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Dehydrating Onions
Onions are such a versatile vegetable. They are cheap and add so much flavor, just about any savory recipe is better when onions are added. Dehydrating onions is quick and easy.
Begin by chopping your onions to the desired size. I usually do large flakes so the pieces don’t fall through the holes on my dehydrator but you could always mince them. Try to remove the thin pieces of skin that clings between the layers. (You can get a dehydrator like mine here)
Dunk your onion pieces into boiling water for about 30 seconds to a minute. They will turn slightly translucent when they are ready and they will be softer. Put them in a strainer and run cold water over them to stop the cooking process.
Pat the pieces dry with some paper towel and remove any extra bits of the skin (which will now be mushy and easy to remove). Arrange the pieces in a single layer on your dehydrator and turn it on.
My dehydrator doesn’t have a temperature control so I just let it run for about 5 hours to have the onions as dry as I need them. They end up paper thin. Recommended temperature for dehydrating vegetables is 135°. I recommend dehydrating these outdoors unless you want your house smelling like an onion factory.
Now here’s a recipe you can use your onions for:
Dry Onion Soup Mix
1 cup dehydrated onion flakes
1/3 c bouillon
1/4 tsp sugar
1 tsp parsley
Store the ingredients in an airtight jar until ready for use. I also like to throw in some other dehydrated veggies (carrots, garlic, celery and whatever else catches your fancy.) To make into soup, add 4 c of water, or for dip, add to a tub of sour cream.
Commonly Overlooked Preps Part 2
Here’s part two of the list I posted earlier.
Soil – I know people that have tens of thousands of seeds but no soil. What happens if you have to plant inside? Or if the soil where you are is too sandy or too much clay? A couple bags of decent quality potting soil are a good idea to keep around. I recently got 10 20 liter bags of soil for $10.
Pets- please don’t forget your four legged friends! Make sure you have food and water put aside for them. You can put aside a couple of bags of kibble that your animals usually eat but you can also make your own dehydrated pet foods. I have also begun to see dehydrated animal food at the specialty pet stores. Just remember if you’re using dehydrated foods to have enough water to rehydrate. Which brings me to the next point.
Water – Yes, most of us have enough to drink but a lot of preppers have dehydrated foods. You need to consider how much water these things will take to rehydrate. What about gardening? There’s really no way to calculate how much water you would need for gardening but using a rain barrel can offset that. But keep in mind, there could always be a drought and if you’re counting on a garden as a large part of your food you better have a back up plan.
Garbage Bags – most people plan to burn their garbage, which is fine. But how about disposing of a body? You don’t necessarily want to be handling that. Or if you have lice, you can bag your clothing and bedding for a couple weeks to kill the lice. You can also use it for quarantine purposes. Make your ill person strip down, bag the clothes and get them into something clean. How about blacking out windows? Using a heavy duty garbage bag taped over windows can help to hide any light showing through (you may have to double up though)
BurroakBurrow 