Dehydrated Zucchini Flour
Lynn Pastusak, UC Master Food Preserver Volunteer
I went out of town for four days and came home to massive zucchini!! What was I going to do with these monsters? I hate to throw away good food, especially beautiful home grown food. Then I had an ah ha moment, I could make zucchini flour!
Zucchini flour? What's that? It's mild flavored and gluten-free. That sounds nourishing, I thought, and I can hide it in my recipes! I'd never done it, but it sounded like a fun project and a great way to keep a big zucchini in a small container.
The very first thing to do is make sure all your kitchen supplies and surfaces are scrubbed clean and sanitized. Is there a difference? Absolutely. Find more information here about cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting. After everything is squeaky clean, scrub the zucchini with a vegetable brush under running cold water. Don't put the zucchini in a sink or bowl full of water. The germs and bacteria will just float around. The running water washes all the bad stuff down the drain.
Then cut the zucchini into manageable sizes and remove the seeds. I used a grapefruit spoon. Its little, sharp, serrated teeth worked perfectly and made the job of scraping out all those seeds and pulp easy.
Next, you will need to decide whether to pare or not to pare the zucchini. If you leave the peel on, the flour will be a bit greener in color. Also, the peel may be bitter. Taste the peel before you pare it and decide what is best for you. The peel was not bitter on my zucchini, but I wanted to see the color and texture difference of my flour. I'll show the results later.
Then, cut the zucchini into workable pieces and grate them using a handheld cheese grater - or if you have a rotary grater or electric grater, it will go a lot faster. I used my electric grater, and it was super fast!
Zucchini holds a lot of moisture. The wetter it is, the longer it will take to dry in the dehydrator so you will want to dry the grated zucchini as much as possible. You can do this by placing the grated zucchini in a colander for about 15 minutes and pressing down on it to squeeze out the liquid or by squeezing the grated zucchini with a potato ricer. Another way, and is how I did it, is to lay some paper towels on a cloth towel; place a layer of grated zucchini on the paper towels; place another layer of paper towels on top of the zucchini; roll the towel up tightly and squish with your hands to absorb the liquid.
After the zucchini has released enough liquid, preheat the dehydrator to 135°.
Place the drained grated zucchini on the dehydrator trays. The pieces are pretty thin, so you don't have to worry about spreading the grated zucchini out sparsely. It's ok if some are overlapping a bit. You might want to stir them gently after a couple hours of drying in case there are some patches not drying as quickly because they are overlapped and stuck together.
Heat the grated zucchini in the dehydrator. The University of Maine Cooperative Extension recommends heating zoodles, which is a type of grated zucchini, at 135° until the zucchini is very dry and crispy. It's difficult to determine the exact heating time as moisture in the air (humidity) has a major impact on drying time, but it should take about 7-11 hours.
Remove the dried grated zucchini from the dehydrator.
Now comes the fun part! Fill your blender, food processor, or chopper about 2/3 full with the dehydrated grated zucchini and grind it until it is finely ground. Any grinder will work. Some grind finer than others. I used my Vitamix and it ground it to a very fine consistency.* (Read the important note below before removing the lid.)
Congratulations! You've just made flour!
*Important! After you are done grinding, keep the lid on your grinder for a few minutes to let the dust settle. If you don't, you will have a cloud of zucchini dust puff out all over the place when you remove the lid. It can be quite messy and it's not good to inhale all those fine particles.
Remember, I mentioned that I wanted to experiment with leaving the peel on or off. I left the peel on the first batch and pared the second batch. It's difficult to tell with the photos, but there was a slight difference in color; the peeled zucchini was a pale green and the unpeeled zucchini was a bit darker green. I did not notice a difference in the texture or taste. Therefore, I just combined both flours into one container.
Store the zucchini flour in an airtight container, such as a mason jar with a tight-fitting lid. You can also vacuum seal the jar lids for longer lasting storage. The zucchini flour tends to pull moisture from the air which can cause clumping and molding. To prevent this, you may add a food safe silica packet to absorb the moisture. This is optional, but well worth it. You can read more about silica packets here.
Do not store the zucchini flour in the refrigerator. There is too much moisture in the refrigerator which will undo all your dehydrating work.
Use your beautiful zucchini flour within 6 months for best taste; however, it can be stored for up to 1 year, especially with a silica packet. Not sure if it is good? Smell it; it's no good if it smells musty. It's no good if it is wet and has large clumps of mold. Here's an article to tell you more about bad flour.
