Dehydrating Your Own Potatoes

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Dehydrating Your Own Potatoes

For many various reasons, folks are becoming more interested in how to
preserve food for later use. One of my favorite methods of food preservation
is dehydration or drying. Potatoes are a main- stay of many families, and
are a food which most folks are uncertain about drying themselves.

Can this
be done? Of course! The difference you will see in your home dried potatoes
and the ones you purchase in the stores, is in color.

This is due to the
fact that the commercial dehydration process also bleaches the potatoes in
order to make them appear more appetizing to the public. I suggest that you
store your dried foods in jars or bags, in a cool, dry place just as you
would any other home preserved food. I save mayonnaise and applesauce jars
for this purpose because they are a great size, and of course, recycling is
cheaper than purchasing new jars.

Home Dried Potatoes

Potatoes (an amount you find manageable)
Metal vegetable blanching basket, or french fry basket
Colander & Mixing Bowl which is larger than your colander
Paper towels
Several cookie sheets OR Food Dehydrator & trays or racks
Vegetable Oil Cooking Spray

Peel desired amount of potatoes and slice into rounds 1/8 inch thick.
(Peeling is optional- there are important vitamins and minerals stored in
the potato skins, but they look nicer peeled, so choose according to your
personal preference.) This can be done quickly with a food processor or
slicer. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a rolling boil. Put
potato slices into a vegetable basket and plunge the basket into the boiling
water and wait for the water to return to a boil.

Once the water is boiling,
start counting off 8 minutes of blanching time. While potatoes are
blanching, set up a large mixing bowl in your sink and fill it with ice
water.

When the potatoes have blanched for 8 minutes, plunge the basketful of
potatoes immediately into the ice water and let them sit there for 15
minutes. Spread the blanched potato slices in a single layer between paper
towels and blot them dry.

If you are not using a dehydrator, spray cookie sheets with vegetable oil
spray (do not use regular cooking oil); if you are using rimmed baking pans,
spray and use only the upside down bottoms of these pans to prevent
scorching near the pan’s raised rim; if you are using Teflon cookie sheets,
there is no need for spray. Spread potato slices on the prepared sheets or
pans as close together as possible but in a single layer.

Place cookie sheets on oven racks and turn the oven on to its very lowest
temperature. (between low and off) Keep the oven door ajar so that the air
can circulate freely and let moisture escape. Make sure that the temperature
never gets so hot that your hand feels uncomfortable when held in the oven.
This is necessary for thorough drying.

If you are using a dehydrator, place
potato slices on racks which have been prepared with vegetable oil spray,
placing potatoes close together, but not touching, so air is allowed to
circulate between them. Turning is not necessary on vented racks.

Dry according to manufacturer’s instructions, or until potatoes are brittle,
somewhat translucent and are not at all pliable. If you have solid racks,
follow the same directions as for turning potatoes dried in an oven: After
1 hour, turn all the slices over; then turn the slices over every 30
minutes. Drying time will depend largely on your own oven, but you should
begin checking for doneness at 3 hours.

The potatoes are done when they
become brittle, somewhat translucent, and are not at all pliable. Their
color should be pale white with a tinge of yellow; do not let them become
brown or even dark amber in color. Some potato slices will dry faster than
others, so check every 15 – 30 minutes for slices which are done.

Let the
dried potatoes cool thoroughly, then store for up to a year in glass or
plastic jars OR plastic bags at room temperature in a cool, dry place.

Source: Not revealed by author of this post.

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