How to Make and Store Dehydrated Sliced Potatoes
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I know I’ve said in the past that I would can every last potato I grow if given the chance, but I don’t have unlimited jars and I frequently forget about the usefulness of dehydrated potato slices until I’m digging through my long term storage. Â Dehydrated products are so underrated now that freeze dryers are the big thing to have. Â Newsflash… they’re expensive!! Â While dehydrated food won’t keep nearly as long as freeze dried, it’s still a preservation tool you need in your homesteader’s tool belt as you can dehydrate food with no electricity. Â
I once read a magazine article where a family used a broke down van on blocks as their dehydrator and thought that was the most redneck ingenious idea I’ve ever seen. Â So resourceful and we all know how hot a car gets on a sunny day… amazing! Â Today we’re going to dehydrate sliced potatoes and I’m going to take you with me step-by-step to show you just how easy it is to preserve potatoes for many years, if needed, that maintain a lovely texture once rehydrated and work wonderfully in lots of different recipes. Â I use my dehydrated slices in potato casseroles frequently as they soak up the extra liquid and thicken them naturally giving a wonderful, creamy texture to dishes like scalloped potatoes!
In this blog post I will show you how to prep potatoes for dehydrating to give the best end product as well as multiple ways to store them depending on shelf life and how quickly you plan to use them. If you want a ready-made meal in a jar, try my dehydrated scalloped potato mix here!
Dehydrators
I get asked frequently what I recommend for a dehydrator, and I wholeheartedly recommend the model I have. It has held up over years of use and dries food effectively. If you are in the market for a dehydrator, my first piece of advice is to watch garage sales and Facebook marketplace for a steal of a deal on a used one. Look for a dehydrator with a fan in the back, not the bottom if you can. The bottom fan, stacking types are inefficient, don’t dry evenly, and take FOR-EV-ER. If that’s what you have or all you can get, they absolutely work. But if you can afford to be a little picky, find one with a back fan with removable trays. They are far superior and are more set and forget since they dry evenly and you don’t have to rotate trays.
Let’s get to dryin’ some food, shall we?
Equipment
- food dehydrator
- dehydrator tray liners
- mandolin slicer or food processor
- stock pot
- slotted spoon
- large bowl
- mason jar
- jar vacuum sealer
- mylar bags with oxygen absorbers
Ingredients
- potatoes, any variety
Step 1: Wash & Slice Potatoes
Use any potato variety you have on hand. You can use old potatoes starting to go soft in storage, too, to prevent food waste!
Wash potatoes and scrub them thoroughly. Peel if that is your preference but it is not necessary. Cut out any black spots, bruises, or bad areas.
Slice potatoes into thickness you prefer using a mandolin, food processor, or a sharp knife. The thickness of the potatoes affects how long they take to dry AND how long they take to rehydrate. I keep mine relatively thin using a mandolin. As you slice, add the sliced potatoes to a bowl with cool water in it, keeping the potatoes submerged to prevent oxidation and discoloration. You can add ascorbic acid or citric acid to the water if you would prefer, but I don’t.
Step 2: Blanch
Bring 4 quarts of water in a stock pot to a rolling boil.
Prepare a large bowl with ice water.
Working in batches, drop potato slices into the boiling water and allow them to cook until fork tender.
For the thin potatoes I slice, this takes 3-5 minutes.
Once potatoes are tender, using a slotted spoon drain and transfer to the cold water bath to shock them and stop the cooking process.
Continue working in batches until all potatoes are done.
Blanching does two things: 1. who wants to rehydrate uncooked potatoes? In an emergency situation, it’s a bunch easier to rehydrate and already cooked food. Instant potatoes anyone? And 2. you have a very high chance the potatoes will turn brown or black in the dehydrator. I’ve had folks tell me they throw them in raw and it has never happened and I don’t believe them. I tried it before I knew anything about dehydrating and they were as black as a frostbitten toe. No thanks. If you don’t care about having brown potatoes, be my guest! But in my own experiences, black potatoes really aren’t that appetizing. Let’s not ruin an entire batch of raw potatoes because we didn’t want to boil some water.
Step 3: Layer into Dehydrator
Drain potato slices and arrange them onto dehydrator trays in a single layer. I use these silicone drying mats to line the metal mesh trays of my dehydrator so nothing decides to stick. This also makes emptying the dehydrator a breeze as you can just roll up the mat and dump the slices directly into a container.
