Jesica Meets The Dehydrator!!!

So, I have this bag of onions.  I got them from my dad who had my Uncle Frank bring them over from Selah about a month ago.  I would love to say that I went through all 15-ish that my dad gave me, but it didn't happen, and as I went in to tidy up my pantry, I saw them, and thought that it was time to toss them.  They were starting to get spots on the skin and looking withered in some places.

I thought to myself about how my Grandma Howard would kill me if she knew that I was wasting food like this... that I just threw it away.  She is someone that uses every part of all of her food.  rather ingenious though, if you ask me :)  I didn't want to freeze them... I am running out of room.  Then it hit me...DEHYDRATOR!!!

I know that I said that I wouldn't use Pinterest, but I did use it to look up a dehydrator recipe for onions, and it couldn't have been easier.  you just peel and cut up the onions and throw them on the trays.  

Helpful Hints:

I have a Waring Pro Dehydrator and I set it between medium and low... I think it took way too long, so I will set it between medium and high next time. and I rotated the trays ever 3 hours.

The lady on Pinterest said to do it out in your garage because the smell is really over powering.  I used Kyle's shop, and I think that he is going to murder me when he goes in there... next time I will run an extension cord to the end of the driveway on a nice day... OH MY GOODNESS!  That smell will probably never come out of the walls!  Way stronger then I could have ever imagined!

Like my setup?? :)

Also, I noticed that if my pieces were touching, then they didnt get done all the way and I had to leave those pieces in a little longer.  Total drying time was about 20 hours.  Probably would have been less if I had used a higher temp. You want them to be crispy, not leathery. 

Finished product!

All 7 onions that I dehydrated, fit into a quart size jar... talk about a space saver, and they will keep for a couple years!  I feel really good about this. Kind of a step in the right direction for me as we are trying to live more simply and be more self sustaining.  I have these onions now to throw into soups, dips and sauces... Also, I didn't throw something away... I figured out a way to kind of re-purpose it.  Still for food, of course, but just in a different way!  And, they are so pretty!