Preserving food through dehydration.

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Along with freezing and canning your food, dehydration is also a great method for preservation.

In fact, as you might surmise, dehydration has been around for centuries, with some estimates dating it back to 12,000 BC.

Of course, since then, we've developed some more sophisticated methods.

Among the advantages of dried foods is that they're lightweight and compact, making them a preferred choice for hikers and campers.

They also use less storage space than canned and frozen foods, and the dehydration process takes less energy than these other methods.

Foods suitable for drying.

There are a number of fruits and vegetables that are great for dehydration.

Among fruit, apples, pears, peaches, plums, apricots, bananas, and other citrus fruits dehydrate well.

Among vegetables, carrots, celery, corn, green beans, potatoes, and tomatoes work well.

There are also meats that can be dried as jerky, such as beef and chicken.

Dehydration methods.

In general, there are two things you need to dry food properly-- heat and airflow.

Increasing the temperature around food will evaporate the moisture, while circulating air or the food will carry the moisture away.

However.

You don't want too much heat or too much air.

You want a proper balance to successfully dehydrate food.

Oven-drying food.

Oven-drying is an easy and effective way to dry food.

If you can set your oven to a low heat, about 140 to 150 degrees Fahrenheit, and leave the oven door open about 2 to 3 inches, this will allow enough heat and airflow to dry your food.

A convection oven may work even better, as it has the ability to move air more effectively.

Food dehydrators.

There are a number of great food dehydrators on the market you can buy and that are affordable.

Just be sure to follow the directions properly.

Preparation tips.

Be sure to wash your fruits and vegetables before drying them.

But don't soak in water.

[buzz] You can also peel your fruits and vegetables.

Keep in mind that the skin reduces surface area, which can prevent moisture from evaporating.

Slicing the food can help it dry more quickly.

If slicing the food, makes sure to cut them in pieces that are the same size to ensure they dry evenly.

Pretreating fruit.

Apples, pears, peaches, apricots, and other fruit dry better when pretreated.

Pretreating fruit can aid in reducing oxidation, preserving color, and can reduce loss of vitamins.

It can also extend shelf life since it helps to kill harmful bacteria during drying.

Pretreatment consists of placing cut fruit in a solution of ascorbic acid or citric acid or any proven recipe to prevent oxidation.

Pretreating by blanching.

There are two main blanching methods that you can use for pretreating-- syrup blanching and water blanching.

Syrup blanching is when you simmer the fruit in a syrup of 1 cup sugar, 1 cup white corn syrup, and 2 cups of water for 10 minutes.

Then you let the fruit stand in the syrup solution for 30 minutes before draining, rinsing and placing on the drying trays.

Water blanching involves placing the fruit in boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes, then immediately transferring to ice-cold water.

For vegetables, you can blanch with a solution of 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid per quart of water.

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