So, how much flour will you get? Roughly 3 ½ pounds of zucchini will make about 2 cups of dried shredded zucchini which will end up making a scant ½ cup of zucchini flour.
Now that you have successfully made the zucchini flour, what do you do with it? You can make cakes, breads, cookies, muffins, and quick breads that don't require a lot of rising time since there is no gluten in the zucchini flour. Zucchini flour can replace coconut flour (1:1 ratio). You can replace 1/4 to 1/3 cup of regular flour with the zucchini flour (1:3-4 ratio). (I've been told you might want to add 1-2 tablespoons additional water or oil and mix it extra well.) Try adding some of the zucchini flour to soups, stir fries, casseroles, smoothies, scrambled eggs, or pancake batters. Have fun and add color and nutrition by adding a bit (not a lot) when making pasta (1:10 ratio).
There are a variety of easy to make recipes using alternative flours, such as zucchini flour, available on food blogs. A quick Google search will turn up many options. Find a reliable source for recipes and have some fun experimenting in the kitchen!
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- Author: Ben A Faber
Get an airblast sprayer in the right condition so it can do its job right.
Read a summary of calibrating an airblast sprayer
https://www.sacvalleyorchards.com/almonds/foliar-diseases/pre-season-airblast-sprayer-calibration/
Using a calibration guide
https://ccag-eh.ucanr.edu/files/241473.pdf
Read it as written by Lynn and Franz
https://ucanr.edu/sites/ucexpertstalk/files/328586.pdf
or watch it as played by Peter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c48h75tb-CY
or take the course on calibration for CEU credits
- Prepared by: UC Integrated Pest Management Program
If you've noticed tiny, dark insects flying around your houseplants, you likely have fungus gnats. These tiny flies can be a nuisance indoors and may also damage your plants.
Fungus gnats lay their eggs in moist soil and their larvae feed on plant roots and decaying organic matter. Because of this, the key to managing fungus gnats is to let the soil dry out in between watering and don't overwater plants. Water plants from the bottom using saucers under pots. This keeps the top of the soil dry, discouraging fungus gnats.
Sticky traps can be placed in pots or near plants to catch fungus gnat adults. This is also a great way to monitor for fungus gnats. Pesticides, including several biological pesticides like Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis (Bti), are available to control fungus gnats. However, the best way to control fungus gnats is by simply adjusting watering practices.
To learn more about fungus gnats and their management, visit Pest Notes: Fungus Gnats.
This article first appeared in the UC Integrated Pest Management Program's Pests in the Urban Landscape blog.
- Prepared by: Terry Lewis
Tasks
- Adjust watering systems as weather cools.
- Remove and dispose of any fruit and nuts that cling to the tree.
- To discourage spider mites, spray hedges and shrubs with water to clean them and keep them free of dust.
- Water citrus, being careful not to overwater. Continuously wet soil risks root rot.
Pruning
- Do not apply any treatments to pruning cuts or other wounds because these materials are ineffective (and often detrimental).
- Deadhead and shape rosebushes to promote a final fall bloom.
Fertilizing
- Wait two weeks after planting new flowers and vegetables before feeding with organic or complete fertilizer.
- Add bulb fertilizer to planting hole before planting bulbs.
Planting
- This is the best time to plant shrubs and groundcovers.
- Groundcovers: Carpet bugle (Ajuga), Germander (Teucrium chamaedrys ‘Nanum').
- Perennials: Cyclamen, French tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus), cranesbill (Geranium).
- Before planting winter vegetables, turn a generous amount of compost into the vegetable bed.
- Fruits and vegetables: garlic, onion sets, lettuce, parsley.
- Trees, shrubs, vines: Acacia baileyana, strawberry tree (Arbutus ‘Marina'), hawthorn (Crataegus), sago palm (Cycas), desert willow (Chilopsis linearis).
Enjoy now
- Annuals and perennials: vinca (Catharanthus), chrysanthemum, dianthus, coneflower (Echinacea), globe amaranth (Gomphrena).
- Bulbs, corms, tubers: dahlia.
- Trees, shrubs, vines: pineapple guava (Feijoa), morning glory (Ipomoea), crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia).
- Fruits and vegetables: almonds, lettuce, melon, nectarines, persimmon.
- Fall color: goldenrain tree (Koelreuteria), sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua).
