5 Easy Homemade Gift Ideas To Make With Your Food Dehydrator

This holiday season or any time of year, it’s easy to make homemade gifts with your food dehydrator. Homemade treats show that you put time and thought into the gift that is being given. Make some personal gifts for the hard-to-buy-for people in your life.

1) Fruit Snack Sock Fillers: Fruit roll-ups can be made in your dehydrator by pureeing fruit and placing them on solid plastic tray liners or plastic wrap-lined trays. Dry the fruit until it has a leathery consistency. Cut the leather into strips or shapes and store in airtight bags or containers. Make a variety of fruit roll-up flavors or choose the person’s favorite. Get creative and try new flavor combinations or add some textures like shredded coconut or chopped walnuts. Try adding small amounts of yogurt for creamy flavors.

2) Homemade Nut Gift Packs: By buying raw nuts like almonds, peanuts, or walnuts and soaking them in salt water overnight and then dehydrating them, you can make healthy nut snacks. To make a variety of flavors, you can coat the nuts with a sweet mix of things like honey, cinnamon, or coconut or coat them with spicy flavors like hot sauce, chili powder, or wasabi. After the nuts have been coated, put them in the dehydrator until the coating has dried. Pack in snack size bags and label with the different flavours.

3) Assortments of dried fruits: buy a variety of fruits such as apples, pears, grapes, peaches and pineapple. Wash fruit and core and peel as needed, then cut into halves, wedges, or decorative rings. You can sprinkle with spices or colored sugars to add more flavor and color. Dry until the fruit has a leathery consistency. Store in airtight bags or containers.

4) Jerky Treats – Whether you’re a hunter or not, making homemade jerky is easy. Choose the type of meat the person would prefer or try a variety. Favorite meats are beef, venison, turkey, chicken, or fish. The meat should be lean but can be thinly sliced ​​or ground. Select from pre-packaged jerky seasonings or try your favorite combination of spices. If using liquid flavors like teriyaki, marinate the meat overnight in the refrigerator to help the flavors penetrate the meat. Place the separated meat on the trays and dry until the meat is brittle. Store in airtight bags or containers.

5) Potpourri Ornaments: Nature provides us with a variety of scents to choose from, from flowers to fruits, herbs and spices. Some popular flavorings are dried sliced ​​apple rings with cinnamon sprinkled on them or small pumpkin slices sprinkled with pumpkin pie spice. Both can be decorated with nails before drying. Use a decorative ribbon as a hanger and to attach some rings for a wider decoration or a longer hanging decoration.

Get creative and let your food dehydrator help you make easy, personal gifts for the special people in your life, for the holidays or any special occasion.