Kristen Barton - The New Food Dehydrator Cookbook: 187 Healthy Recipes For Dehydrating Foods And Cooking With Dehydrated Foods

The New Food Dehydrator Cookbook 187 Healthy Recipes For Dehydrating Foods And Cooking With Dehydrated Foods Kristen Barton Copyright 2016 Kristen Barton All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Delicious Homemade Jerky Recipes: 43 Jerky Recipes For Easy Meal Times - Beef Jerky, Chicken Jerky, Turkey Jerky, Fish Jerky, Venison Jerky And More Foraging For Beginners: A Simple Foragers Guide To Wild Edible Plants And Medicinal Herbs Sushi Cookbook For Beginners: A Simple Guide To Making Sushi At Home With Over 70 Delicious Sushi Recipes Dehydration is simply the process of using heat to remove water/moisture from raw or cooked food. Fresh food is preserved and can be stored for a very long time. This method of food preservation has existed for thousands of years and was done originally by drying food in sunlight. Nowadays, drying of food is done much more easily with electric dehydrators.

You can also use your kitchen oven for dehydration. D ried foods are delicious, nutritious, lightweight and are easy to prepare. They can be stored easily because they take little space. Dehydrated food can be used in a variety of ways. You can rehydrate by soaking in water then use in your favorite recipes. They are a great way to carry food for backpacking trips, camping or for emergency storage.

Many dehydrated foods can also be eaten right away as snack. The nutritional value of food is preserved because dehydration is done with low heat. The outcome is a much better quality product than preservation done by canning or freezing. With this book in your hands, your excess food and extra garden harvest will no longer go to waste. You can also save money by buying food on sale then dry.

I t is an efficient, reliable and easy way to preserve food. I t is an efficient, reliable and easy way to preserve food.

Great for making the most of your garden harvest. Helps to save money, especially when you buy food on sale and dehydrate. Saves space because of the great reduction in size. Very beneficial for families interested in long term storage of food. Shelf life of food is maximize through dehydrating. This means you can enjoy your favorite foods in any season.

Cooking with dehydrated food saves a lot of time. A great way to preserve excess vegetables.

E nsure that you use fruits and vegetables that are fresh and ripe. If you are health conscious, you should use organic produce whenever you can. For jerky, buy lean meats with minimal fat because fat may go rancid during storage. Before dehydrating, wash food to remove all dirt, debris and insects.

Check for mold, decay or bruises that may affect the quality of the batch. Cut away damaged portions. When necessary, peel, core or pit fruits and vegetables. Slicing to smaller sizes makes drying faster. Work fast when preparing foods for drying so as to preserve nutrients and get a quality result. Dry continuously.

Do not turn off your dehydrator at any point, leaving partially dehydrate foods on the trays. They may develop off flavors or even spoil. Do not add fresh food to a batch that is already drying except they are on different trays. Drying Time. Drying time can vary because of a number of reasons. This may be the quantity of the food, size of the pieces, humidity, air temperature and the model of the dehydrator.

The climatic condition in your location is also to be considered. Drying Temperature. During the first 2 hours of dehydrating, you may set the temperature higher by 10 degrees than the recommended drying temperature. This is to dry off the initial sweat produced by the food. Rotate trays every 2 to 4 hours. Do this by moving the trays at the bottom up and those at the top down.

You can also turn right or left depending on your dehydrator. Rotating is important for more even drying. Monitor the food towards the end of the dehydration period so it is not over dried. Food should just be dry enough to prevent spoilage and the growth of bacteria. Food that is over dried will lose quality in taste, texture (when rehydrated) as well as nutritional value. To test for dryness , take out a piece, let it cool then break it and feel it to check if it is dry enough: Jerky should be tough but pliable, not brittle.

Dried fish should be tough. Fish with high fat content may appear moist. Fruits should be leathery and have no spots of moisture. Break a piece of the fruit into two to check for moisture spots. Vegetables are dry when they become crisp and brittle. Fruit rolls should be leathery and pliable without any moisture pockets.

Keeping records. Write down the following information to improve your dehydrating experience: Weight, quantity, date, drying temperature, drying time and humidity. This will help you to keep track of dried items and improve on your practice. It also enables you to know the items that should be used soon and when to replenish your supply.

P retreating is necessary for certain fruits and vegetables to preserve their color and flavor during dehydrating. B lanching: Blanching In Boiling Water for a short period will stop the work of enzymes that are responsible for color and flavor changes in fruits and vegetables.

Steam can also be used for blanching. Apart from setting the color and preserving flavor, blanching relaxes the internal tissues and increases the chances of having a good texture when rehydrated. This is recommended for fruits that have tough skin such as berries, cherries, grapes, figs and prunes. The skin of some fruits such as berries may crack during blanching and this enables moisture to escape more easily when drying. Syrup Blanching can be used to retain the color of certain fruits and also to add sweetness. Make a mixture of 1 cup light corn syrup, 1 cup sugar and 2 cups water for each pound of fruit.

Simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, let steep in the syrup for 20 minutes then drain or rinse before dehydrating. Dipping: Dipping is another pretreating method that is usually used for fruits with lighter colors such as apricots, apples, nectarines, peaches and pears. Dipping can be done with the following solutions: 1. Lemon, lime, orange, cranberry, grape, or pineapple juice with water. Make a solution of 1 part juice plus 3-4 parts water.

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