Australian Hiker

In making these dehydrated carrot ‘chips’ my original intent was to use them as a meal component or to bulk up commercial freeze dried meals. I’m going to own up to being a bit weird and these dried carrots have grown on me as a snack.

This started with me trying carrots in their fully dried form to see what they tasted like. Initially I could only eat a few of them at a time but they rapidly grew on me to the point where I couldn’t stop eating them. I now see them as a snack along with nuts and dried fruit as well a being an option to add to meals.

Recipe

Approximate calorie content

• If using a mandolin to slice the carrots you will end up with more even sized, consistent slices but you also end up with a bit of wastage because you need to keep your fingers clear of the slicing blade
• Approximate calories (raw carrots) per 100 grams is 41 calories
• This recipe makes 110 grams of dehydrated carrots i.e. approximately 400 calories

Ingredients

1 kg       Raw Carrots

Preparation Instructions

1. Prepare the carrots for drying
   • Trim both ends of the carrots with a straight cut
   • You can also peel the carrots but this is not absolutely necessary
   • The carrots can be blanched in boiling water but again this step is also not necessary. The main benefit is to keep the colour looking a bit brighter
2. Slice the carrots either with a mandolin or a sharp knife to about 3 mm thick. If using a mandolin take care with your fingers
3. Place the carrot slices on dehydrator racks allowing just enough space so that the slices don’t touch each other
4. Turn on the dehydrator to a medium heat, approximately 55°-60° Celcius and dry for around five hours. If using an oven to dehydrate you will need a fine wire rack otherwise the carrots will fall though the oven rack as they dry
5. The carrot slices will dehydrate and reduce in size dramatically so around five hours rearranged onto fewer trays as required
6. Heat for a further five hours or until fully dried. (Dried weight of carrots will be around 110 grams)
7. Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place until required for use as a snack or a meal additive

Food drier, slicing mandolin and fresh carrots

Sliced carrots, approximately 3 mm thick

Sliced carrots in the drying tray ready for drying

Partially dried carrots. You can see how much the carrots have shrunk from the previous image

Almost fully dried carrot slices. The trays have been condensed by this stage

Carrots fully dried and placed in an airtight container about to be sealed

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