# Parchment Paper



## Elinor0987 (May 28, 2010)

Hello everyone. It has been a while since I've made a post but considering the current state of affairs and the likelihood of 2015 being far worse and more unpredictable than this year, I'm planning to come back here more often. I recently ordered a food dehydrator. The unit has a rectangular shaped body and doesn't have the plastic tray inserts for pouring liquids and pastes. I'm not trying to make a fruit rollup per se, but I wanted to dry a variety of fruits. Since they are more expensive this time of year I was thinking of blending apple chunks with fruit juice in a blender and pouring the mixture on parchment paper on the trays. Has anyone ever tried this and if so were there any problems? How did it turn out? In the spring and summer fruit will be less expensive but I would still like to try it out now and get practice using a machine before then.


----------



## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

While I like parchment paper for baking, I would be concerned that the amount of sugar in apple juice and apples would stick to it. I wouldn't do it all at once, but do a test batch.

Personally, I am trying to eliminate plastic especially with food, but I think it might be easier to remove from plastic wrap, or even better, waxed paper.

My dehydrator came with special plastic sheet for just this purpose. You might also consider seeing what you can get that is the right size for or made for your dehydrator.

I will be curious how this works for you.


----------



## ksmama10 (Sep 17, 2012)

weedygarden said:


> While I like parchment paper for baking, I would be concerned that the amount of sugar in apple juice and apples would stick to it. I wouldn't do it all at once, but do a test batch.
> 
> Personally, I am trying to eliminate plastic especially with food, but I think it might be easier to remove from plastic wrap, or even better, waxed paper.
> 
> ...


There's a certain 'goo-eyness' factor at play with fruit. I tried banana slices on parchment paper once..live and learn, don't try again. I'd get the plastic liners or try wax paper.


----------



## Elinor0987 (May 28, 2010)

Ok. Thanks for your suggestions. I will try the wax paper instead.


----------



## Jewel (Sep 6, 2014)

I agree on test a bit first! and on the wax paper. I use that and parchment a lot in my dehydrators. but parchment is usually more expensive so wax paper whenever it works.

I make an applesauce bark that actually does better on parchment though.


----------



## Elinor0987 (May 28, 2010)

Thanks everyone for your replies. This is the dehydrator I ordered:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F2GKFJI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

As far as I know, there are no sheets that go with it and I might try cutting some round inserts to fit the dehydrator after I try the wax paper.


----------



## Toffee (Mar 13, 2012)

I looked around. If you know what size the trays are then you could probably order some trays meant for another dehydrator. I saw several companies that carried replacement silicone trays and listed dimensions.


----------



## Elinor0987 (May 28, 2010)

UncleJoe said:


> I used wax paper before I bought a bunch of extra trays. It work well for small pieces of fruit and small berries; cranberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc. I tried to roll the sides up and do some fruit leathers.


Did you have a problem with the heat causing the liquids to separate from the solids? The whole project was a disaster at the beginning and I almost gave up, but it's a learning process and it's getting easier. To start with, the dehydrator that I bought didn't have the tray inserts for drying pastes and liquids. That was what the original question was about but it doesn't matter now because the motor in the dehydrator I bought blew out after a few uses.  At that point I had already dried a batch of onions and in doing so realized that I had another problem- the holes in the tray are too large to dry small pieces. They would fall through and the motor and heating element were at the bottom of the unit. Falling pieces of fruits and vegetables could present a problem if they get too close to it.

After the batch of onions were done, I started on the strawberries and that's when the motor blew out. Being the stubborn person that I am, I then tried to dehydrate the strawberry pieces that were sitting on the trays by setting them on plates and putting them in the toaster oven. I turned the heat up to 400 degrees thinking that it would dry the pieces out faster. It didn't. What I got was a puddle of strawberry juice in the middle of the plate and burnt pieces around the edges. I scraped off the burnt pieces and tried the rest of it. Baked strawberries are delicious! The sugars in the fruit carmelize and you can dip the pieces in the juice for a more concentrated flavor.

I eventually bought another dehydrator. It's a Nesco American Harvest dehydrator, made in America, still works after multiple uses, came with an insert for drying pastes and liquids, and the motor and fan are at the top of the unit instead of on the bottom. So far I've only dried celery and onions in it. For the celery I had to take the round insert and flip it over so that the curved side was facing down and lay it on a piece of wax paper to trace out the shape. It fits almost perfectly. There's only about 1/2 inch of space on the sides where the paper wasn't wide enough to cover the whole tray but that's not enough of a gap to make a difference. For the first two batches of celery I had to cut the pieces really thin so that they would dry quickly and I still have the problem of the pieces tasting like hay. I think it's those stringy veins (fibers) that is causing it. The next time I do that I'm going to try something different and use a potato peeler to cut them off of the stalk. Since I'll be taking the surface off then cutting the pieces thicker shouldn't make much of a difference in the amount of time it would take to dehydrate them.

Doing this reminded me of my favorite wartime/survival video. I'm not sure if it has been posted here before, but it provides examples of food preservation methods. It also provides insight as to what life was like during food shortages and rationing:






These two videos are about rationing and food production during WW2:


----------



## Elinor0987 (May 28, 2010)

UncleJoe said:


> You're trying to dry it too fast. I dry 1/4" thick strawberry slices for around 10 hours at 120F. Cranberries (or anything that isn't sliced at least once) need to have the skin split open before you put them in the dryer. Dump them in a pan of boiling water for a minute or so and the skins will pop open. If you leave them in too long, you'll cook the juice out of them.


Thanks UncleJoe! I will try that the next time I do strawberries. Right now I have 24 of the 1/2 gallon sized mason jars. 12 of them have Halloween candy in them and the other 12 I'm going to use for the fruits and vegetables. Eventually more of the jars will be bought and filled but for now I'm just going to focus on the ones I already have.


----------



## Genevieve (Sep 21, 2009)

Elinor0987 said:


> Hello everyone. It has been a while since I've made a post but considering the current state of affairs and the likelihood of 2015 being far worse and more unpredictable than this year, I'm planning to come back here more often. I recently ordered a food dehydrator. The unit has a rectangular shaped body and doesn't have the plastic tray inserts for pouring liquids and pastes. I'm not trying to make a fruit rollup per se, but I wanted to dry a variety of fruits. Since they are more expensive this time of year I was thinking of blending apple chunks with fruit juice in a blender and pouring the mixture on parchment paper on the trays. Has anyone ever tried this and if so were there any problems? How did it turn out? In the spring and summer fruit will be less expensive but I would still like to try it out now and get practice using a machine before then.


I know of a woman who used plastic storage bags. she just cut them open and used them. she said she had no problems with things sticking.

also look into what toffee said. some other manufacturers silicone trays may fit.


----------



## gam46 (Jan 24, 2011)

Although it would limit the amount of space you might use, I've read that folks use inverted lids such as for cottage cheese and yogurt to hold liquids for dehydrating.


----------

