Reloading the dryer

[catsittingstill]

Yesterday I didn't have anything to put in the food dehydrator. To remedy this unnatural situation I went out and bought about half a bushel of apples (Jonagold, I think--green with red flecks, crisp, and tart-sweet anyway). I brought them home in triumph, set them on the counter... and realized that I had just set myself up to core, slice and peel half a bushel of apples. Since I only have a pairing knife, caused me some concern. So I called around and yes, a store in Knoxville had a doohickey to handle this. I went out and got one. It's called an apple peeler/corer/slicer (isn't Anglo Saxon wonderful?). You impale the apple with the core aligned along the screw axis, then turn the crank; in five turns it peels the apple (mostly--it's not so good with the stem and blossom ends), slices it in a long spiral, and cuts the core out of the middle. It's so fast that apple juice splatters and I elected to wear an apron. But it sure makes drying apples faster!

Didn't make it out to go canoing today. Maybe tomorrow.

Comments

[spiritdancer]

*grin*

Old technology (relatively speaking), but the hand-cranked apple peeler/corer/slicer works so much better than the electric version (yes, I've used both)

I've got my first bushel or so of apples to work on - golden delicious from my mom's trees (they taste so much better than the store-bought golden delicious, you would have trouble believing they were the same variety). Mine are being put up as applesauce, because I don't have to peel or core 'em for that - wash, quarter, toss in the big pot to cook until soft, then into the strainer or food mill. I broke down and bought a better (power) version of the food strainer this past winter, because I got tired of hand-mashing (early in the season), then using the Foley food mill (hand cranked) - I put up about 3 or 4 dozen pints of applesauce last year (easy, because you can process applesauce in a boiling water bath - no pressure canner needed!)

_M_

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Old technology, but very clever, very cool. I like machines where you can peer at them from all sides and see how they work. And this one is so ingenious. How did they think of that?

The applesauce sounds good. Though golden delicious are so nice (as long as they're still crisp) that it's almost a pity to cook them.

[filkergem.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I've had good success with drying apples in thin slices with the skins on. I have done both with and without coring them, and am happier with them cored. Have you tried it? Might be worthwhile.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Haven't tried drying apples with the skins on yet. I dried some peaches that way, and I thought they were okay, but both my brother and my neighbor don't like skins on peaches so I started removing them (so I could share my dried peaches---hmm. Was that really a good idea?) and got into the habit. The food drying book also said that skins often get tough and sometimes bitter.
But I could give it a try with a tray or so and see how it turns out. The peeler/corer/slicer has a little catch so I can lock the peeler part out of the way and just core and slice.

[elysdir.livejournal.com]

And the best part is that you end up with a long spiral of apple-peel, suitable for eating or hanging from the ceiling as decoration.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I wonder if it would be possible to weave or braid them. Or candy them. Or both. Or maybe the birds would like them.

[gannet.livejournal.com]

If Stephen & I ever buy more than four trays for our dehydrator, we might have to indulge in one of those doohickeys, too. As it is, we can only dry four apples at a time, so it hardly seems worth it.

This is our first year of more than experimenting. I want to try making fruit leather next summer.

(elysdir pointed me here; hi!)

Hi Gannet!

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

I got an e-mail from elysdir too; this is just my first time at the computer in a couple of days. Nice to meet you.

If you dry stuff periodically, but not enough for a specialist tool like an apple peeler-etc. you might consider a mandoline. It's good for slicing just about any fruit or vegetable into even slices (something I have a lot of trouble doing with just a knife). On the other hand, they do cost money (I think mine was 30$ and I got a midrange-inexpensive one). And a knife cuts things up very nicely, and not having things all get dry at the same time may not be that big a deal for you.