adventures in dehydration

so my food dehydrator arrived on sunday ,an i've been engaged in some serious preservation since, i've just been playing around with different stuff like meat , fruit ,berries , haven't tried any veggies except for tomatos (yeah yeah ,i know its a fruit smartarse)
the main reason i got this bad boy was to make jerky, paleo style,
dehdration is the oldest form of food preservation , it removes the moisture from the food , which stops bacteria forming,but it doesn't remove any of the nutritional value like cooking does. meat will keep for 2 months after dehydrating, up to 2 years if you vacuum seal it !!
(vacuum sealer is next on the list:)))
fruit and veg will keep nearly twice as long-amazing
you can even rehydrate food at a later date by soaking in hot water, think soup mix.

first project-banana ready to go

finished banana-chewy and delicious

homemade sundried tomatos anyone?

first attempt at beef jerky
i used chilli powder, cumin, paprika, pepper and cider vinegar
spicy and delicious

finished product

turkey jerky ready to go
added extra chilli to this

banana and apple fruity crisps -amazing

finished turkey jerky-this didn't last too long :)

i'm having so  much fun with this puppy , i'm just eating everything as soon as its dehydrated, not much actual preserving going on:)

when the harvest in the garden is ready , the dehydrator will come in handy for any excess fruit and veg.