Frozen vegetables are perfect for dehydrating. They’ve already been blanched prior to being frozen and you can usually just dump them out on your dehydrator tray frozen and start drying. Super easy. This weekend I dried some broccoli. Broccoli is kind of large and thick straight out of the bag, so I let it sit on the counter and thaw a bit, then cut each larger chunk into 2-4 smaller pieces. You’d want it smaller anyway when you’re going to eat it, and exposing the center of the stalk makes it dry faster.
I loaded them on the dehydrator trays. One big 56 oz (3 lb. 8 oz.) bag of broccoli florets filled three dehydrator trays. Then I put the trays in the dehydrator. Because of the bulk of the floret heads, I loaded the trays every other slot in my Excalibur dehydrator. This is one of the benefits of this particular design of dehydrator–you can stick your trays in wherever you need to to accommodate whatever it is you’re wanting to dry.
Then I ran the dehydrator overnight. I didn’t count the hours, but I wanted the broccoli good and dry. They should be crispy, not leathery. Here they are when they’re done. That empty spot is where hubby snitched one. He likes to try out the dehydrated goods right off the tray. These were “tasty, but the stem is pretty tough” in case you were wondering.
There you have it. Super easy. That whole giant bag filled three pint jars once it was dried.
Keep preparing! Angela
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Very, very cool!
How do you store the dry broccoli, and how long will it keep?
I second Cecily! How dry is dry enough?
Crispy dry is dry enough on broccoli. I store them in a canning jar on a dark shelf in my food room. I've never timed the dry veggies to see how long they are good. I'd say safely 5 years stored cool and dry, probably more. They will last longer sealed in mylar or foodsaver bags or if I put an oxygen absorber in my jar or seal my jar with a foodsaver jar sealer attachment to reduce oxygen exposure.
Now, I'm just saying…what a perfect addition to a cream soup mix! Great idea using the frozen broccoli too! All the grunt work is almost done! Love it!!
Angela, I'd like pricing info on the Excalibur dehydrators. I'm also curious to know why you like this particular brand.
thanks!
all you have to do is google or search on Amazon. com and you will find the prices.
I can't believe I never thought of dehydrating frozen veggies before! Finally opening up my mind to this option brings so many possibilities with local sales as well as preventing those lost frozen veggie bags in my freezer that sometimes end up full of ice chunks and ruined. Thanks so much!
Hi, could you then grind these up and use them as baby food? I am going to japan with my 9 month old and want to make sure she is getting organic food. thinking I will just take a variety of dehydrated vegies!
You could grind them if you get them dry enough. I would cut them even smaller before drying or maybe even puree them first like I did with the carrots in this post. Perfect for taking on trips!