Follow Up: Dehydrated Mini Marshmallows in a Magic Mill Dehydrator

 Did you think I forgot to update my previous post? lol  I wish it was that simple.  No, I have been spending the last two days learning a few interesting facts regarding the dehydration of marshmallows... completely by accident. 

First, my guessing for processing the marshmallows was way off.  Waaaaay off!  In trying to double check this error, a trip to a local DG was necessary to purchase more marshmallows.  Instead of getting the store brand, they had Jet Puffed on sale.  So, two bags were thrown into my cart with hopes of pinning a correct dehydrating time down.  All internet info suggests dehydrating at 151 degrees.  The Magic Mill has 149 or 159 degrees.  I have been going with the closest at 149 degrees.  Knowing this would throw off the time, the suggested time of 3 to 5 hours probably wasn't going to hold true for my minis.  Which is fine.  Interestingly enough, mine keep coming in at 9 to 10 hours.  I wish I could tell you the second run confirmed my results to 9 or 10, but an interesting issue arose to keep me from pinpointing an exact time.  Either way, my earlier guess was wrong.  Although I can unequivocally say this, 9 to 10 hours works for my Magic Mill.  Honestly, I would try another around, but my house is overfilled with these crunchy puff balls right now.  lol  

This brings me to my second discovery; A fine wine may get better with age... not so with a sugary marshmallow.  My observant spidey senses were taking a brake during my shopping excursion.  The sale was a "two for", and I grabbed two bags only looking at the top bag.  Ugh!  When I got home, the first bag had bouncy marshmallows.  The second bag had sticky, going yellow marshmallows.  In fairness to the DG, the best buy date was October of 2022, but I am here to attest... They were past their prime.  I loaded the dehydrator anyways, after physically pulling most of the marshmallows apart in the second bag.   The dehydrator was loaded with 20 ounces (2 bags).  My time test was ruined by spot checking marshmallows from the bottom three shelves.  The shelves which held the October marshmallows.  Their decomposing state (I was soon to find out. Insert smacking of forehead.)  threw off any possibility of dehydrating properly.    At any rate, I kept extending the time, got tired (for real, it was after my bedtime... lol), and on the last round jumped 2 1/2 hours making the full dehydrating time 10 hours total.  In the morning, I awakened to the process being complete...   But now, let me show you the finished marshmallows...

Exhibit A:  Look at the fresh marshmallows once finished.  They literally burst with crunchy exploding flavor.  Seriously, if you're on a diet, a few of these would calm any sugary craving.   Look at their dusky yet puffy exterior... Dehydrated perfection!

Exhibit B:  (Brace yourself) It was hard to get the right angle on these, but this is what the others turned out like.  They had a glassy, wavy, bubbly exterior.  I am assuming was caused by the sugar becoming more hydrated in the breaking down process.  Am I picky about outward appearances?  Absolutely not.  The problem came when they were bit into.  Slightly underdone crunchy turning into major teeth sticking chewy.  Nasty!  They tasted like old marshmallows.  Not all of marshmallows on the three bottom trays were bad.  Those handful of marshmallows in the bag which had still retained a soft powdery exterior were perfect.  So please, learn from my purchase, watch the dates and make sure you shake the bags you buy.  Loose, powdery dull, white marshmallows are the ones to dehydrate.  Just because the date is within selling fresh doesn't mean the product is viable.   It is a taste test you don't want to endure... Trust me!  Blaaaah...

So, what have I learned from this experiment?  First, my hubby thinks I am nuts after dehydrating so many marshmallows.  Well, nothing new there!  lol   Second, marshmallows for sure take about 9 to 10 hours to dehydrate in a Magic Mill at 149 degrees.  Third, a six shelve Magic Mill will hold 2 bags (20 ounces) of marshmallows easily using mesh underneath.  And finally, the resulting dehydrated marshmallows can be vacuumed sealed in 7 pint jars... Well, more likely 7 1/2, but they were rolling everywhere, and I kept eating the stray ones!  ;) 

Onward to the 20 pounds of potatoes I just bought.  :)

Dehydrated Mini Marshmallows with Magic Mill

 Dehydrated mini marshmallows have been on my "to do" list for a while.  Why might you ask?  Well, I love hot chocolate.  (Not so much the store bought, but the kind made from the recipe found on my blog here.)  Marshmallows are so tempting to buy shopping.  Even more tempting during the holiday season when all brands can be found at rock bottom prices.  My problem lies in the inability to use them up fast enough.  They eventually get a funky color and start to stick together... even before the best buy date. :(    About a month ago, I came across prepper post regarding dehydrating marshmallows.  The prepper dehydrated them at 115 for over 10 hours.  Unfortunately, it didn't work for me.  Instead of wasting the partially dehydrated marshmallows, the Magic Mill got turned up to 151 degrees for 4 hours, and the marshmallows turned out nice and crunchy.  Not quite as sugary as Lucky Charms Cereal but having the same texture.  Score!

