dehydrate well. Says all potatoes must be cooked all the way through. She does have dehydrated potato recipes using shredded, sliced, chips.

Mine is 4" under the cabinet and 2" from the wall. When the oven is steaming or smoking, it hardly seems like enough!

I'm sorry, but I've read this sentence several times and I don't understand it. Rephrase, perhaps?

@rotuts, next time I have a filthy APO, I'll try to remember to try it out. 462°F at 100% steam. Will report.

No steam clean on the Anova oven. A terrible thing, really, because I've had a self-cleaning oven for the last 35+ years. I hope Anova sort it out by the time they get to the next major upgrade. Here's Anova's chicken wing recipe with some descriptive comments about the mess. At high heat the parchment paper browns . . . I keep expecting it to self-combust. My biggest smoke incident occurred when I put old barbecue Grill Grates into the Anova (thinking that what I needed were grill marks). But the oven is really interesting. Right at the moment I'm dehydrating Japanese eggplant in the Anova 135°F for 12 hours. I've never enjoyed meatloaf until one was made in the APO. And here is my best discovery to date!

Ha! I see, Sherry, that you have been around eGullet longer than I have. 🤣

Hello @SherryCobySam and welcome to eGullet. There are some great people here. The Anova oven is an interesting tool and I'm enjoying it very much. I have mine on a kitchen counter, so it's half under some overhead cabinets. Cooking chicken wings makes a real mess in the oven and there's lots of smoke. Most of the mess stays inside the oven though. The oven was quite heavy to raise onto the counter. I have some freestanding Elfa and would be concerned about how well it could hold up the Anova. Are you using shelves or freestanding units?

My, oh my!

@JoNorvelleWalker, did you not have a special tray or mat for dehydrating fruit in the APO?

Hello @payok. Lots of friendly folk here. Welcome!

Does anyone use their Instant Pot for canning? My Instant Pot is the Ultra which does high pressure at 10.2 to 11.6 psi. I read that USDA performed their tests at 15 psi, and thus have no experience with a lower psi, so do not recommend using the Instant Pot. Which is not to say that a lower psi is unworkable. Thoughts?

Thank you very much!

Thanks, @MokaPot, I was actually wondering whether people had experience cooking Maida Heatter's recipes. I did (thought I did) find once that King Arthur and James Beard didn't measure the same weight in flour.

Am learning a lot more about baked desserts. I have a copy of Maida Heatter's Pies & Tarts. Many of her recipes call for a cup (or more) of sifted all-purpose flour. Do you have a suggestion for what that should weigh? Also, I have some very ripe peaches, some just barely ripe plums, and some blueberries. Thinking of making something with a topping. Should I cook the plums a bit first?

Hello Sarah. Welcome to one of my favourite time sinks. There are many entertaining writers and the food porn is to die for! Hope you enjoy yourself here.

Hi @Davecee. You've found a friendly place. Welcome.

Thanks @palo. There is no mention at the Anova site about what to do with the inside top of the oven.

When cleaning the Anova (with fume free oven cleaner), do you spray the top of the oven? I sprayed the oven last night (not including the top) which is filthy because I was worried about the oven cleaner mixture on the top electric element. Right now the oven is cold, so I guess I can spray the top, but isn't that less effective? How are you cleaning your oven?

I also have one like @AlaMoi's. Very rarely use it. I recall using it to squish something with a roundish shape, so that I could get more pan sear.

I guess the truth is that I'm not very good at standing around a stove. 🙄 Don't have much memory of aerated white sauce, so I suppose that's not the proper method. Right, @rotuts? The Bamix does have other blades than an aerator. I shall have to experiment . . .

@MaryIsobel, do you know about grilling lettuce? Slice in half longitudinally, paint on a little mayo, grate LOTS of cheese. Put in a pan near the top of broiler - they'll be done in about 5 minutes. For fancier Caesar Salad, see: https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2021/05/16/caesar-salad-gratin-recipe/