Dehydrating Cabbage

We have a lot of cabbage in the garden this year!  Some will be used fresh in recipes (especially in my favourite cabbage roll casserole), but I also decided to dehydrate some to store.  Most sources I have read say it is as simple as slicing or grating the cabbage and popping it into the dehydrator.  Some recommend blanching the sliced cabbage before dehydrating.  So I tried both.

Blanched before dehydrating

The blanched cabbage certainly looks nicer - a more vibrant green - and the cabbage slices hold their shape more than the slices that were dehydrated raw.  The raw cabbage slices are a paler green or light yellow.


The downside is that blanching beforehand is time consuming and the dehydrator sheets will have to be washed before I use the dehydrator for another vegetable.  (Washing the dehydrator trays and sheets is an event - they are too large to wash easily in the kitchen sink.  We don't have a dishwasher, so I soak and wash them in a scrubbed bathtub!)  When I dehydrated the cabbage raw, it wasn't sticky, so came off the dehydrator sheets quickly and cleanly once dry.  The raw slices shriveled up, so they take up less space in mason jars.

Blanched raw

 

A comparison

In the next week or so, I will try blanching cabbage wedges to freeze.  We don't have much room to spare in the freezer, but I am curious to see how the taste down the road compares to the dehydrated cabbage.