Onion powder

[aris]

Anyone know where I can get this?

[Jonty]

Aris,

http://www.steenbergs.co.uk/description2.php?prodid=63

Cheers

[sausagemaker]

Hi Aris

Try the link below �1.29 per 100 grm plus postage

http://www.harvest-gold-wholefoods.co.u ... es_29.html

Regards
Sausagemaker

[Oddley]

Just for a laugh. Tomorrow I think I will try to dry, then grind some onion, into onion powder. I'll let you know how I get on.

[sausagemaker]

Hi Oddley

I suppose you could just grind down some dried kibbled onions

regards
sausagemaker

[Spuddy]

@oddley
At the risk of increasing the cost of your sausages even further I use one of these:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... eName=WDVW
I make my own onion powder, garlic powder, celery salt by drying then milling. Also good for biltong, jerky, drying chilli etc. My mother grows "San Marzano" Italian plum tomatoes (the best variety) each year which I then dry using the ezidri and they are better than any sun dried tomoatoes than I've ever managed to buy in the shops.
A good investment if you ask me but beware; it's bigger than it looks in the pictures.

[Oddley]

Hi sausagemaker what are dried kibbled onions?

Spuddy very tempting. My wife would kill me. I think I am stretching her tolerance even now. Perhaps next year.

Meanwhile the onions will have to go into the oven with the door ajar.

[sausagemaker]

Hi Oddley

Dried kibbled onions are just dried sliced onions you can buy them under the whitworths brand in most supermarkets.

As for spuddy's idea I have always wanted to dry some of my own ingredients especially for the wine making (Elderberries in particular)
So Spuddy if you are looking at this please let me know how easy it actually is? PM me if you think it is a bit off the beaten track of the forum

Regards
Sausagemaker

[Spuddy]

@Sausagemaker.
It's very easy; you lay the stuff out on the trays, stack them up, put the lid on an switch it on. It's got three power settings depending on what you are drying and within 24 hours (usually less) you've got a dried version of what went in. I've done dried apples, bananas and strawberries which are great in kids lunchboxes. My son loves them and he's only four, the age when it's difficult to get anything like that into a child. He calls them fruit crisps and often asks for them in favour of other snacks.
Apparently you can dehydrate a complete cooked meal such as a stew or a soup for rehydrating later (although I've never tried it).
I see no problem with things like elderberries.

BR
Spuddy

[aris]

Very interesting indeed. If you look at the companies website, they have one of those jerkey makers too:

http://www.ezidri.co.uk/index.php?optio ... &Itemid=44

To be honest though, for making biltong you need a SLOW dry rather than quick. If you dry slowly, it becomes much more tender.

[Oddley]

Thanks for the info Sausagemaker.

I used to make wine and beer in vast quantities. I had a great bitter recipe, I used to make 20 gallons at a time. I used to make country wines and of course grape. A friend used to get a few boxes of wine grapes from covent garden when the Italian harvest was in.

Had to give it up though was getting pissed out of my brains every night. Gave all my stuff away with some regret.

My Dad started me on the home made booze track. I used to help him with a homemade still in the kitchen. Now that was fun, as we ran the risk of blowing the house up. I could tell you some funny stories about that. But I think I will leave that for the book.

[sausagemaker]

Hi Oddley

Happy to here you didn't blow the house up
I tended to stick with my elderberry as they grow around these parts like weeds so there is always a good harvest, I don't make as much nowadays but I used to work for a pie factory near by who allowed me the use of there cooking boilers on Saturdays (Smallest being 100 gallons)
this was for a small donation of 6 bottles when the brew was ready a good swap I thought especially as he insisted on paying me overtime as you were not allowed in unless you got paid.
Can't find jobs like that anymore.

regards
sausagemaker

[Hobbitfeet]

I have used one for five years now. I originally got mine from New Zealand and use it to dry all sorts of fruit and veg. As I go light weight camping a lot, I also use it to dry pre-cooked meals. I well remember the pleasure of rehydrating a curry in an Icelandic youth hostel!

[cumberland-sausage]

how long does it take to dehyrate a meal ie curry?

[Hobbitfeet]

Depending on the consistency of the curry, it can take as much as 7 or 8 hours. I tend to leave it on overnight but I only seem to need 5 hours sleep these days so I can check it and move things around to prevent any "wet patches". It also depends on how long you are going to keep it before cooking. If only for a few days, you can err on the shorter dehydratring times. A full dessication will leave you something looking like rabbit pellets but will keep for months! It will still reconstitute to something much better than is available commercially.