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Monday, August 26, 2013

Dehydrating Your Giant Zucchini ~ Build Up Your Pantry


Is your garden starting to give you Z.O.U.S.'s (zucchini's of unusual size)? Consider shrinking them down. Won't they be wonderful in savory soups and sauces come autumn and winter? I love making these tiny additions to our pantry! Not only do they benefit the food budget, but they allow you to prepare future homemade meals in a pinch.


The first step is to gut the middle of the zucchini with a tablespoon. The seeds will be large with soft flesh because of the mature size, making it easy scoop it out. Feed this to your chickens or add to the compost pile.


Next, chop up the outer firm flesh into small cubes. 


Place in a dehydrator for the amount of time that your zone calls for (this is located in your dehydrator manual).
Store your finished product in an airtight container.

To reconstitute: Place equal amount of boiling water to your amount of dried vegetable. Soak from 10 minutes to 2 hours depending on how soft you need them to be. You could also toss them directly into soups and sauces as they cook (which I do a lot of the time) but they may not be as tender or flavorful.

You may also be interested in "what to do with all your zucchini"…


"When you eat the labor of your hands,
You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you."
~ Psalm 128:2

10 comments:

  1. Hmmm...I have never dehydrated zucchini before, but it's such a great idea! I may have to try this, JES :) Thanks for sharing and may you have a lovely Monday.

    Hugs!

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    1. It's great when you have a landfill of large zucchini :) and little freezer space left! Thanks for the visit over :)

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  2. Hello Jes,
    Thank you so much for this post and the links to the recipes and the pantry. What a wealth of useful information this lovely blog offers. Last summer (I live in Australia) I dehydrated a few zucchini but cut them in slices and then during winter I have been using them in soups and stews but have had to get the scissors out and cut them into smaller pieces. Such a simple hint to cut them into little cubes before dehydrating but what a difference it will make. Now I will be able to just pop them into the pan and not have to worry about snipping them up which is not so easy once they are dehydrated. I will certainly be have a lot more jars of zucchinis stored for winter now.
    Blessings Gail
    Oh and thank you for the lovely label printables.

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    1. You are very welcome Gail! Thank you for sharing here today :)

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  3. OK, I will have to do this...I have dehydrated so many different things, but not zuchs. I have just a few more out there :)
    I love your blog! And where did you find the gorgeous B&W graphics? Graphics Fairy?

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    1. Yesiree :) except for one which came from:

      http://readingrosesandprose.blogspot.com/2012/06/classic-canning-jars-clip-art.html

      Have a beautiful week, Jacqueline!

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  4. What an awesome idea, will use them for lasagna too!

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  5. Hi Jacqueline ! Is there a way to dehydrate them without using a dehydrator? Like using the oven but at a low temp for an extended amount of time?

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    1. Hi there, It's JES :) and you may be able to use the lowest setting on your oven (or even better the pilot but I haven't tried this method to verify it). But times will definitely vary. Sorry I couldn't be of more help!

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