Dehydrating Fruits and Vegetables: How to Use a Food Dehydrator
A food dehydrator can be used for several things. You can use it to preserve all kinds of meats, herbs, flowers and fruits and vegetables.
Why would anyone take the trouble dehydrating produce at their houses?
It's well known that veggies and fruits are less costly when they're in season. Through dehydrating, you are able to stock up for 12 months and they don't go bad. Drying is a very quick procedure, provided of course that you have a decent food dehydrator.
Listed here are the steps for dehydrating fruits and veggies:
1. Make sure to search for fresh fruits and vegetables. Overripe or bruised produce wouldn't result in the best dehydrated food.
2. Clean the produce through washing. Hull then cut in the same sizes. Being steady in the thickness will assure they will dry out evenly.
3. When dehydrating pears, apples or any type of fruits at risk of oxidation you can actually choose to treat them with citrus juice or ascorbic acid prior to dehydrating. This would protect the fruits from losing its lively colors before, during and following the dehydration process.
4. For fruits, it's best to blanche potatoes, peas, carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower and corn in boiling water for 5 minutes prior to dehydrating. This will make drying time a lot quicker and it'll also safeguard the vegetables' color.
5. If you would like, you can add flavor to the vegetables by adding sugar, salt or spices; although this is optional.
6. Start loading the veggies and the fruits into your dehydrator. Make certain to not overlap them since this would slow drying time and the produce would cook unevenly.
7. Turn the dehydrator on. Check the user's manual for the best time and temperature to cook the food although expect for the procedure to take at least eight hours long.
8. Check the food frequently as you reach the end of the dehydrating time. To check, take a slice from the dehydrator and allow it to cool. If it feels dry to the touch, it must be done. To check further, cut the fruit or vegetables to a number of pieces and then check the edge. If you're able to see moisture beads, it's not dry enough yet and requires to be put back into the dehydrator.
9. Allow the fruits and veggies to cool for around Half an hour to 1 hour before placing them in bags.
10. The finished products need additional conditioning before they're ready for storage. Put the dehydrated goods in loosely packed containers and shake them at least once a day for 10 days. This is to ensure that the moisture is equally distributed. If condensation shows up, you'd need to dry out the fruits and vegetables again.
Why would anyone take the trouble dehydrating produce at their houses?
It's well known that veggies and fruits are less costly when they're in season. Through dehydrating, you are able to stock up for 12 months and they don't go bad. Drying is a very quick procedure, provided of course that you have a decent food dehydrator.
Listed here are the steps for dehydrating fruits and veggies:
1. Make sure to search for fresh fruits and vegetables. Overripe or bruised produce wouldn't result in the best dehydrated food.
2. Clean the produce through washing. Hull then cut in the same sizes. Being steady in the thickness will assure they will dry out evenly.
3. When dehydrating pears, apples or any type of fruits at risk of oxidation you can actually choose to treat them with citrus juice or ascorbic acid prior to dehydrating. This would protect the fruits from losing its lively colors before, during and following the dehydration process.
4. For fruits, it's best to blanche potatoes, peas, carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower and corn in boiling water for 5 minutes prior to dehydrating. This will make drying time a lot quicker and it'll also safeguard the vegetables' color.
5. If you would like, you can add flavor to the vegetables by adding sugar, salt or spices; although this is optional.
6. Start loading the veggies and the fruits into your dehydrator. Make certain to not overlap them since this would slow drying time and the produce would cook unevenly.
7. Turn the dehydrator on. Check the user's manual for the best time and temperature to cook the food although expect for the procedure to take at least eight hours long.
8. Check the food frequently as you reach the end of the dehydrating time. To check, take a slice from the dehydrator and allow it to cool. If it feels dry to the touch, it must be done. To check further, cut the fruit or vegetables to a number of pieces and then check the edge. If you're able to see moisture beads, it's not dry enough yet and requires to be put back into the dehydrator.
9. Allow the fruits and veggies to cool for around Half an hour to 1 hour before placing them in bags.
10. The finished products need additional conditioning before they're ready for storage. Put the dehydrated goods in loosely packed containers and shake them at least once a day for 10 days. This is to ensure that the moisture is equally distributed. If condensation shows up, you'd need to dry out the fruits and vegetables again.
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The author has been in the field of food recipes for a long time and maintains a website about cooking tips where you can get answers to the rest of your questions.
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