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Thread: dehydrated potatoes deep fried?

  1. #1
    Senior Member jp1's Avatar
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    dehydrated potatoes deep fried?

    Last weekend I dehydrated some apples and serrano peppers. The apples I took to work for snacks and the peppers I ground up to use while cooking. A coworker loves the apples and we started discussing other things I could dehydrate. One of the things she suggested was potatoes. She had no experience with this. I pointed out that they would still need to be cooked before being edible.

    So my question is this. How would dehydrating them alter the process of deep frying? Would they wind up more like store bought potato chips? Or would they get super soggy with oil overload because being dehydrated they'd absorb lots? Something else?

    Unless someone can provide a real life experience of what happened (that was bad...) or a scientific explanation of why it's a bad idea I'll probably go ahead and try this this weekend. After all a potato and 12 hours of electricity for the dehydrator don't cost much.

    As a separate aside, I'm also happy to hear any suggestions of things that do dehydrate well.

  2. #2
    Tea
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    When they're in season, sliced tomatoes dehydrate very well - spice them before drying with salt and pepper, finely ground dried basil, a dash of hot sauce on each slice, or whatever else you think would be good. They are my go-to snack for keeping in my purse.

    If you are a forager, oyster mushrooms dry very well and can then be crumbled in to soups or fried rice, onto pizzas, et cetera, whenever you want that wild mushroom flavor. I find it to be a very convenient way to use them. They do need to be either kept in an airtight jar or stored in the freezer though - if exposed to humid air they will partially reconstitute, and become susceptible to mold.

    Dried broccoli retains a bit of a chewy texture even after being re-hydrated, but is still pretty good in soups as long as the pieces are small. Greens are good that way too, only you dry them whole and then crumble them up after drying.

    As for deep frying dried potatoes, I don't think it would work, I think the water in them needs to turn to steam and expand in order to give the texture we expect of deep fried foods. If I had to guess I would say deep fried dried potatoes would remain hard as a rock until they burned to charcoal and smoked up your kitchen. I have never tried it though.

    Some people do actually eat potatoes fresh and raw, because their vitamin C content is much higher that way, so there is a chance that very thinly sliced dried potatoes would be palatable as is - but I sort of doubt it, texture wise.

    Probably the best use for dried potatoes would be to reconstitute them in soups or stews.

    Since potatoes will keep all winter in a cool room, I don't see much reason to dry them for food preservation, unless you find yourself with a bunch that are starting to sprout or something.

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    Senior Member razz's Avatar
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    Phyllis Hobson has an excellent book about making and using dried foods, "Making and Using Dried Foods". You library could probably get you a copy.
    She says: blanch potatoes as 1/2" shoestrings or 1/8" slices for 5-6 in boiling water, drain well and dry for 12-18 hours rotating a couple of times until crisp and transparent and then add to other dried ingredients when reconstituting. Nothing about deep frying.
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    As far as other foods to dehydrate, I've had some success with cabbage - usually shredded or dice up into smaller pieces, carrots - also shredded or diced. One staple in my pantry is ground turkey... boiled to remove as much of the fat as possible and then drained, crumbled and dried. Store in airtight canning jars. Reconstitute by simply pouring boiling water in the jar and letting it sit for several minutes before using in a recipe. Great for tacos, in spaghetti sauce, etc. Whatever you used ground meat for. Discovered this back when we did a lot of camping.

    I had forgotten that I have the Phyllis Hobson book - great book - as well as Food Drying at Home the Nature Way by Bee Beyer. Need to browse these again. LOL.
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    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    You folks I have to ask because I do not get it: what is the point of fussing with all of this super cheap food such as cabbage and potatoes? Dehydrating and messing with them, it just seems so, well – not good use of anyone’s time.This is very cheap per pound food, the cheapest we can get.


    I understand do you hydrating certain fruits. I wonder how strawberries and raspberries work in a dehydrator? We have a dehydrator but we don’t use it much I think it’s stupid.

  6. #6
    Senior Member jp1's Avatar
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    For me it's more about making different flavors/textures rather than trying to save the bounty for a long time. I live in the land of year round farmers markets, after all. For instance I find dried apples to be much more enjoyable than regular apples. With regard to the potatoes it's wanting to make better homemade potato chips. I've found a non-drying related recipe that basically amounts to par boiling them in water and vinegar for a few minutes to eliminate some of the starch so they'll crisp better in the deep fryer. I'll report back after I've tried that.

    Thanks for the book suggestion. The library does indeed have it so perhaps this afternoon I'll go pick it up!

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    I dry strawberries when they are on sale. I stock up and use them mainly in oatmeal. Also, depending on your food budget, those basics aren't always 'super cheap'. I've found the best prices on cabbage to be right before St Patrick's day for as low as .29/pound. I have enough recipes where it is worth it financially to dry and stock up. Plus, I love having foods at hand in my pantry when I want them. (I don't dehydrate potatoes - I just don't buy them until they get down to a certain price)
    To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer." Mahatma Gandhi
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  8. #8
    Tea
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    Oh, and I should have mentioned cantaloupe melon in my first response. It comes out chewy and leathery (not dry and crunchy) but in a really good way that makes it fun to eat, and the flavor is quiet good in my opinion. Similar to dried mango, which is also good, even though I'm not a fan of fresh mango.

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    I love dried potatoes as hash browns. I make a dish of dried hash browns (about 1 1/4 c and same amount of water), Cook about 9 minutes (or until crisp on bottom), flip over and cover with 4 scrambled eggs (raw), 1/4 c milk and cheese and then put a lid on for 9 minutes. Top with bacon. Takes a total of 18 minutes to cook. It is like a crispy omelet. My DH requested it today! Says it serves 4. You could add whatever you like.

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