Haven't tried bottling yet so can't compare but for example, at the moment if I make jam I have to use bottled gas and add bought in sugar, so for us, drying is a cheaper, less time consuming method of preservation with a more flexible end product - you can eat dried fruit as it is, rehydrate it, add it to cooking food but jam is just jam. Dried veg takes up very little room in jars and should be as convenient to add to dishes as frozen veg, without taking up freezer space (and using electricity in winter when we might not have enough as well as the risk of defrosting and losing all our produce).
How long lasting are the results?
Dried foods, stored properly as supposed to last for a long time. Most of the books recommend using up the produce within the year, before the next harvest. We've only started drying stuff this summer, so no long term info but Bloke Off The Telly had been drying for years, he'd be able to tell you more about use by dates.
cassy
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What do you do with the dehydrated cucumber? |
It's surprisingly salty, like dried celery is. I've just made it for the first time and it's nice as it is, like vegetable crisps but I suppose you could put it in a cooked dish, in a winter sandwich, crumbled on top of a winter salad. It'll add a bit of variety in the depths of winter.
tahir
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Cassy you should do an article on your experiences. (Says he who's never submitted an article on anything  )
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dpack
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for meat a temp of 70 c or above for part of the drying should be used to kill bugs
for each kilo of wet food there will be about 500 to 700 ml of water vapour
recon a small fan and a thermostatic controlled booster heater might be good features
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