Rhubarb pies are on the agenda this morning but last night I prepared three things: Rhubarb juice, Rhubarb Ginger fruit leather and dehydrated rhubarb pieces.

These are all really simple recipes and best of all there is zero waste!

Making all three recipes together is a super efficient way to process a lot of rhubarb. The fruit leather is literally a by product of making rhubarb juice plus you have to chop rhubarb anyway so why not chop a little extra and dehydrate it?

I have a well established barter arrangement with our friend and neighbour for rhubarb. He has an amazing patch of rhubarb and although rather enjoys eating it in the form of pie, he isn't really much of a baker. This is a great arrangement for both of us. I get a generous amount of rhubarb in exchange for one home-made pie!

You'll also find some instructions at the bottom for dehydrating fruit without a dehydrator, how to make a solar dehydrator as well.

Rhubarb Juice

Ingredients

This recipe makes around six quarts (12 pints) of juice. You can also halve it.

• 12 cups thinly sliced rhubarb
• 24 cups water
• 1.5 cups cane sugar (optional and to taste - use more or less)

Directions

• Wash, trim and dice the rhubarb.
• In a large saucepan, combine rhubarb and water & bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes or until the rhubarb is soft.
• Strain through a dampened cheesecloth lined strainer or jelly bag. Reserve the pulp if you plan to make fruit leather.
• Rinse saucepan and return juice to it; add sugar to taste.
• Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
• Ladle the juice into mason jars, wipe the rims and add the lids and band.
• Process in a hot water bath or steam canner for 10 minutes.
• Store in a dark place – this helps to keep a good fresh colour.

Rhubarb Ginger Fruit Leather

I get three trays of fruit leather from the pulp that comes from the 12 cups of rhubarb in the juice recipe.

I didn't want to waste the lovely purée from making the rhubarb juice so I decided to purée it and make a fruit leather. I have to say, these fruit leather "roll ups" taste really good. I am nibbling on the scrap bits while I type this. You can make fruit leather from pretty much any purée mixture you can think of. Even a mixture of veggies and fruit.

Directions

• Add the rhubarb pulp and slice of ginger to a blender. You might need to add a splash of fruit juice if the mixture is too thick to blend.
• Evenly spread the mixture approximately 1/8” thick onto a smooth drying sheet. You can rub it lightly with oil to help the leather release from the sheets. I have never needed to do this but most instructions advise it.
• Dehydrate at 135ºF for approximately 12 hours or until leather pulls away from the drying sheets easily.
• Cut into pieces or strips and roll into rolls & store in an airtight container.

Dehydrated Rhubarb pieces

Dried fruit stores really well in the pantry and rhubarb is no exception. It's not one of our favourite dried fruits for eating however it makes a wonderful addition to home-made herbal tea blends. You can chop up as much rhubarb as you want. You can also grind the dried rhubarb into powder for flavouring juice, baking etc.

Directions

• Chop the rhubarb into even sized pieces (about 1/2 inch) You want them all to finish drying at the same time so don't be like me and take your time chopping! :)
• Once dried they will be quite brittle.
• Store in an airtight container.

Dehydrating without a dehydrator

Years ago my husband wanted pemmican for his survival bag. He often went for a week or more out on a camping/boating expedition where being prepared was essential. This was my first foray with dehydrating and I used the oven because that was all I had.

Keep in mind that there is more messing around with this method. You can't exactly leave the house with the oven on and forget about it. Dehydrating can take 12 hours to complete so keep that in mind. Also, you want really low temps 135 degrees typically so you might need an oven thermometer and something to prop the door open a little bit. This is not a great use of energy but ... if you must here's a link that shares how to do it.

How To Dry Fruit Without a Dehydrator

And if you are feeling crafty here's how to make a solar dehydrator. This is on my big list of things I would like to accomplish. We try to reduce use of electric appliances, although in the summer when the dehydrator is running we have surplus so it's not a big deal.

How To Build A Solar Dehydrator - Modern Farmer

If you've made your own food dehydrator and have written about it here on steemit feel free to share a link in the comments! I would love to learn more about making the perfect dehydrator!

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