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Fun Uses For Dehydrators

ParkerCook_66639

I just got my first dehydrator from a friend that never used it and sold it to me. I've looked at a bunch of uses like jerky or leathers and wanted to see if anyone has done anything out of the ordinary with their machines.

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Lennard__34626

Fruit chips(sugar solution or dusting of isomalt), fruit/vegetable leathers, papers, glass. Dehydrated cellulose foam. I dehydrate my leftover herbs, dehydrating cakes like the instructional on chefsteps, I've seen quite a few restaurants dehydrate Ferran Adria's microwave spongecake

Bradley_Taylor_36973

Dehydrate braised pork skins then deep fry!

Tim_Sutherland_52834

I do a quick candy of onion strips then burn part of them (bitter and sweet in one bite).

Thicken fruit sauces without changing the flavor with too much heat.

Milk foam meringue.

ttpoker

I would like to learn how to use my dehydrator to create meringue "breads", like elbulli's mojito and apple flute . I assume this involves the creation of a foam with an iSi, but how do we get that amazing texture?

Lennard__34626

I've had the elBulli pumpkin bread which I believe is a methylcellulose foam. You don't need a whipping canister for that

Brendan_Lee_56950

So they just pipe it out and then dehydrate?

ttpoker

@Brendan Lee I just had dinner at Tickets in Barcelona last week, I sat at the table next to the expeditor so I was lucky to be able to watch many of the techniques used. One of the tapas snacks (featured in Natura IIRC) resembles octopus, but in reality it is pureed rice that is piped in short strips. On top of these lines tapioca is then piped as well, this will look like the suckers of an octopus by the time the dish is finished. They then dehydrate the strips, and fry them to finish. This was just one of the many dishes I saw prepared in a similar manner, but I would be surprised if the mojito and apple flute dish I am asking about is just a piped foam in a similar manner as @Lennard suggests because the tips of the pipe would have to be awfully large to create the size of the foam needed for the presentation. I noticed the cooks preparing this dish in the movie Cooking In Progress but all we see is the team shaping the "dough" unfortunately, I guess it's possible that its a foam piped multiple times in layers, and then shaped after to look unified... any other insights are appreciated!

Lennard__34626

This is the dish i had at el bulli. Not sure if it is the technique youre talking about

Brandon_Byrd_40557

Lennard,
That looks very similar to the apple mojito flute from el bulli. Here's a picture of that dish. (Edit: A bit redundant, now that I've noticed that InTheCards posted a link to it already...)

I had what must have been a recreation of this dish at L2O in Chicago, and it was amazing - so light and airy yet so boozy. I have been doing everything I can to figure out how they pulled it off, and my best lead so far has come from this episode of No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. (The explanation comes in about 21 minutes and 20 seconds into the episode). All that's visible is that they take a foam (which, if you're right, is a methylcellulose foam made with apple juice), put it into a pastry bag, and then pipe it onto a dehydrator. That forms the basis of the sandwich's "bread." Unfortunately, that's all the info I could glean from the episode... I have no idea what the filling is. Maybe a mint-rum-agar gel? Either way, it was delicious.

methylcellulose

Lennard__34626

Brandon, I honestly can't remember how I came to the conclusion that its a cellulose foam(might have either read it somewhere or made a personal guess), but I remember the dish at el bulli being very aerated, almost like a meringue, but nowhere near as dry. I personally think that it has to be either whipped with albumin or cellulose, but given the excellent clarity of flavor of the foam, I would think it's cellulose. The gelling properties of cellulose would ensure that the foam holds its volume while being dehydrated. I'll try to find some evidence to support this

Brendan_Lee_56950

I imagine this recipe would be similar since it's from Jose Andres and similarly adaptable.

http://www.molecularrecipes.com/foams/beetroot-meringue-puffs-filled-olive-oil-foam/

Lennard__34626

I was just about to post that. They have a spicy cinnamon puff with foie on the same site using cellulose as well

ttpoker

@Brendan Lee - thank you, thats exactly what i was looking for.