Drying Ginger at home

A while ago I shared with you that I had been successful in growing my own ginger. After my first big harvest I decided to try drying the ginger, mostly just to see how it was done and to try some different ways of preserving it for when my freezer gets too full.

First scrape the skin off the ginger with a small knife. Then slice it thinly.

Place slices on dehydrator trays and then into your dehydrator. I used the highest setting of 70C in mine for about 3 hours. The slices should be crisp rather than pliable when they are done. You can of course use a lower heat setting and a longer drying time if you prefer. You could do this in an oven but check regularly to make sure they are not browning.

You can keep the dried slices to use for making ginger tea or grind them into powder using a spice grinder. I was amazed at how different the powder is to the ground ginger you buy from the supermarket – and such a wonderful smell.

One of the things I want to try with this powder is to make my own ginger beer. The recipe uses powdered ginger.