Grape Harvest Winds Down

The grape harvest is winding down.  The Thompson seedless and Red Flames have become raisins.  The Concords are becoming fruit leather.  An abundance of all varieties have made their way into the kitchens of family, friends, and the church coffee hour.  Thank goodness for the dehydrator.

Having said that, in the middle of managing the grape harvest our 25 year old food dehydrator gave up the ghost.  The heating element seems to have burned out in the middle of a batch of grape fruit leather.

Nesco/American Harvester dehydrator with 16 trays.

Our American Harvester food dryer gave us years of uninterrupted service, so I can’t really complain.  Happily, our dehydrator of choice seems to be still on the market under the name Nesco/American Harvester.  Within a few days this beauty arrived on our doorstep. (The Gardener is a wiz at online shopping.)

Notice that it has 16 trays.  Apparently it has the capacity to deal with 30+ trays, but the Harvest Manager plans to hold the line at 16.  The variation in colors reflects the original trays (darker) and the new trays (whiter).  So far we’ve dried bay leaves, marjoram, and lots of grape fruit leather in the new dehydrator.  Works like a charm.  This grape leather was ready to roll in about four hours.  To store we cut it into serving sized pieces, roll it in wax paper, and store it in an air tight container.  Ready for the next hike or the next visiting niece.

Concord Grape leather