Eggplant Bacon

This is my compilation of several Raw Eggplant Bacon recipes that I have found and tried

2 large eggplant

1/4 C apple cider vinegar

1/8C ume plum vinegar

1/4 C nama shoyu

2T molasses

1t freshly ground black pepper

1/4t ground cayenne pepper

I dehydrate this for almost 24 full hours at 110 degrees in my round american harvest dehydrator, I would like a nicer one but this one was free! (Thanks freecycle.org)

If you prefer thinner pieces I'm sure the time will decrease, and I do not add oil to anything I dehydrate, many recipes call for Olive Oil but nothing I have ever tried comes out crispy if there is oil in the marinade!

I start by peeling the eggplant, cutting in half lengthwise. I like hearty pieces so I cut the slices pretty thickly.

This is what the marinade looks like!

When you first pour the marinade over the eggplant it does not cover them, so i weight it down, turning the slices several times, after two hours the eggplant has lost moisture and the liquid now covers them while weighted! Don't you just love my ingenuity!!! :) btw... that is a large grapefruit in the bowl!

With the two eggplants it takes up all four trays of my round dehydrator while still being nicely spaced.

This is about hour 16 of dehydrating at 110 degrees... it's still kinda chewy at this point

This is the final product around hour 23 of dehydrating at 110 degrees, it's super crispy and crumbly, perfect for salad toppings or a sandwich!

I encourage everyone to try spices and flavors that you like and to tweak a recipe to your liking, don't be afraid!!!