Drying sweet potatoes; What did I do wrong?

[Pemberleyan]

I don't have a lot of dehydrating experience, but thought that I was correct in the way I recently dried sweet potatoes. I intended to make the dried slices into powder in the food processor after dehydrating was completed.

The potatoes were peeled, sliced uniformly with a food processor, blanched, drained and dehydrated. I did dehydrate them for a very long time because I thought they should be really dry. When I tried to make them into powder with the "mixing" blade of the food processor, it was like trying to cut rocks, so I quit. The downside is that I can't store them in vacuum-sealed bags because of their bulkiness.

Any suggestions, tips?

[madhen]

I have had the same experience with regular potatoes. You can rehydrate them or cook them in a pressure cooker, and they'll taste fine.

Now, when I dehydrate sweet potatoes (or regular potatoes), I wash them, then slice them into wafers with a vegetable slicer, so they are potato chip thin. You don't have to be perfect in laying them in the dehydrator - basically a single layer, but a little overlapping is fine. I sprinkle them with a little bit of seasoning and eat them as chips, rather than powdering them, but they would crush up readily in a food processor at that thickness.

[Pemberleyan]

Madhen, they were fairly thin, I thought, but not quite as thin as a chip.

[madhen]

I know exactly what you mean about the rock-hard quality, however, which means they weren't thin enough for your purposes. That is why I use the peeler, because I get a consistent and very thin slice each time. I eat them as chips, and they crumble like chips, so they would definitely powder. I don't have a mandolin slicer, so not sure if that would give the same results, but it would be a lot faster!

[Pemberleyan]

Okay. Well, perhaps I will try putting them through the wheat grinder on the bean "setting." With my hand and wrist problems, there's no way I can slice them by hand. Thanks for the info!

[jas]

I have not made sweet potatoes into powder, but I have dehydrated mashed sweet potatoes and you can spread them out as thin as you want on the drying sheets that you use for fruit roll ups. They break up very easily.

[Pemberleyan]

I have not made sweet potatoes into powder, but I have dehydrated mashed sweet potatoes and you can spread them out as thin as you want on the drying sheets that you use for fruit roll ups. They break up very easily.

Now, there's an idea. I'll have to look for the fruit roll-up sheets.

[madhen]

I was wondering about boiling/mashing them first, but have never tried it.