Dehydrating to Preserve Food
From Theresa: Dehyrdrating is a great way to preserve food with a minimum use of resources. It was the main method used to preserve food for eating during the Winter long before the advent of canning or electrical refrigerators. Dehydrated food shrinks, so takes a lot less space to store.
We've begun experimenting with dehydrating small amounts of food in different ways in order to see what we like so we know what's worth doing in larger quantities next time. Last Summer I experimented with an electric dehydrator that we got from a garage sale for $5. My most successful experiments so far have been with spices from the garden (marjoram, oregano, etc.), which taste much better than even the bulk spices I buy from our local coop. I also found that dehydrated red peppers make wonderfully tasty snacks when cut in small squares. Next Summer I hope to experiment with using the heat of the Sun to dehydrate food. Here's a recent experiment I tried with using the heat from our wood stove to dehydrate apple rings:
We've begun experimenting with dehydrating small amounts of food in different ways in order to see what we like so we know what's worth doing in larger quantities next time. Last Summer I experimented with an electric dehydrator that we got from a garage sale for $5. My most successful experiments so far have been with spices from the garden (marjoram, oregano, etc.), which taste much better than even the bulk spices I buy from our local coop. I also found that dehydrated red peppers make wonderfully tasty snacks when cut in small squares. Next Summer I hope to experiment with using the heat of the Sun to dehydrate food. Here's a recent experiment I tried with using the heat from our wood stove to dehydrate apple rings:
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1. We had some apples in the refrigerator that were past their prime, so I decided to experiment with dehydrating a couple of them. I cored two apples (the corer is the tool in the bottom middle of the photo). You could peel the apples, but since the peel is good for you I wanted to see how it tasted dried. I sliced the apples into a variety of thicknesses, all less than 1/4", to see what would dry well. I did not pretreat the rings in any way to discourage browning.
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2. I hung the apple slices on the dowel we recently built behind our wood stove for drying socks (see the Laundry section). Note I used a dowel that had not been stained, because it seems like the wet apples could soak up the probably toxic stain. If you don't have a dowel to use, it's traditional to just hang the apple rings on a string above the stove.
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3. Apple slices when first hung up.
5. All the slices are beginning to dry. I left them hanging for about a day and a half (note that our small stove wasn't burning during the night when we weren't awake to add fuel).
7. I stored the rings in a mason jar, and kept an eye on it for a day to see if any condensation collected in the jar, which would be a sure indication that they were not sufficiently dried. I don't know how long they would have lasted in storage because they were such a wonderful snack (including the peel) that I ate them all the next day at work.
This was a very successful experiment, so hopefully I will be motivated to dry a lot more of them next Fall and use them as a great snack throughout the Winter. Resources:Here's a great book that is teaching me all about dehydrating. It has specific instructions for dehydrating each type of fruit, vegetable, and herb (as well as meats, dairy, and grains). For each food item it includes instructions for drying with an electric dehydrator, the oven, or the Sun. Importantly, it includes a section of uses and/or recipes for each dehydrated food that includes personal opinions about which ones taste really good. It will encourage you to dehydrate things that never occurred to you could be dehydrated:
Making & Using Dried Foods
by Phyllis Hobson, 1994 From Storey.com Also see our page on harvesting and drying herbs and spices.
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4. The thinnest slices started to dry first- they are curling.
6. Close up of dried apple rings. They do not get crispy. There shouldn't be any moisture inside when you rip one open, but they'll still be a bit supple and leathery.
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