One Pan Wonders
Backcountry Cooking at its Finest
Sliced - Chips
I started with five beautiful shiny red apples, washed and ready to go.
They were sliced 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick (by hand!). This would be a lot easier with a mandolin or food processor, but I don't have either, so I got to practice my knife skills.
Then I removed the cores. Again, this would be easier if you had an apple corer. The cores could be removed prior to slicing, but alas it is yet another kitchen gadget I am in need of. Instead, I used a TINY cookie cutter (usually reserved for appetizers and shortbread). Worked great! Alternately, you could cut the apples in half and remove the cores with a knife. You'll just end up with crescents instead of rings.
I spread the apples in a single layer on lined dehydrator trays. Five apples took up three trays. I didn't add anything to the apples for flavoring. They were nice and sweet, but if you wanted to, you could add a sprinkling of cinnamon before dehydrating. I've heard of people using Jello powder as a flavoring too, but I think that would be too sweet for my tastes.
I set the dehydrator at 145 degrees and turned it on. After about 2 hours, I checked on the apples. This is what they looked like. Starting to shrivel, but still very moist.
I wanted crunchy apple chips, not chewy ones, so I let the dehydrator run for about 8 hours. If you wanted a chewier final product, you will want to decrease this time. After allowing them to cool, store the dried apples in a zip locking plastic bag. Eat like potato chips.
I am wishing now I had done a full (8 trays) dehydrator full of them. My daughter LOVES the final result. And I love that I have a kid-friendly snack that is really tasty and healthy! Nothing but apples here folks. I have a feeling these aren't going to make it to the trail, but I think I will be making them often.
They were sliced 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick (by hand!). This would be a lot easier with a mandolin or food processor, but I don't have either, so I got to practice my knife skills.
Then I removed the cores. Again, this would be easier if you had an apple corer. The cores could be removed prior to slicing, but alas it is yet another kitchen gadget I am in need of. Instead, I used a TINY cookie cutter (usually reserved for appetizers and shortbread). Worked great! Alternately, you could cut the apples in half and remove the cores with a knife. You'll just end up with crescents instead of rings.
I spread the apples in a single layer on lined dehydrator trays. Five apples took up three trays. I didn't add anything to the apples for flavoring. They were nice and sweet, but if you wanted to, you could add a sprinkling of cinnamon before dehydrating. I've heard of people using Jello powder as a flavoring too, but I think that would be too sweet for my tastes.
I set the dehydrator at 145 degrees and turned it on. After about 2 hours, I checked on the apples. This is what they looked like. Starting to shrivel, but still very moist.
I wanted crunchy apple chips, not chewy ones, so I let the dehydrator run for about 8 hours. If you wanted a chewier final product, you will want to decrease this time. After allowing them to cool, store the dried apples in a zip locking plastic bag. Eat like potato chips.
I am wishing now I had done a full (8 trays) dehydrator full of them. My daughter LOVES the final result. And I love that I have a kid-friendly snack that is really tasty and healthy! Nothing but apples here folks. I have a feeling these aren't going to make it to the trail, but I think I will be making them often.
Dices
Free food!!!
Recently I was given a dozen over ripe Golden Delicious apples. Perfect timing too, as I had just ran out of dried apples. This time I decided to do dices instead of slices since I always seem to cut up the slices anyway. I started by giving all of the apples a good rinse.
Then I removed all the stickers and the core. A neat trick I learned from Rachael Ray is to cut the apples in quarters, then lay each piece on one side and slice out the core at an angle. Safer than a paring knife!
Next was peeling. Here's where the paring knife skills come in. It takes a long time to peel 12 apples!! No, I didn't put them in a lemon juice bath - and they didn't turn brown.
Next is back to the butcher knife. Chop chop chop... Into 1/4 inch (or so) dices they go, and then spread on lined dehydrator trays. I set the dehydrator at 135* and let it run. I had SIX trays of diced apples (and two more of canned chicken).
About five hours or so later, I had nice chewy dehydrated apple dices. These got packaged into a zip locking plastic bag. I'll be using them soon!
Recently I was given a dozen over ripe Golden Delicious apples. Perfect timing too, as I had just ran out of dried apples. This time I decided to do dices instead of slices since I always seem to cut up the slices anyway. I started by giving all of the apples a good rinse.
Then I removed all the stickers and the core. A neat trick I learned from Rachael Ray is to cut the apples in quarters, then lay each piece on one side and slice out the core at an angle. Safer than a paring knife!
Next was peeling. Here's where the paring knife skills come in. It takes a long time to peel 12 apples!! No, I didn't put them in a lemon juice bath - and they didn't turn brown.
Next is back to the butcher knife. Chop chop chop... Into 1/4 inch (or so) dices they go, and then spread on lined dehydrator trays. I set the dehydrator at 135* and let it run. I had SIX trays of diced apples (and two more of canned chicken).
About five hours or so later, I had nice chewy dehydrated apple dices. These got packaged into a zip locking plastic bag. I'll be using them soon!
