Dehydrated vegetables - what to cook other than soups or stews?

[Omega]

I am still toying with the idea of a dehydrator because we spoil lots of fresh vegetables and fruits. However, we rarely make soups or stews, so I wonder how can I use dehydrated vegetables? The vegetables will come from supermarket, and I plan dehydrating them before they spoil - at the moment, my family wastes about 2-10 pounds (1-5 kg) of vegetables and fruits a week, I want to reduce this waste, so vegetables are likely to be wonky
I don’t have a large garden, so won’t use dehydrator for own produce
I don’t like dried fruits and don’t think fructose helps keeping fat off my belly. Yes, I can boil some to make a drink, but that’s all
Our wasted vegetables are usually tomatoes, cucumber, spring onions, carrots, lettuce, spinach, broccoli, pepper, garlic.
Awe waste herbs like dill, coriander, parsley, thyme, but I know we can use them, so not an issue
“Fruits” we waste a lot are bananas, watermelon, apples, grapes, peaches, citric (oranges, mandarines, lemons)
Do you think it will save me money if I start dehydrating?
If I buy a dehydrator, then I think it will be 9 tray with timer Excalibur or Sous Vide, wife wants only brand new, so it is about £300. I recently got myself solar panels that should generate about 200% of my annual consumption, so electric costs are not an issue
Many thank

[Vitamin c]

If you don't like fruit sugar ,try drying lemon peel once dry blend into a powder .
This can be added to food as required or my favourite put into a jug add water, mix ,chill you have a homemade lemon drink that's bursting with vitamin c and antioxidants.

[jansman]

I am still toying with the idea of a dehydrator because we spoil lots of fresh vegetables and fruits. However, we rarely make soups or stews, so I wonder how can I use dehydrated vegetables? The vegetables will come from supermarket, and I plan dehydrating them before they spoil - at the moment, my family wastes about 2-10 pounds (1-5 kg) of vegetables and fruits a week, I want to reduce this waste, so vegetables are likely to be wonky
I don’t have a large garden, so won’t use dehydrator for own produce
I don’t like dried fruits and don’t think fructose helps keeping fat off my belly. Yes, I can boil some to make a drink, but that’s all
Our wasted vegetables are usually tomatoes, cucumber, spring onions, carrots, lettuce, spinach, broccoli, pepper, garlic.
Awe waste herbs like dill, coriander, parsley, thyme, but I know we can use them, so not an issue
“Fruits” we waste a lot are bananas, watermelon, apples, grapes, peaches, citric (oranges, mandarines, lemons)
Do you think it will save me money if I start dehydrating?
If I buy a dehydrator, then I think it will be 9 tray with timer Excalibur or Sous Vide, wife wants only brand new, so it is about £300. I recently got myself solar panels that should generate about 200% of my annual consumption, so electric costs are not an issue
Many thank

£300 quid buys a lot of veg. NOT buying veg also saves a lot of money. The best way to deal with vegetables is to eat them. Not waste them.We look in the fridge or pantry and see what is needing to be eaten,and we cook accordingly. Just a thought.

[jansman]

Just as back up,my wife also said “don’t buy that much veg in the first place” ,when I read it to her.

[diamond lil]

I was going to say the same Omega. A dehydrator is just useful for people who grow their own and want to eat it all year round, not just in season. If you wont eat loads of dried veg then dont buy one.

[jennyjj01]

Certainly buy less
Tomatoes carrots onions garlic peppers all dehydrate well. Lots of other stuff won't. Hard fruits you either love em or hate em. Mine is a sous vide 9 tray, but 6 would have done for my needs. Certainly 300 is a lot to pay to save a few carrots.

[GillyBee]

We have one of the cheap & cheerful dehydrators. Nothing fancy but it works. I would love an Excalibur but do not have money to spend on something like that unless it will be used daily. I have used it for garden produce & to save supermarket veg which would otherwise go to waste or was bought on special specifically to dehydrate. It does require a fair amount of time and effort and of course leccie which you say will not be a problem as you will use solar.
We use dried carrot, onion mushrooms celery, herbs to make our own stock powder. Dries apple rings are popular as a snack. Fruit leather is eaten too quickly to justify the effort....
Having said that I am just back from a festival where there were a couple of people selling jerky, drywurst, and dehydrated full meals of the curry & bolognaise styles. They told me I could use my dehydrator to create these as long as I get the temperature control right so I may research some tested recipes and give this a try.

[jennyjj01]

We use dried carrot, onion mushrooms celery, herbs to make our own stock powder. Dries apple rings are popular as a snack. Fruit leather is eaten too quickly to justify the effort....
Having said that I am just back from a festival where there were a couple of people selling jerky, drywurst, and dehydrated full meals of the curry & bolognaise styles. They told me I could use my dehydrator to create these as long as I get the temperature control right so I may research some tested recipes and give this a try.

I like the idea of your stock powder. I already use mushroom powder in my stock, but how do you get the carrots powdered? Lots of grinding? Dried celery is funny isn't it, since it's 99% water to start with and you end up with just a few prickles.
I'd never heard of drywurst, which sounds fun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXsSKuQv4nA but might need more equipment and additives, casings etc.
Mostly I'd love to hear of you 'sperimenting at making your own dried ready meals like curry or sauces. That would save a mountain of freezer space.

[GillyBee]

You can use a spice or coffee grinder to grind carrots and celery. I use this one as I already own it for grinding whole spices for curries. (We eat a LOT of curry round here.)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Caterlite-Grin ... th=1&psc=1

I was looking at this website last night as the blogger makes ready meals in his dehydrator and has guidance.

https://www.backpackingchef.com/

I have realised that I am halfway there. I already have a working curry sauce blend made from tomato and onion powders and spices. I just need a suitable protein to add. I proposed using tinned lentils when camping last week. The face from Mr GB made it plain that I need to learn to dehydrate meat. I think I will try some cooked turkey mince as a first effort as this is low fat. From what I have read, these meals need to be fat free to store well. They are OK for short term use or could just be more compact in my freezer and less of a worry if the power goes out.

[Omega]

Having said that I am just back from a festival where there were a couple of people selling jerky, drywurst, and dehydrated full meals of the curry & bolognaise styles. They told me I could use my dehydrator to create these as long as I get the temperature control right so I may research some tested recipes and give this a try.

I will search internet about it, sounds very useful to have a full meal dehydrated - I currently work on a client site that is too far from cheap cafes, would be. Wry useful to bring own food and warm it up with water. Wonder how long such dehydrated food can survive outside the fridge if sealed in a vacuum sealant