My stove has a dehydrator function!

[Grant Lamontagne]

For years I have played with the idea of getting a dehydrator for jerky and stuff. In fact, we have a few threads in the Break Room about doing jerky in a dehydrator.

But I've discovered that my oven at home has that function built into it- we got a new Samsung smart oven a couple of years ago and the only fancy function I've used so far is the proofing feature, mostly for pizza dough.

It also has an air fryer mode, but that will be a challenge for another day.

I've been wanting to make my own trail mix for a while and I decided that I wanted to add some fruit, so I started looking at buying a dehydrator, and I'm glad I didn't because I already have one!

Anyways, I decided the first fruit I am going to try is pineapple, and if that goes well, probably green apple will be next.

The rest of the trail mix (so far) is peanuts, cashews, smoked almonds and pumpkin seeds.  I'll keep mixing up the recipe until I get something I really like, but for now, that's the first batch.

And yes, since this is MTO and we need some EDC related content, I cut, cored and sliced the pineapple (known everywhere else as some form of ananas, but no, not us English speakers!) with a Victorinox kitchen knife.   

Does anyone have any suggestions of other things to add or try dehydrating?  I may not take it because I'm an annoyingly picky eater (just ask Paulo!) but ideas are always welcome!

Def

[nate j]

At the risk of stating the obvious, are you actually going to try making some jerky?

[Grant Lamontagne]

I probably will at some point.  Just a couple of miles from the camp is a place famous for having the best jerky in the province so I feel like pretty much anything I do is going to be a let down from that.

After about 11 hours, this is what I was left with.

Holy smurf is it good!

Def

[nate j]

Well, sometimes if it ain’t broke, not fixing it is the best option.

Glad the pineapple worked out, anyway.
 

[lister]

Try dehydrating it whole, then you have a snack and a weapon. Nothing to sneeze at theese days... 

[Grant Lamontagne]

I wouldn't dare- this took many, many hours already, I can't imagine wanting to wait days, if not weeks for a whole one to dehydrate!   

This was cool and the results are amazing, but leaving the oven running for 12 hours seems a little excessive to me.  Also, as my slices aren't as uniform as I would have liked, some are not as well dehydrated as others.  But it was after midnight when most of them were "good enough" so if I was to try this again I'd probably use a mandolin to slice them thinner and more evenly.  I thought I could do it well enough by hand, but apparently not.

It's also a bit depressing how little you actually get out of a pineapple, which is a pretty big damned fruit.  It's a bit disillusioning to go to that much effort and time to end up with such a teeny amount of something.

I'm not saying I'm not going to do this again, but I am definitely going to have to be better prepared in the future, and maybe start it at night because it won't be ready for at least six to eight hours.  It seems like it would be better to let it do most of it's dehydrating while I sleep rather than tie up the oven for so long when we may want to use it.

Def

[nate j]

I recall a guy I worked with many years ago making his own venison jerky.

He didn’t have a dehydrator (or dehydrate oven function), but had a very detailed process that involved setting the oven at a low temperature, leaving the oven door open a certain amount, using his own blend of seasonings and spices, etc.  While his methods were unconventional, the results were delicious!
 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yeah, I can imagine.  There was a Hamilton Beach model dehydrator on sale last week at a local retailer and I have enough store points to have gotten it.  I wonder if it would have done a better job?  It's nice having a "do everything" style oven, but as we know (somehow  ) multifunction devices are great but they can't usually compete with a dedicated tool.

Also, the Hamilton Beach model has a lot more area for drying (I think it's something like 5 shelves inside?) and I could do two pineapples at once.  It would also keep the oven free for actual cooking rather than occupying a regularly used device for long periods.

But then, like many of us, do I need yet another freaking appliance?  Pretty sure I have long since run out of space to store appliances, and the dehydrator I was looking at isn't small.   

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

This is the end result- my trail mix.   

It looks good and tastes even better. The pineapple is almost like candy in there and the sweetness mixed with the earthiness of the nuts and seeds, and the smokiness if the almond really sells it

I still think some green apple would add another dimension though.  Definitely an idea for the next batch.

