Sun Dried Tomatoes (Sun Free)

Dehydrator Dried Tomatoes

It just doesn't sound as good as 

Sun Dried Tomatoes

Any way here we go.

The Farmer is quite pleased with the tomato harvest this year.

Lots of freezer bags full put away for winter sauces and soups.

Now for the dried stuff.

The Farmer was out early picking.

 

He set the dehydrator to preheat

It took a while to slice up nine trays of tomatoes and salt them up.

Having parchment paper down was to stop dripping.

The salting was done on the cutting board so the parchment is nice and clean.

Pink Himalayan salt for those who care to know.

So here they go into the artificial sunlight to dry.

There are nine shelves but getting them all in view was to precarious.

The Farmer didn't want any falling to the ground.

Time to take a peek.

Wow almost three hours for that?

The Farmer isn't pleased with the parchment idea.

There is way to much moisture being held in place.

He won't be using that next time.

 The Farmer checked a few times in the evening and found little change.

Somewhat upsetting.

Hydro One is gonna be happy though.

The Farmer checked again just before bed and saw some progress.

He did feel somewhat defeated as he dozed off.

Morning came with the excitement of a child at 

Christmas/Eid/Hanukkah (alphabetically correct order here)

His excitement was short lived though.

The Farmer had forgotten to reset the timer on Excalibur before retiring.

Everything was cold and wet still.

This was not a photo op.

 hence no photo.

After another two hours The Farmer was able to peel the slices free of the parchment.

Four hours later the booty was piled high on The Farmers counter.

Much happier times.

The Farmers Wife spread them all out and sorted the odd little ones.

She asked to have them ground for her evening popcorn.

So The Farmer broke out the trusty little coffee grinder and did as requested.

A happy Farmers wife = a happy Farmer

Some of the slices saved in a paper bag in the herb cupboard.

The rest vaccume sealed and into the deep freeze.

The Farmer hopes you enjoyed the post and found it somewhat enlightening

How To Make Beef Jerky

So you want to know how to make beef jerky?

Let The Farmer show you how easy it is.

First things first.

Log in to Amazon and order a dehydrator.

The Farmer bought this one.

Excalibur 3926TB

Now wait and wait and wait.

Actualy it didn't take to long.

 Unpack carefully

The box has a little crease but all in all it looks good.

Little wrinkle on the bottom of the inner box.

Looks good so far

AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

 Once The Farmer calmed down he removd the jammed trays.

The body of the unit is bowed a bit but not enough for the trays to slip out.

So ahead we go.

This will be the chosen spot for the inaugural run.

 The controls are intact so all is well.

 The chosen cut is inside round.

The farmer used his knife skills to filet away most of the fat.

 The portion size is determined and the slicing begins.

 Cutting a consistent size is a bit tricky but

The Farmer is no stranger to cutting meat.

First batch is to be done with a dry rub.

Himalayan pink salt, Frank's dry seasoning, 

The Farmer's own organic chilli pepper powder.

Garlic powder and smoked paprika.

Nothing measured here just wing it.

 All stacked up and wrapped up now into the fridge.

Next is a wet marinade.

Worchestershire sauce, Garden coctail,

The Farmers organic chilli pepper powder,

Himalayan pink salt and of course Garlic powder.

All bagged up and into the fridge.

Now The Farmer has to wait again.

Ti'll the next morning.

8am

The Farmer wants to make sure the machine is working propperly.

After all it has never been used.

So a meat thermometer is placed on the middle shelf 

to make sure things are what they should be.

 The heater works fine.

It took a while to get to temperature.

It was a cool morning.

 The controlls are easy enough to set.

Old fashiond twist controllers.

No digital display to die on you.

Also cheap to replace if they go.

Now for the meat!

 It fits nicely on the tray and smells amazing

 The wet marinade needed to be drained and wiped off.

Looking good!

 One tray of dry rub and two of the wet marinade.

All ready to dehydrate.

The microwave says its time to go.

 The Farmer thinks he should have bought more meat.

Guess what time it is now.

Time to rotate the trays and check out the progress.

Looking good enough to eat.

Time to do more tending to the lovelies.

The trays turned again and this time The Farmer flipped each piece over.

 The magic number.

Woo Hoo!!!

They look and feel great.

They are bendable not brittle.

They smell fantastic and taste amazing

One last close up.

You can almost taste them can't you?

The Farmer already owns the vacuum sealer.

Thank goodness if not you would be subjected to more Amazon foolishness.