Drying mangoes

Started by Tapewolf, September 19, 2007, 04:08:32 PM

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Tapewolf

This is really a question for Hare I think, but has anyone here ever dried their own mangoes?
Google has failed me thus far, although there is a wealth of information about PhD-level mango drying technology and many patents for methods of drying them.

If all else fails I'll cut one into slices and leave them in the oven on a low heat, see what happens...

J.P. Morris, Chief Engineer DMFA Radio Project * IT-HE * D-T-E


Zorro

#1
Not mango's but fruit in general there was a recent good eats episode and there just so happens to be a transcript of it on line.


http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/Season11/dried_fruit/witheringbites.htm

Citric acid is the secret.

Tapewolf

Interesting, and thanks.  I've been meaning to get a dehydrator.  It sucks that they wanted to get the fruit into cubes, though - really I'm looking to make strips, which you can buy in the supermarket for outrageous prices. 

J.P. Morris, Chief Engineer DMFA Radio Project * IT-HE * D-T-E


Sienna Maiu - M T

Here's a site I found with a quick search. I didn't read a whole lot of it, (because I'm lazy) but I hope it helps.
http://68.208.188.102/horticulture/mangoRecipes.shtml

Zorro

Maybe take a page from the beef jerky making episode of the same show.

Use the same dehydrator but make sticks instead of cubes.

Tapewolf

Quote from: Sienna Maiu - M T on September 19, 2007, 10:12:08 PM
Here's a site I found with a quick search. I didn't read a whole lot of it, (because I'm lazy) but I hope it helps.
http://68.208.188.102/horticulture/mangoRecipes.shtml

That's exactly what I was looking for.  Thanks!

Now, if I'm getting one dehydrator, perhaps I should get two so I can recover that bad test tape ( see also: http://www.easylisteninghq.com/engineering.htm#StickyTapes )

J.P. Morris, Chief Engineer DMFA Radio Project * IT-HE * D-T-E


Sienna Maiu - M T

I'm glad it helped  :mowcookie

That's kind of cool, though you definitely wouldn't want to be using the same one :laugh
It's up to you though to decide whether or not you need a second one, depending on if you've ever had that problem. Considering you've done the research, I'm going to assume you have.
So yeah, you have decide if it's a worthy investment to you.

llearch n'n'daCorna

Quote from: Sienna Maiu - M T on September 20, 2007, 09:58:58 PM
That's kind of cool, though you definitely wouldn't want to be using the same one :laugh

Oh, I dunno. As long as you're not drying food and tapes at the same time, you're probably ok. If you're really paranoid, keep the trays separate...
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Sienna Maiu - M T

Quote from: llearch n'n'daCorna on September 21, 2007, 08:04:31 AM
Quote from: Sienna Maiu - M T on September 20, 2007, 09:58:58 PM
That's kind of cool, though you definitely wouldn't want to be using the same one :laugh

Oh, I dunno. As long as you're not drying food and tapes at the same time, you're probably ok. If you're really paranoid, keep the trays separate...

But what about excess chemicals in the dehydrator? You'ld just be preserving toxicwastefruit.

llearch n'n'daCorna

Quote from: Sienna Maiu - M T on September 21, 2007, 11:27:15 AM
But what about excess chemicals in the dehydrator? You'ld just be preserving toxicwastefruit.

What, like, say, dihydrogen monoxide?

As long as the tapes are fairly clean, you're probably ok - and -seriously- dirty tapes are asking for your drives to break when playing them, so, like all good tape maniacs, I'd expect Tapewolf to be keeping his stuff clean. And he's eating it, so it's down to his personal choices, and how clean -he- thinks the tapes are, no?

Sure, it's probably not clean enough for export, or sale, but for personal, occasional use? Not worth worrying about, IMO.




... which means you're welcome to disagree with me. Heck, my son ate dirt when he was a toddler, so what do I know? ;-]
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Fuyudenki

a nice thorough washing between tapes and fruit should be sufficient to keep the fruit safely edible.  Personally, i don't worry about 5-second rules unless the item is noticeably dirty and/or has an unpleasant taste that it didn't have before.

