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

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.