Def

[nate j]

This is the end result- my trail mix.   

It looks good and tastes even better. The pineapple is almost like candy in there and the sweetness mixed with the earthiness of the nuts and seeds, and the smokiness if the almond really sells it

I still think some green apple would add another dimension though.  Definitely an idea for the next batch.

Def

[lister]

Yeah looks tasty. 

[Grant Lamontagne]

The trail mix test was actually pretty good, and I was pleased with the results. 

I do have some changes I would make for the next batch, and there will be a next batch.

1- I will probably get a dehydrator.  Using the stove is too limited, and getting enough racks to do all the pineapple (and apple maybe) that I want to do will cost almost as much as the dehydrator, and it means I can still use the oven for other things.

2- Slicing the pineapple (and apple) needs to be done on a mandolin (I have one somewhere) to make more uniform pieces for more effective dehydration.

3- The pieces need to be smaller.  I had cut each ring into six pieces, but I think maybe cutting them even smaller would be better- eight would be better than six, but I am thinking of cutting them into 12.  That would probably make the pieces closer in size to the nuts and seeds.

I am actually happy with the recipe as is, but I think some green apple will offset the extreme sweetness of the pineapple, and smaller chunks will also allow the flavors of the other stuff to show through better.  Each chunk of pineapple was so large that it kind of dominated.

Def

[nate j]

So, once you get the recipe perfected, will you move to commercial production?

Will we start seeing “Uncle Def’s Trail Mix” at our favorite gas stations and convenience stores?
 
 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Hahaha wouldn't that be great?

I feel like Uncle Def's Mixed Nuts, Seeds & Lube would be a scary combination to find at 7-11 in the middle of the night!   

To follow up on what I posted above, immediately after posting it I got the notion to try again, so off I went to the store to get more nuts, seeds, a pineapple and a couple of green apples.

I dug out my mandolin and sliced the pineapple very thinly, which was great, except that it also had some drawbacks.

Thinner slices means more slices, which means it takes up more surface area on the racks.  The first time I did it I still had a small amount of space on the rack, but this time the racks were only big enough for about 2/3's of the pineapple.  That means a lower production volume as I mix equal weights of seeds, nuts and pineapple.

Also, since I started it in the afternoon, it meant the pineapple would have to dehydrate overnight, but I got up bright and early (dark and early actually, as the sun hadn't bothered getting out of bed yet!) and sure enough, the pineapple was as dry as it was going to get.  Some chunks of pineapple were actually so dry they broke like potato chips when I took them off the racks, and much of the pineapple refused to let go of the racks.

In the end, I really only got about 50g of pineapple out of it, although I do still have a third of a pineapple in the fridge in case I want to do more.  Megan is flying home today and I leave for a while on Sunday, so I really don't have the time to try again right now, so that 1/3 of a pineapple is likely going to end up in the freezer.  Fortunately pineapple freezes well.

I took my 50g of pineapple and added 5g each of smoked almonds, peanuts, cashews and pumpkin seeds and ended up with a full sandwich bag.  It wasn't the big batch I got last time, but it will do.

I had cut the pineapple into eighths this time and they are still a bit large.  Unfortunately any smaller and they will just fall through the racks that I have.  Fortunately they broke up quite a bit when being extracted off the racks, which gave me a lot of smaller pieces.

So, after doing another (small) batch I really don't have any new thoughts, and I am pretty well still in agreement with what I said above.

I either need new racks with smaller gaps, or a dehydrator.  The racks are pretty cheap at just under $10 each, but as I would want a half dozen or so of them (at least) that works out to $60 (ish).  For $75 I can have a dedicated dehydrator with it's own racks, will probably do a better job and it leaves my oven free for other things.  That seems worth the extra $15.

The pineapple does need to be cut into smaller pieces.  These larger, lighter pieces act like flakes when you try to mix them up and they float to the top, meaning your trail mix is never really mixed.

Once I get it all figured out I may try to add a bit of honey and make bars, but I think that it might need some more filler to make that work properly.  I am thinking sesame seeds and/or shaved coconut.  It would also be cool to consider some small hunks of beef jerky too at some point.

Def