The Basics of Food Dehydrating At Home

Here are some basic tips on how best to dehydrate foods at home with your EziDri food dehydrator and produce lots of tasty treats for your family.

•    Always use fresh food of high quality.  It might be tempting to buy the half rotten fruits and vegetables but the rule of thumb is, if you wouldn’t eat it now, you won’t want to eat it when it’s dehydrated.
•    Remove any damaged parts including bruised sections, splits or worm entry points.
•    Wash thoroughly any foods you intend to dehydrate.
•    Never use meat that is past its prime.  The fresher the better.  Also, the leaner the better.  Always make meat jerky with lean cuts as the fat can go rancid.
•    Slice your foods into equal sizes and shapes so that they dehydrate evenly.  For apples, the Apple Slinky Machine will peel, core and slice your apples into ideal 5mm thickness for perfect dried apple slices.
•    Know how long foods will take to dehydrate and prepare to be around when time is up.  It may take a little less time or more time than you anticipated but ideally, you should check towards the end of the expected drying time.
•    Some foods benefit from blanching or dipping in a solution before dehydrating.
•    When you’re new to home dehydrating, arm yourself with lots of information.  It’s not difficult to dehydrate foods at home, but you will invariably become cleverer at it as time goes on.
•    Size matters.  The smaller the food, logically, the shorter the drying time.
•    Be sure to allow all dehydrated foods to cool down before you pack them away.  Any residual heat will cause condensation and your delicious, dehydrated treats will spoil in no time.
•    A vacuum sealer unit will help to ensure that your dehydrated fruits, vegetables and jerky will stay fresh for as long as possible.
•    Store dehydrated foods in airtight containers.