Place the trays into your dehydrator.
Step 4: Dehydrate
Place in your food dehydrator and dry at 135F for 12-24 hours, depending on the thickness and size of your slices.
The slices are done when they feel dry and snap in half easily and there is no signs of moisture. If the slices bend instead, place them back in the dehydrator for a few more hours and test again.
Step 5: Storing
Once dry, allow the potatoes to cool down to room temperature and then transfer the dehydrated potatoes to your storage of choice. In my own experience, I have found that allowing the dehydrated food to cool eliminates any risk of moisture forming in the storage containers.
For short term storage (use within 6 months), I vacuum seal potato slices into wide mouth quart or half gallon jars. Store them on the shelf in a dark place away from direct sunlight and they will keep just fine up to 1 year, if not a little longer.
For long term storage (use within a few years), I will place the dried potatoes into mylar bags with properly sized oxygen absorbers. See my post on getting started with long term food storage for more on this! I keep my potatoes in gallon sized mylar bags, so that when I open one, I use what I need and then pour the rest into a mason jar and vacuum seal them to be used within the coming months. Use a size of mylar that is a good portion size for you. Long term storage is a bit of trial and error figuring out what works best for you to use and when and is helpful to get a nice food stash together for emergency preparedness.
​To rehydrate:
Add sliced potatoes to a heat-proof bowl. Bring some water to a boil and pour the hot water over top of the potatoes to submerge. Allow the potatoes to sit for about 15 minutes to rehydrate. After this time, drain and use they as you would a cooked potato slice.
You can alternatively add them directly to a greased casserole dish, add some broth or liquid of choice and bake them in the oven, covered, to rehydrate that way too. Plan on 1 part liquid to 2 parts dried potato slices. This means for every 2 cups of potato slices, you would use 1 cup of milk, water, or broth. Think cheesy potatoes, scalloped potatoes, au gratin potatoes, stews, you name it! They usable in all of your favorite recipes if you adjust it a bit to accommodate dehydrated potatoes.
Notes:
You can use this dehydrating technique for any shape of potato you prefer; hashbrowns and diced/potato cubes are lovely to have on hand! Just adjust the blanching time and the drying time!
​This also works for dehydrating sweet potatoes, but you won’t get any into storage if you’re like me. I eat them like a glutton straight out of the dehydrator. Oh my goodness they’re so good.
Equipment
- mandolin slicer
- stock pot
- slotted spoon
- Large bowl
- mason jar
- mylar bags
Ingredients
- potatoes
Instructions
- Wash potatoes and scrub them thoroughly. Â Peel if that is your preference but it is not necessary. Â Cut out any black spots, bruises, or bad areas. Slice potatoes into thickness you prefer using a mandolin.
- Bring 4 quarts of water in a stock pot to a rolling boil. Prepare a large bowl with ice water.
- Working in batches, drop potato slices into the boiling water and allow them to cook until fork tender. For the thin potatoes I slice, this takes 3-5 minutes. Once potatoes are tender, using a slotted spoon drain and transfer to the cold water bath to shock them and stop the cooking process. Continue working in batches until all potatoes are done.
- Drain potato slices and arrange them onto dehydrator trays in a single layer.
- Place in your food dehydrator and dry at 135F for 12-24 hours, depending on the thickness and size of your slices.
- The slices are done when they feel dry and snap in half easily and there is no signs of moisture. Â If the slices bend instead, place them back in the dehydrator for a few more hours and test again.
- Once dry, allow the potatoes to cool down to room temperature and then transfer the dehydrated potatoes to your storage of choice.
Storing Short Term
- Vacuum seal potato slices into wide mouth quart or half gallon jars. Â Store them on the shelf in a dark place away from direct sunlight and they will keep just fine up to 1 year, if not a little longer.
Storing Longer Term
- Place the dried potatoes into mylar bags with properly sized oxygen absorbers.
Rehydrating
- Add sliced potatoes to a heat-proof bowl. Â Bring some water to a boil and pour the hot water over top of the potatoes to submerge. Â Allow the potatoes to sit for about 15 minutes to rehydrate. Â After this time, drain and use they as you would a cooked potato slice.
