Monday, August 10, 2009

Dehydrating Cantaloupe

Found myself with an abundance of cantaloupe, and decided to dry it. Turned out to be one of the few things that seems to retain its true flavor when dried!! I just cut it into about 1/2-inch slices, put it on the trays & let'er rip. Next morning, we had nice, dehydrated melon. Retains its lovely peach color, too. This is one of the things I'll definitely put the effort into drying, if I can get my hands on some more!!

Funny -- I'm actually starting to look forward to winter, which is not usually my favorite time of year. But as I've put so much time and energy into food preservation this summer, I find I'm actually enthused about having a little more free time (DH doesn't mind this idea, either)!! Although, no matter what time of year it is, there always seems to be plenty to do... I figure if I'm not canning or drying something, I'll probably be canning meat. Of course, I've been doing that all along, buying only what's on sale for less than $1 a pound...

I was reading a bit about the pioneer women, and what they went through trying to feed the folks they were responsible for, and in the various cirumstances in which they found themselves. It gave me a better appreciation for the challenges they faced and overcame, and reinforced my determination to make sure we have something "put by", and in a form that can be stored at room temperature.

Lucked into a bit of corn recently, and enjoyed being able to give a little of it back, in a form my benefactor can enjoy long past corn season. She was pleased to get it, but we were both a little surprised to realize that it takes about 18 fresh ears to fill a quart jar with dried corn! But it doesn't seem to take as long as one would think to prepare it (you just shuck it, blanch it for about 3 minutes & cut it off the cob, scraping with a spoon or the dull side of the knife to get all the good stuff, then dehydrate), and it's certainly worth the effort --it's quite sweet -- and shelf-stable!!
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3 comments:

  1. I want to thank you for letting us know!!! My question is "Did you do anything special? Did you just slice it and did you use a food dehydrator?" Thanks T.C. from MO.

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  2. Hi T.C. ~

    Thanks for your comment!! I'm so sorry -- I didn't realize you'd left it until just now -- even though I've been blogging for over a year, I've just finally figured out how to respond to comments!! So I'm truly hoping this response will still reach you.

    To answer your question, I just sliced it, about 3/8" or maybe a little thicker. Melon is mostly water, so you want to cut it a little thicker than you might other things for dehydrating. You don't have to do any further preparation. I dehydrated it in a Nesco dehydrator. Wish my garden had produced enough cantaloupes this past summer so I could have dehydrated more!!

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  3. The beauty of the internet. It is 3 years later, and i don't know if your message reached her but it reached me - thanks!

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