Dehydrate Ginger Root

I recently watched a documentary on ginger. Surprisingly, ginger was a major commodity in the middle ages. It was very expensive and hard to find. The program showed these almost life-sized cookie molds. They would make cookies to give to the bridal party on their wedding day. It was a special gift. I guess that is where the tradition of the gingerbread man at Christmas came from.

The documentary showed these smaller molds of the King of England. They would bake them and then coated with very fine sheets of gold. It was to display the wealth of the king. Did you know, talking about the death of the king was treason? They would hang people for that. But, apparently eating his image in cookie form was okay. Strange!! I’d be afraid to eat the kings head from the cookie for fear of losing my own head and I don’t even like gingerbread. (HA!)

I bought a fresh ginger root at the farmers market to add dehydrate ground ginger to my spice rack. It is truly amazing how ginger is now just an everyday spice.

Spice Facts

Ginger root is closely related to cardamon and turmeric. Grown originally in the tropical rainforest of the Indian Sub Continent of South Asia.  Ginger didn’t arrive in Europe until the spice trade. It was one of the spices commodities. It is a rhizome (root) which is fibrous and dry.

The Ancient Greeks and Romans would steep it in boiling water to make ginger tea.

The common dishes to have ginger root is seafood, meat, and vegetarian. Ginger used in powder form makes gingerbread cookies, crackers, cakes, ginger ale, and ginger beer. Turn ginger into a soft confectionary by cooking it in sugar. Called candied or crystallized ginger. Ginger can be eating raw by peeling the skin off. It saves well in the refrigerator or freezer.

Medical Issues

Ginger root can be both helpful and bad for people with medical problems. I remember drinking a lot of ginger ale when I was going through chemo. It would settle my nausea and helped keep me from vomiting. The nurse said that they also suggest it during a pregnancy to help with morning sickness.

On the bad side, it can cause heartburn and if not chewed completely can block the intestines. It can cause ulcers, inflammatory bowel disease, blocked intestines, and gallstones. It also interferes with certain medications such as anticoagulants, warfarin, and aspirin.

Dehydrating

This is what a fresh ginger rhizome looks like. Rinse off dirt and debris before you begin.

My dehydrator is a Nesco FD-60 Snackmaster Express. It has a top mount fan to blow down on the food. This can be dehydrated with any machine.

The clean screen mesh screens are great for products that are small and will fall through the regular tray. Leather roll up trays can also be used.

Use a “Y” peeler. Peel the skin off of the outside of the rhizome. Rinse thoroughly again.

I grate the ginger by using the grater blade on the food processor. You can also grate the ginger by hand if you have a hand grater or a mandolin with a grater plate.

Pour and scatter the grated ginger onto the clean mesh screens. Ready for drying.

Stack your trays in the dehydrator. Set the dehydrator to 110 degrees for 6-8 hrs.

Ginger is dry when it feels pliable and leathery. The color will darken as it drys.

I used a coffee grinder to turn my ginger root into ground ginger powder. A blender or food processor can also be used to ground and powder your ginger. However, it may not get it as fine as a coffee grinder.

I store my ground ginger in a spice jar.

Enjoy the ginger!