The dehydrated marshmallows do a slow melt in a steaming cup of hot chocolate.  Perfect for me!   I purchased three more bags of minis to dehydrate and put in pint ball jars and vacuum seal with my food saver for the possibility of long-term storage.  My Magic Mill with its 6 shelves can hold 2 bags of minis with little effort.  A third bag probably could've been squeezed in, but it was MIA when I started the set up...  So, it will go in the next round!  ;)  

The Magic Mill has been set for 151 degrees at 4 hours.  It was tempting to set it for 5 hours, but if four works, energy has been saved.  

Noteworthy:  The Magic Mill has a square grid on the shelves.  Quite a few of the minis found their way through during the loading process. Knowing that the minis will get slightly larger during the drying process, there is also the possibility of them wedging between the grids.  With this in mind, I decided to use my mesh and honey combed plastic covers on the shelves.  The marshmallows want to roll all over, but this extra effort is a necessary step.  

More tomorrow with the final outcome!  :)

Mockmill 100 for Grinding Grain

 Time to get busy and embrace a healthier future grinding my own grain with the Mockmill 100!  

If some of my old pals are still out there (and for those who are just meeting me), you all know how I love to cook, bake, and create.  As with everyone else, the past few years have had their ups and for me one extreme down.  Now it is time to move forward.   I'm ready to shake up my world.  One big part of my shake up is to get healthier with my food.  Even though I still cook and eat mainly at home, I have gotten away from all of the great stuff on this blog and have fallen into being a quick meal cook.  Some quick meals aren't so bad... others are not only unhealthy but expensive.  I'm shaking my life up!  Step 1 make a decision... Any decision that gets me motivated and inspires me to action.   One of my big decisions brewing over the past 3 weeks was to get a better grip on the flour that I use.  My prepping nature has my freezers full of flour.  Not completely a bad thing... Just a little annoying at harvest time, when the veggies start rolling in.  (I have some ideas for those as well! ;) )   In my quest to find a more space friendly, longer-term storage for my flour, I came across several articles and videos on wheat berries and milling flour at home.   Sounds interesting, right? ;)   

Are you aware properly prepped wheat berries can be stored up to 25 years +?  Also, there is NO freezer required.  Mind blowing, right?  How about the fact that I can grind my flour on a need basis?  Awesome!  Throw in a list of grains that can be ground... some going back to ancient time...  My mind is blowing up with huge ideas.  Aaaaaaghhh!

My decision... get a grain mill.   There are many out there let me tell you.  Hand operated or electric, prices are all over the place, and loads of friendly people who will offer lots of opinions on the topic.  The last few weeks have been research heaven.  Just an amazing experience in learning.  My decision was to go electric (contemplating a backup hand operated later for emergencies), finding a mid-range price, and taking in all the advice from my prepping friends and YouTube testers.  Of course, add a little procrasting as well followed by a quick text to my Sister to have her tell me to just DO IT!  I always can count on her to give a nudge, shove, or kick to the rear.  lol  

Which leads me to Step 2...  Acquisition of important instruments to complete a mission.  I did it.  I bought a mill.  A Mockmill 100 that works with a grinding stone set up.  Yep, I took a deep breath and dove in.  And Guess what?  It is on back order.  Waah waah waaaaah...   But seriously, that's okay! ;)   The delay is being looked at in a positive way.  It will give me plenty of time to study all about grains, blending, and just plain understanding the whole process from start to finish.  Plus, I can decide which grains to purchase, acquire some food grade storage buckets to house them, and allocate an area for them to reside.  Always good to be prepared!  

So, Step 3... Take action will have to wait on this particular adventure until October.  Although, I feel all my research will be the foundation of and for the final step.  Definitely required for success.  I am so excited!  This post is getting long, so I will save some sites and information for another day. ;)  Since mine will be a bit into the future to photograph, below is a photo from the Mockmill site.  It will be shipping from Breadtopia.  :)  

Now, I am off to look at some grain!  :)