For BackPacker...Dehydrating Canteloupe/Melon

[JustAPrepper]

Just checked my Mary Bell Dehydrator Cookbook. No special instructions. What I found under "Melons" was to peel and slice then dehydrate with a further reference on to Watermelon. Watermelons are mostly water (duh) but the book says they have essentially no starch reserves and if sliced too thin will dehydrate paper thin. Her recommendation is to cut in to chunks and dehydrate so you have something that will peel easily off the dehydrating tray. I would assume Cantaloupe to be the same.

Can't get much easier than that. :)

ETA: I have an Excalibur...the more and more I use it the more I find that the lowest settings give me the best end product. At first I followed the book that came with the machine but quickly learned those temps were too high. I had many things that hard-cased on me so I started running the machine around 110°-115°. I've learned that during our summer months even this may be a little too high as our humidity is so high. I also refer to my Mary Bell book but she doesn't list temperatures, only some basic guidelines on how things should look and feel when they are dry. Lately I've been running it around the 95° mark the past couple of weeks and while it may take a little bit longer, things are coming out much better.

[bacpacker]

Thanks Justa. I cut ours up about 3 or 4 chunks per slice, slices about 1/2" wide. They came out pretty small when done. I may leave them somewhat larger on the next round. But boy are they good.

[JustAPrepper]

I was editing my post when you replied...not sure you saw or it not so wanted to give you a head's up.

Curiosity question...how are you storing yours...besides in your belly? :D

I've dehydrated several fruits but we, mostly Evolver, eats them before I get a large enough portion to "put up". Would you be comfortable storing them in food saver bags and/or mylar? Most fruits I've done have gone in mason jars but like I said, they kind of disappear pretty quickly, lol!

[bacpacker]

I missed the bit on temps. We started ours out on125, but dropped it to 115 after about 6 hours. Next batch will go about 100 or lower. I hadn't really given a lower temp much thought. BTW we have a Excaliber as well and I love how good the temp controller is. As far as storage goes, we have just been puttin ours in Ziplocs. They don't last long enough to have any problems with them. I do plan on putting apples in jars this year though. We don't go thru them as quick. My grand ma and my mom would dehydrate theirs and then freeze them. My mom just opened a bag a few months back my grandma put up before she died in 2005, they made some awesome fried pies and were at least 7 years old. They were just stored in a plain plastic sandwich bag with twist ties, no ziploc.

[piranha2]

I also found that lower temps were better. Dehydrating means removing the water, not cooking it. Even jerky turns out much better, to me, when dehydrated at 100-110. YMMV

[Sniper-T]

The only thing I dehydrate on higher temps is things like chili, or soups. it helps to get the majority of the moisture out first, then I'll drop the temp to finish them off. Everything else I try to do as low as possible. seems to do a nicer job.

ETA: thanks for the canteloupe tips... mine are getting close

[Willie51]

BP, check out the news today. They are saying to throw out all canteloupe if bought since July due to new salmonella outbreak. The CDC has tracked some of the problem to an Indiana farm. FYI.

[Sniper-T]

Good info, but BP should be ok... we're talking about our home grown ones

Hey BP... how do you tell when they are ready?

[bacpacker]

Thanks for the info Willie. I saw that on the news last night. The melons I'm working with are my own and as much as i have ate the past 2-3 weeks i would be dead by now. ;)

T, i jsy watch mine. They start off really green, start turning orange, then go to a sort of dried looking light brown. You can also start getting a faint cantaloupe smell as they ripen. Mind you this is with the variety i am growing. Yours could be somewhat different. But do watch for a color change. I have also found if you harvest too early just set them near a sunny window and they will ripen. Kinda like tomatos.

[realist]

What is the texture when you dry melon? I can see the more dense fruits that we do but have never thought of melons.

[bacpacker]

Mine developed a little crust on them. Which I learned here was caused by drying them too quickly. Other wise, I would say they are sort of soft and chewy. Maybe like a real soft taffy. Although thats not right either. Maybe Justa or someone can give a better answer. They are very good though. And I plan on trying some water melon when they start coming in.