OK, if anyone is considering a small dehydrator (because I know they are a must have ), I recommend the Cosori Premium Mini 5-Tray model. It looks like this... I tested it out today and it is such a step up from the other Cosori Pioneer 5-tray model which looks like this... The Premium mini has a higher wattage, is all stainless including the racks, and has the fan mounted in the back so that no "tray swapping" is required. What a difference in performance, too. I bought (and returned) the Pioneer model because it seemed like a good value, but it is all plastic including the trays. The fan is mounted on the bottom of the unit so the trays need to be swapped periodically to insure everything gets dehydrated evenly. The Pioneer unit was very loud. I tested it using fresh sage leaves and after over 6 hours in the Pioneer, the sage was still limp and not dehydrated. I finished drying it in the microwave and my countertop oven and boxed the Pioneer back up to return. Today I tested the Premier mini with fresh cilantro. The instructions for herbs said it could take 4 to 6 hours, so I was surprised to find that the cilantro was "crispy" dry after only 2 hours. Though it cost twice as much as the Pioneer model, it is well worth the difference.
I have a larger dehydrator of that style, and having the fan in the back and easy access to each tray is the only way to go. I've never grown my own herbs (except for chives) because one person just can't use that much. I've not thought of dehydrating them.
So far it seems that the herbs I have grown and dehydrated are much more pungent and flavorful than store bought dry stuff. I have bought dried cilantro from grocery store spices and it is practically worthless; no "cilantro" at all. The stuff I dried today smells really fresh and you can really smell cilantro when you open the jar. I thought having fresh herbs in the Aerogarden would be a great idea until I started getting so much growth and not really needing them, so I decided dehydrating would be a solution. So far it has worked great. I may try drying other stuff like cherry tomatoes, peppers, etc. I will be planting more basil and I have a tiny rosemary seedling so away we go!
I'll have to try it. And I agree with you regarding cilantro. It smells like dried parsley, which smells like air.
Just buy a nice fresh bunch from the grocery store and dehydrate them to see what you think. Your large dehydrator will probably have them done in a flash, especially the thinner leaves like parsley and cilantro.
Now that I made Spritz cookies for the Cookie Swap that I missed, I got the bug. I picked up some creme cheese to make a different flavor. The last batch I made seemed to be a little "off," and I think the flour may have been old...so I bought some fresh today. This pic is from the web. I have my mother's Mirro press with all the discs & tips, one I bought from Goodwill, and a Goodwill 1950s cookie shooter that looks like a caulk gun with all the discs & tips. I mostly use the cookie shooter to fill raviolis. I figure if these gadgets have endured for 70 years, someone designed a pretty good product.
My recent experience with the Cuisinart food processor had me digging out the recipe booklet and remembering that I had always wanted to try making pizza dough in it. My processor didn't come with the plastic dough blade (or maybe I "lost" it during a Goodwill purge ). I see that people use the regular processing blade for dough but that sharp blade just seems weird for mixing. So I ordered a plastic dough blade that's supposed to fit my machine.
@Beth Gallagher's comment about finding the crumpet rings she bought reminded me of the small cake rings I bought to make sandwich buns. I forgot that I had already used these to make ciabatta sandwich buns back in May of 2022. (Lately I find that this forum has been serving as my diary.) So I just changed this comment from "First time using them..." to "I made another batch." But it's the first time I've commented on these in the Kitchen Gadget thread. The rings work well for this (4"), but are really meant for other stuff: cakes, hand-held Scottish pies, cottage pies, mousse, tuna tartare, steak tartare, crab cakes, tarts, cheesecakes. There are a couple of vids on using the press to make a variety of "pretty presentation" dishes.
Every time I see this line of discussion come up I think to myself that I cleaned out THREE junk drawers last September and I am NOT going to get sucked into buying more stuff. I do buy things like when I leave the serving spoon and spatula out by the garden and forget that I left them there. I have two old potato mashers made in Japan, not China, that I treasure. I am down to one cookie cutter set....I gave my bundt cake pan to a friend but can beg it back if I need too...
I suppose cooking and baking could be considered my "hobbies" because I love being in the kitchen. I buy gadgets and for the most part I use them. The ones that turn out to be not-so-useful are always donated to a kid or Goodwill. Kind of like men who love to have the right tool for the job, I enjoy having a well-appointed kitchen.
I am turning into a bum. More stuff just means more stuff for me to wash and sort. I do love a few of my recipes but use as few dishes and pans as possible.
I'd agree with this. I also use the implied cost savings from cooking at home to rationalize another culinary investment. I moved into this house in 2010. It's the first place I've ever lived in that's had a dishwasher. Even if the thing broke down, I'd still use it as a place to park dirty dishes while I continued prepping my meal.
I was re-arranging some cabinets earlier to find space to fit the dehydrator. I finally found a spot because I gave my daughter-in-law some Le Creuset dutch ovens and mixing bowls last time she was here. Husband walked through and commented, "I knew you could do it."
When we had all the family here, our dishwasher was running 3 or 4 loads a day, and that was with a lot of paper plates and plastic flatware being used as well.
Do you have a dry well, or is it all going into the septic? I'm kicking myself in the butt for not installing one when I moved in here. And what kind of drain field do you have with such a deep frost line?