Things to ponder
- Do not replace vinca with pansies in the same bed, due to a soil borne fungal root rot that affects these plants.
It's Autumn! As we shift to cooler weather, take time to evaluate your garden's damage and stress caused by this summer's extreme heat. This is the perfect time to devise long-term cooling and shading strategies to reduce sun and heat damage in the future.
Write down your observations, keeping in mind the damaged plant species, location in the garden, and daily hours of exposure to sunlight and shade, especially during the summer months. Be sure to note whether the plant receives hot afternoon sun (western/southern exposure) rather than a kinder eastern morning sun exposure. Note any nearby hardscaping, decorative rocks, pathways, concrete, or buildings that reflect heat and sunlight or radiate heat overnight. Take time to analyze soil condition, moisture, watering system coverage, mulch, and any other directly involved factors.
Armed with all your information, ask the following question for each affected plant: is the plant species the right match for its location in terms of summer sunlight? While it's heartbreaking to accept, sometimes the plant isn't suited to our extreme heat conditions, no matter what we do to protect it. A gardener must weigh the time and effort required to safeguard a mismatched plant in our environment. The payoff might not be worth it.
More often, the plant will grow well in our area when relocated to another spot that provides a more appropriate microenvironment. Research the best time to transplant the particular plant species and follow the instructions accordingly. Be mindful of the sun and shade conditions in the plant's new location and be prepared to incorporate some of the following suggestions to protect your plant, even in its improved location.
If the plant can't be relocated, consider incorporating seasonal landscaping solutions. Plant taller, more sun-tolerant annuals or biennials like hollyhocks and sunflowers that cast shade to protect a shorter plant during the harsh summer months. Staking these taller plants may be necessary. A perennial hedge, situated to provide shade during the afternoons, is a longer-term solution.
Dark shade cloth, available in rolls, will also help, but for less unsightly long-term solutions, consider more attractive shade cloth awnings. There are many shapes and colors available; choose a knitted screening cloth with a 30-60% density rating. Permanent, buried concrete footings can be established to hold removable poles or supports that elevate the shade cloth. Even better, cable systems attached to permanent structures by hooks and turnbuckles are excellent ways to create an adequately elevated, taut cover. Build as much flexibility into your shade cloth system as possible so it can easily be removed after the summer to allow winter light in.
Another visually attractive solution combines annual plantings with hardscaping design. Interlace your landscaping with strategically placed lattice panels or other decorative open fencing tall enough to provide shade for low shrubs, ornamentals, and roses. Fence placement should focus on reducing your garden's exposure to the hot south or western sun. Plant fast-growing annual vines to temporarily climb on the fencing to add visual interest and, of course, increase shading possibilities.
Trees, especially quick-growing, tall, narrow trees, are another longer-term way to provide shade in extreme heat. Thoughtful analysis, planning and selection is essential when planting trees to establish a permanent break from hot afternoon sun. Pruning to properly shape and manage tree height may be necessary.
Concrete paths and driveways often increase daytime reflective light and temperatures and radiate excessive overnight heat near plants that need to cool down. Removing the concrete and replacing it with gravel is an option. Any gravel materials will store heat during the day and radiate it back at night but gravel can raise humidity if the underlying soil is moist, possibly helping to cool nearby areas[O1] . Extending mulch onto the concrete can be a short-term alternative. As is often the case, adding deep mulch throughout your landscape is a very beneficial way to reduce heat and dryness experienced by a plant's surface roots.
Adding an outdoor fountain or other type of water feature is another way to cool things down. As the mist from a fountain evaporates, it cools the surrounding air. The increased humidity from mist helps heat-stressed plants and even aids in flower retention. Misting systems are a good alternative if a water feature is out of the question. Placing time-controlled mist emitters high in trees and along rooflines of garden buildings can bring extreme temperatures down quite a bit.
When adopting these cooling solutions, be open to flexibility and possibility. Future extreme heat events, each unique, will require you to adapt your landscape planning to weather changes. If something doesn't work out, try a different strategy. Eventually, your garden will be a happier, and hopefully cooler, oasis.
UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) system. To learn more about us and our upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area visit our website. If you have a gardening question or problem, email the Hotline at mgbutte@ucanr.edu or leave a phone message on our Hotline at 530-552-5812. To speak to a Master Gardener about a gardening issue, or to drop by the MG office during Hotline hours, see the most current information on our Ask Us section of our website.