{"id":14491,"date":"2023-09-04T09:00:11","date_gmt":"2023-09-04T13:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/?p=14491"},"modified":"2023-09-07T07:40:04","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T11:40:04","slug":"dehydrating-zoodles-its-worth-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/2023\/09\/04\/dehydrating-zoodles-its-worth-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Dehydrating Zoodles \u2013 It\u2019s Worth It!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2014 By Eva Holmes, Master Food Preserver Volunteer, University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/em><\/p>\n

Zoodles or zucchini noodles have become a popular pasta substitute for those looking to reduce carbohydrates or calories, but the real benefit is the fun way to increase vegetables in your diet. While it is possible to make fettuccine or sheet-style zoodles using just a knife, many, like me, use spiralizers to create zoodles with a square linguine sized shape.<\/p>\n

I have a spiralizer. Maybe I\u2019m just lazy, but it\u2019s too much of a hassle to drag it out and clean it for just one meal and the zoodles don\u2019t keep very long in the fridge. Frozen zoodles are too watery and mushy. I wondered, are dehydrated zoodles the answer? Here are the results of my experiments:<\/p>\n

Drying<\/h3>\n

First I turned two zucchinis into a big pile of linguine-sized zoodles using my spiralizer, a kitchen gadget used to cut vegetables into noodle-like strips. These filled four dehydrating trays.<\/p>\n

\"Zoodles<\/p>\n

Lesson One: Don\u2019t make too many zoodles at once because they take up a lot of room in the dehydrator.<\/p>\n

Three trays dried in three hours at 135 degrees F. The bottom tray needed a little more time.<\/p>\n

Lesson Two: Rotate your trays after 90 minutes.<\/p>\n

Some of the zoodles stuck to the trays and it was tedious to remove them. This was especially noticeable on trays with thinly spread out zoodles.<\/p>\n

Lesson Three: Make bigger piles, perhaps shaped as nests for easier use later. A fruit leather tray or parchment paper could help prevent the zoodles from sticking.<\/p>\n

\"Dehydrated<\/p>\n

Rehydrating<\/h3>\n

I tried three methods for rehydration:<\/p>\n