Saving Food: Apples, Cabbages, Peppers and Beans

It's November 17 and we still have a few dozen bushels of great tasting apples on four Granny Smith trees. 

One of Four Granny Smith Apple Tree Without Leaves But with Hundreds of Apples

We've given away many bushels, dehydrated more and have quite a few bushels waiting for processing. The few heavy frosts we've had haven't touched them. It's hard for me to see them go to waste, though they do help deer and other wildlife thrive. We have a year's supply of applesauce canned and 30 gallons of cider brewing or bottled but have run out of brewing vessels. Every few days I slice and dehydrate 40 or so apples into two gallons of chips. I'll probably pick another ten bushels before they freeze and store them under cover in the garage where I dehydrate them. When it gets way below freezing, they and the dehydrator will need to be transferred to the basement. 

Gallon Bags of Dehydrated Apple Slices and Other Drying Experiments

Three 5-gallon Carboys & Two 6-gallon Pails of Juice Fermenting 

Cabbages did not fair as well as the apples. I had to trim off the top leaves that were damaged by frost. The rest of the heads were still very crisp and hopefully will turn into great sauerkraut (white cabbage) and kimchi (red cabbage). The kimchi also has a few pounds each of garlic and sweet and jalapeño peppers mixed in for flavor. We have a total of seven gallons of these raw veggies slowing fermenting in the garage to extend their time to maturity while we eat more than a dozen fresh cabbage heads and pounds of peppers.

A Few Red Cabbages with Top Leaves Trimmed Off

Cross Section of A Red Cabbage

Five and Three Gallon Crocks Filled with Fermenting Cabbage and Other Veggies. Tops Are Weighing Down Plates That Keep Veggies Submerged in Brine.

Beans are easier to preserve than fruits and vegetables that have to be cut, shredded or squeezed. They simply have to be shelled and spread out to dry. Peppers, too, can be hung out to dry, and look good in one corner of the kitchen. Need a little heat in a dish? Pull one off and crumble it into the pot!

Scarlet Runner Beans in Various States of Drying

A Ristra of Alice's Favorite Hot Pepper (from a fellow seed saver) Hanging Out to Dry

Dehydrating Fruits and Veggies

This year's apple and pear crops are the largest ever. We already have enough jars of canned applesauce so we were looking for other ways to preserve bumper crops. We tried dehydrating slices of apple in a small round plastic dehydrator but the heater failed so we ordered a large, all stainless steel appliance that has 10 large rectangular shelves. 

Granny Smith Apple Slices: Fresh

Granny Smith Apple Slices: Dry Are much Smaller than the Plump Slices Above.

Tomato Puree, 0.13 Inches Thick Covering a Layer of Teflon-coated Fiberglass.

Fresh Tomato Puree Ready to Lose Water: One-eighth Inch Thick Layers Became Paper Thin Chips. The Tomato Puree Coats the Teflon Coated Fabric.

We've now tried three different ways to make kale chips, three forms of apple slices, apple leather, two ways to dry tomatoes and make hot pepper slices. Next we will try slicing pears, many varieties of veggie chips, and venison jerky. 

Interesting apple statistics: it takes 26 large Granny Smith apples, weighing ten pounds, to make nine trays of skinless slices weighing nine pounds to make 1.8 pounds of dehydrated slices requiring eight hours of drying at 130 degrees F. 

Tomato stats: use a colander to remove five gallons of clear yellow liquid from six gallons of pureed tomato/tomatillos/garlic. Spread the thick ten pounds of red paste one-eighth inch thick on nine square feet of teflon coated sheets. Drying for ten hours at 130 degrees F. results in ten ounces of tomato "paper" that easily fits in a quart zip-lock bag.