- Less waste (Won’t be throwing out spoiled food) - Less space (Food usually shrinks 30-70% of its “fresh” size after it is dried. - More nutrition (More vitamins & enzymes retained especially if dried at low raw temp) - Versatility (Save food fast! If you've cleaned out your fridge/pantry & found food that's still good but needs eaten soon & you can't eat it fast enough - dry it! Eat the food dehydrated or re-hydrated. Even take them camping! Just pack combined meals in bags & seal to throw in a pot with some water for a quick camping meal!)
Dehydrating simply removes water/moisture from food. It leaves most of the flavor & nutrients in!
Dehydrating simply removes water/moisture from food. It leaves most of the flavor & nutrients in!
You can easily get creative with your creations! Just look at these pineapple / strawberry flowers below:
"Dehydrating With An Attitude" is a GREAT book to help open up your creative juices
The possibilities are endless!
(Amazon.com has really good deals on dehydrating & other food storage / cooking books)
Dehydrating in.....
Winter - Dehydrating makes a GREAT heater, & it's cheap to operate!
Summer - If it makes the room you're in too warm, just stick it in an unused room, on your back porch, or in the garage!
TYPES OF DEHYDRATORS:
Oven - only if you don’t have a dehydrator, & it’ll go down to 150 degrees. Any higher than 160-ish will cook the food enough to kill ANY nutrition. Lower temperatures are better for dehydrating.
Microwave Oven - herbs, spices, greens, & some foods. (I HIGHLY recommend against this. I'll be doing an upcoming post on the dangers of microwaves. We very rarely use ours now, & I'm working towards getting away from it completely, with the exception of incubating homemade yogurt!)
Make your own solar dehydrator. (consider bugs, weather & humidity, animals, dust & dirt, etc… AND it will take days instead of hours to dry your food under the sun). There are several places on the internet with instructions for making your own. But it's not my favorite option, so you'll have to "Google" it :)
During the summer, you can even use a cookie sheet & the back window of your car. If it's a yummy smelling food, then you'll have an instant car freshener!
My 2 favorite dehydrators are the Nesco American Harvest (described below), and the Excalibur
Nesco - American Harvest - Gardenmaster 1,000 watts (most others are about 500 watts) Temperature control of 95 to 155 degrees 30 tray capacity!!! (each tray is approximately 1 sq. ft.) Converg-A-Flow (air is forced up middle & sides, then onto each tray! No need to rotate your trays! Digital version is available, although its capacity is “only” 20 trays Includes 8 drying trays, 8 mesh sheets, & 8 fruit roll up sheets!
Look below at just some of the foods I've dehydrated. It really can be addicting! Eggs, fresh fruit, fresh veggies, frozen veggies, frozen fruits, canned fruits, canned veggies, potatoes/fries, spaghetti/noodles, meats,pickles, grains, sauces, yogurt, & tons of other things. The possibilities are endless...
- Jerky Gun (large 1 lb. capacity is best) - Food / Meat slicer (or food processor, mandolin, etc…) - Food Processor / Blender - Vacuum Sealer (Food Saver) - Apple peeler corer slicer (also does potatoes & very firm pears) - Glass canning jars (wide mouth) - STAINLESS STEEL knife for cutting (prevents browning) - Mylar Bags & Oxygen Packets (for long term preservation, just iron your bag shut!) - Mesh Trays (for small or drippy items) - Fruit Roll Trays … “mess tray” (great for catching foods that drip!)
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PRE-TREATMENT:
Fruit - Pineapple or Lemon Juice
Veges - Lemon Juice (& blanching)
TIP: A large water bottle sprayer with tube attached (got mine at Walmart) - fits perfectly on a large lemon juice bottle! Spraying instead of dipping prevents food from being soaked with liquid, & it keeps the lemon flavor from being too strong! What an ingenious idea, thanks to www.dehydrate2store.com! Just spread your food on your tray, & either over a counter (which you can wipe up easily) or sink or outside, spray your food lightly (just one side is fine)... and dehydrate!
Frozen veges are pre-blanched, so all you have to do is dump the bag on the tray, spread it out, & let it dry!
Canned veges are ready to throw on too... Just drain them first :)
Do not lemon spray greens or broccoli - It will “burn” the edges.
Thick fruit skins need to be “broken” for moisture to escape…
Halving - Apricots, etc. (keep skin on bottom while dehydrating) Slicing - Apples, pears, bananas, etc. Pitting - Cherries, seed grapes, plums, etc. Cracking - Boil shortly to crack skin. Pin Poking - Just what it says!
MOISTURE & DRYING INFO:
25 lbs. fresh fruit = 4 to 8 lbs. dried fruit 25 lbs. fresh veggies = 3 to 6 lbs. dried veges
Think “LOWER & LONGER” mentality (Lower temperature & longer dry time is best. Retains more nutrients & prevents the outside from drying faster than the inside)
115 degrees or less for fruits is good
115 degrees or less for veggies is good
145 degrees for meats/jerky to prevent bacteria from forming (IF your meat is factory farmed from a grocery store)...
(((NOTE: There is NO way I would dry factory farmed store meat at a lower temperature. It's disgusting & full of bacteria that has to be killed off with higher temperatures. Traditionally, naturally pasture raised organic meat was dried at lower temperatures for longer periods of time, but modern extension services now recommend higher temperature drying. I will not advise otherwise on this for safety reasons, so *hint hint* - do your own research)))
Fruits:
Should only be left with 10-20% moisture content.
You can dry fruits further for powders… Dry at lower temp for longer time.
Can have chewy consistency when done, but no moisture when pressed between fingers.
Maturity of fruit is personal preference. VERY ripe fruit should be pureed & used for leather or powder. You can use slightly under ripe fruit, as taste will be concentrated & still taste great after drying (especially bananas!)
Let cool completely before testing for doneness. They will harden as they cool. Fruits may stay pliable after dry, unlike veges.
Vegetables:
Should only be left with 5% or less moisture content.
Crisp - crush or crumble easily when pressed.
Dry at low temp for longer time.
Let cool completely before testing for doneness. They will harden as they cool!