Dehydrating in the oven

[LotusCakeStudio]

What temperature should I dehydrate food at? I know some newer ovens come with a dehydrator feature, but I don't see why I can't just put something in on really low. Right now (as I'm typing this) I'm trying to make powdered pumpkin. I spread some canned pumpkin on a half sheet pan lined with a teflon sheet. It's on at 150*. When it works out and dries out ok, I'm going to break it into small pieces and put it in the food processor and hopefully I'll have my powdered pumpkin. Does anyone else do this?

[LotusCakeStudio]

Day 1: Not as I expected. Maybe the heat was too high. It shriveled up a lot and left me with almost nothing. Just a paper thing crunchy sheet of pumpkin. I haven't put it in the food processor yet, but I'll get to that tomorrow. *Starting to wonder if I can get such a thing as pumpkin powder*

[momoreg]

150 - 200 degrees is the right range for dehydrating. I've dehydrated foods in the oven, but have never attempted to make a powder. In fact, I've never dehydrated anything without the addition of sugar, and I'm curious to know how something relatively low in sugar (like pumpkin) turns out. Please keep us informed.

[angrychef]

I've dehydrated pureed bananas. It bakes into a very thin wafer which you can break up and use as a garnish. The pumpkin sounds like an interesting concept.

[Isa]

In The French Laundry Thomas Keller makes powder out of vegetables such as carrots, tomato, beet, etc. Here is the method he uses.


“At The French Laundry, we make these powders by putting the pulp or purée of a given vegetable on a baking sheet and setting it above the ovens, where the temperature happens to be perfect for drying it… we’ve come up with a way of simulating the effect using a microwave oven. Microwave ovens vary in power, so you may need to adjust the cooking time.”


Vegetable Powder
(replace … with the vegetable of your choice)

1/2 cup very finely chopped … (chopped in a food processor; or use the pulp left after juicing … in a juicer)

Squeeze the … in a towel or blot on paper towels to remove excess moisture. Line a microwave tray with a piece of parchment paper and spread the … on it in a thin, even layer. Microwave on low power for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until the … are completely dried out. Let cool to room temperature.

Grind the … to a powder in a coffee or spice grinder. Store in a covered plastic container.

Makes about 1 tablespoon.

[Kimmie]

Seems like a lot of work for 1 tablespoon of veggie powder...but I promised myself to try it in my new kitchen, next January!

[Isa]

Kimmie make sure you at least tripled or tentipled the recipe....

[Kimmie]

Betcha!!

[LotusCakeStudio]

I'm going to try the microwave method and see what happens. I hope it works b/c I need it for another experiement I'm toying with. When I worked at Fresh Fields, we had a chocolate cake with pumpkin buttercream for Halloween. Then used a Halloween themed stencil and dusted cocoa powder over it. It was a big seller! All we had to do was add pumpkin spice and canned pumpkin to vanilla Italian meringue buttercream (or was it Swiss?, eh, who can remember... hmmm, no wait, it was Swiss) until "it tasted right". Or in my case, I don't eat eggs, "until it looked right". I tried to make it with American buttercream, using powdered sugar, butter, vanilla and salt, but American buttercream just does't work that way. You add the slightest thing that's not in the original recipe and it throws the whole thing off. It breaks when you add too much pumpkin. But if you don't put enough, you can't taste it. I tried eliminating some of the butter, but that didn't work either. After lots of trial and error, (adding starch, flours, etc.) it worked out and it was so **** good! But I was thinking to use less pumpkin puree and add some powdered pumpkin to get more flavor without changing the consistancy.

If any of your like pumpkin as much as I do, add it to vanilla buttercream with some pumpkin spice. Nummy! You'll love it!