Sienna Maiu - M T

Quote from: llearch n'n'daCorna on September 21, 2007, 11:38:02 AM
Quote from: Sienna Maiu - M T on September 21, 2007, 11:27:15 AM
But what about excess chemicals in the dehydrator? You'ld just be preserving toxicwastefruit.

What, like, say, dihydrogen monoxide?

Oh man! That reminds me of a story a friend told me, where a group managed to convince a whole lot of people to sign a petition to outlaw it, describing all the things it can be used for negatively :laugh

Quote from: Raist on September 21, 2007, 09:17:58 PM
a nice thorough washing between tapes and fruit should be sufficient to keep the fruit safely edible.  Personally, i don't worry about 5-second rules unless the item is noticeably dirty and/or has an unpleasant taste that it didn't have before.

That's actually been scientifically proven you know, except for wet products.

Fuyudenki

Quote from: Sienna Maiu - M T on September 22, 2007, 12:30:23 AM
Quote from: Raist on September 21, 2007, 09:17:58 PM
a nice thorough washing between tapes and fruit should be sufficient to keep the fruit safely edible.  Personally, i don't worry about 5-second rules unless the item is noticeably dirty and/or has an unpleasant taste that it didn't have before.

That's actually been scientifically proven you know, except for wet products.

When I get sick from eating something off the ground, I'll worry about it.  Until then, the last two times I've been sick were because of sleep deprivation, which kills your immune system right off, and because I was bit by a vector for something nasty.

We're thinking it was either Spotted or Yellow fever.  Whichever, it put me out of commission for a week.

llearch n'n'daCorna

Quote from: Sienna Maiu - M T on September 22, 2007, 12:30:23 AM
Quote from: llearch n'n'daCorna on September 21, 2007, 11:38:02 AM
What, like, say, dihydrogen monoxide?

Oh man! That reminds me of a story a friend told me, where a group managed to convince a whole lot of people to sign a petition to outlaw it, describing all the things it can be used for negatively :laugh

Heh. There's a bunch of websites about it. Try www.dhmo.org
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Tapewolf

Quote from: Raist on September 21, 2007, 09:17:58 PM
a nice thorough washing between tapes and fruit should be sufficient to keep the fruit safely edible.  Personally, i don't worry about 5-second rules unless the item is noticeably dirty and/or has an unpleasant taste that it didn't have before.

What you're doing with the tapes is heating them gently to reactivate the glue keeping the recording material on the backing layer.  Doing this could release some quite nasty things which I would not wish to get into the mango.  Certainly you would not want to bake tapes and dehydrate mango in the same session.

As for the mangoes, I still haven't got a dehydrator.  I tried using the oven on a low temperature which almost worked, but there was still too much internal moisture and they went soggy by morning.  Tasted good, though.

J.P. Morris, Chief Engineer DMFA Radio Project * IT-HE * D-T-E


Fuyudenki

Quote from: Tapewolf on September 22, 2007, 12:28:42 PM
As for the mangoes, I still haven't got a dehydrator.  I tried using the oven on a low temperature which almost worked, but there was still too much internal moisture and they went soggy by morning.
Hmm.  Can't think of any way to pull the moisture out of the oven, but I do recall from a dehydrator manual that you need to keep the dried food moisture-sealed, to avoid re-hydrating it by accident.  Fortunately, the air here in Colorado is rather dry, so it's easier here than it would be in, say, Florida.

Quote from: Tapewolf on September 22, 2007, 12:28:42 PM
Tasted good, though.
That's because they're mangoes.

Sienna Maiu - M T

I'm glad your experiment went well ^.^

Reminds me (sort of) of the time I made merangues(sp?=too lazy to check), but I made too much so I tried making the rest in the microwave. Yeah... they tasted like very sweet eggs ^-^'
But, I like eggs, so that's alright. Also, the ones done in the oven came out awesomly. And that was the time I baked merangues for the first time, while at my grandmother's with everyone out of the house.
Sweet...