I think it is appropriate that amidst all this rain I would test drive the Nesco Professional Food Dehydrator. It is my little ‘rage against the moisture’ 🙂 The dehydrator was a birthday gift from my sister in law and although I had been itching for one for a long time, the ‘busy’ness of every day just kept me from opening the box.

This morning was definitely one of those, ‘Why didn’t I do this sooner!?’ moments. There was nothing to put together, I simply had to wash the trays in warm soapy water and then the machine was ready to go. Loading it up was equally simple. I decided to try apples for this first go round. I simply cut them into a bowl of orange juice, let them soak for 5 minutes and then lined them up on the trays. The whole process took about 10 minutes. I did it all before walking my son down to the bus stop. Drying took the whole day. Most of the apples were finished after 10 hours with a couple pieces taking twelve.

When I do this again, I am going to use a corer to make the job even simpler and then slice the apples in rings.

I am looking forward to trying watermelon, tomatoes, sage and cranberries next. Oh the possibilities are endless!