Dehydrating Food in the Old Days

[SpAzZyWoNdErZ]

Those dehydrators were huge, especially the "Excalibur prototypes". Interesting video!

[CrowsNest2012]

Awesome video. Great info for those using solar dehydrators. Thanks for the tip about heating to kill any Noseeums that might have taken up residence.

[snookumsjack]

I enjoyed the old cookbooks. My mother suffers from Alzheimer's and I couldn't remember all of her German Sourbratten recipe. She learned to make it when worked for Theresa Martin in Jackson Hole, WY. Mrs Martin was of the WWI generation. She had learned it from her Mother handed down generation to generation in Germany. The recipe is the same. Thank you! Thank you!

[GrannyPrepper]

Grabbing frozen food (already blanched), in season and on sale is a great time savor when you want to get a good supply of the basics dried in a hurry.

[FreidasGarden]

Thanks for this video! I really enjoy watching this.

[dianemummvideos]

good stuff Susan, it was neat seeing all the old setups they used.. 

[imstillworkin]

@dianemummvideos It's interesting to find that they didn't necessarily do things the way we assume they did. Knowing these methods could save a lot of time and food.

[BexarPrepper]

As always great information and resources. Blessings!

[imstillworkin]

@BexarPrepper Thanks, I'm determined to find out exactly how they did things back then. I've done the math and there just aren't enough hours in the day to do everything the way we assumed they did it, lol.

[therealvirginiawind]

Very good info. Learning the old ways is something I think we can benefit from, but not all of those old ways are as good as some things we do now.

[imstillworkin]

@therealvirginiawind That's true, we need to pull the best from both worlds.

[SasieSpice]

for those who have kindles and don't want to be held to the computer while reading these books, you can have sent free to your kindles for free.

[imstillworkin]

@SasieSpice A kindle is on my wish list.

[BespokeGroupUK]

fascinating

[imstillworkin]

@BespokeGroupUK I'm so glad that others are interested in this stuff because the people around me don't care much about it.

[BespokeGroupUK]

@imstillworkin Then they are a bunch of wankers with no soul and no respect for social, industrial or agrarian history

[imstillworkin]

@BespokeGroupUK Yep, that's who they are but I love them anyway, lol.

[NewDaysOldWays1]

I still use my oven for drying veggies, fruits & jerky. I have a dehydrator, but prefer to use the oven racks because of the large amount of foods that can be dried at once & the time drying is cut almost in half!! You do have to check on it & turn it. I've been drying for yrs. I use a convection oven, fan runs & I can adjust the oven temps as low as 100 on & most foods are dried between 110 - 135. Save yourselves some money & use your ovens before you spend $300 - $600 on a dehydrator.

[imstillworkin]

@NewDaysOldWays1 You're the first person I've heard of that dehydrates with an oven. I'm so glad you let us know it works. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there that would like to dehydrate food but aren't because they don't have a dehydrator. I hope they see this and give it a try.

[NewDaysOldWays1]

@imstillworkin ... I lined my oven racks with medal window screens. Bought 4 extra racks from a second hand store. Wire ties to hold it in place. Parchment paper on top of wire and keep my oven set to warm which is 110-150 degrees...works like a charm and I can get so much more product on the racks than I ever could in a conventional dehydrator. I buy veggies in bulk by the case. Once finished I fill 1/2 gallon jars then place filled jars in the oven @ 175 to oven seal jars 30 min. No eggs/bugs!

[imstillworkin]

@NewDaysOldWays1 Thank you!

[fletcher3913]

Thanks for the history lesson and the inspiration. I really have to use my dehydrator more.

[imstillworkin]

@fletcher3913 I've slacked off using my too. It's time to get back in the old groove!

[popeyethenailer]

You rock!

[imstillworkin]

@popeyethenailer Thanks, I hope there is something in these old videos that everyone can use.

[PreacherPrepper]

Thank You!

[imstillworkin]

@PreacherPrepper No problem. I know you're planning on helping your community and knowledge like this could come in handy.

[BuckeyePrepper]

As always a great video. Very informative.

[imstillworkin]

@BuckeyePrepper Thanks, I hope there was something in there you could find useful.

[katzcradul]

Great history lesson. You're such a good teacher.

[imstillworkin]

@katzcradul I'm not much of a teacher. One of these books described an essay contest related to cooking. First prize was $500, second prize was $200. With 70 entries they had a clear first place winner. Due to spelling errors and poor handwriting they decided there would be no second place winner. Don't you know they're rolling in their graves over my bad grammar? LOL.

[CHEECHAKOSMONTANA]

Thanks so much for sharing, very interesting. Can you imagine canning and dehydrating in those long dresses with long bloomers and everything....phew....Thanks again!!

[imstillworkin]

@CHEECHAKOSMONTANA Unfortunately a lot of women burned to death cooking in those dresses. You'd think they would have changed the dress code for cooking in order to save lives.

[brendahere]

@imstillworkin It wouldn't surprise me if the ladies did, in the privacy of their homes, if they lived a long ways from others.

[raggeldy]

Great finds thanks for sharing

[imstillworkin]

@raggeldy Those books are treasure troves of information!

[255sage]

Your are an inspiration to all of us! Linda:)

[imstillworkin]

@255sage Thanks, I think if we combine the old ways with what we know today, we can make things easier on ourselves.

[255sage]

@imstillworkin I agree we need each other now more than ever. So do collect these old books? I am trying to gather all I can. Linda:)

[brendahere]

It is rather funny how things skip generations. My grandmother canned, but my own mother didn't. I learnt at a friends house when I was 16. I just fell it love with the whole idea and process. That was back in 1974.

[imstillworkin]

@brendahere They were complaining in the 1830's that the old ways had skipped a generation. I'm with you, I like the feeling of doing it myself.

[lpdavisakgto]

Awesome

[imstillworkin]

@lpdavisakgto Thanks, hope it helps!

[ewetubesuxass]

Great info once again! :)

[imstillworkin]

@ewetubesuxass There's some amazing stuff in those old books!

[TradionallySouthern]

Great video! Thank you for sharing!! Yes, what was old is new again for sure!! I have always heard that history repeats itself and it seems to be true. Here we are back to preserving food the way our grandparents did. However, I have been canning for 25 years! My mother introduced me to dehydrating about 20 years ago. I need to dehydrate more often! I want to purchase a food sealer but not sure which is the best one. Any ideas?

[imstillworkin]

@TradionallySouthern The food sealer issue is a tough one. I have two. I use one for sealing bags because I can use cheaper bags on that one, I bought it from a website called Sorbent Systems. The other one is a Foodsaver and I use it for sealing jars. I wish the Sorbent one had a jar sealer attachment, it would make life simpler.

[reeram]

Girl you are the greatest! Thanks! =)

[imstillworkin]

@reeram Thanks, I've always loved that time period. It gives me an excuse to dig deeper into it.

[snaps81625]

You have been finding some real interesting info.. Did you inherit some nice old books, I am always amazed at how inventive our ancestors were! God Bless

[imstillworkin]

@snaps81625 All of these books are online. I can't read them fast enough. It's amazing how little we understand about how they really lived back then.

[snaps81625]

@imstillworkin Any place special online.. God Bless

[bowlmeoverva]

Just wanted to say I love these videos your doing. The topics and books are just fascinating. Thanks.

[imstillworkin]

@bowlmeoverva Hopefully it will save somebody the heartache of finding out about those moths the hard way.