Dehydrating friut in an electric dehydrator...any tips? Recipes? Storage Ideas?
By twilight021
@twilight021 (2059)
United States
May 18, 2007 11:51am CST
This weekend my boyfriend and I will be hitting a local farmers market where you can buy lots of fruits and veggies for cheap.
The trade off is many of this produce is often RIPE, and has be to eaten in a day or two.
We thought a good way to perserve things, and make future snacks for us would be to dehydrate.
So this brings me to my question...Does anyone have good tips for dehydrating fruit and/or veggies? Any lessons learned?
Also, I would like to know any tips on storing your food once it's been dehydrated. I know that storing things in plastic bags can make them sweat...and rehydrate, and that's not good.
Thanks!
1 person likes this
1 response
@DarlingGirl (745)
• United States
18 May 07
According to expert dehydrators, store the food in plastic container, like Tupperware or Rubbermaid.
Store dried meats in the freezer after one month.
Believe it or not, I have see the tiny silicone bead packages added to dried foods coming from China and Japan. I cannot say if this is a healthy practice, but it keeps dried soybeans and other similar foods from sweating when placed in sealed bags. 'Course you have to remember not to eat the silicone!
For sweatier foods like sun-dried tomatoes, I would recommend storing them in the fridge in a sealed container.
While drying, you can do things to keep foods' color, like dipping apples in lemon juice so that they keep their whitish color.
Peaches are the hardest to keep their color, requiring other chemicals. If you want to go natural, though, I'm afraid you'll have to leave them and suffer the "Browns". ;)
Always use your dried food within a year. Store it in a dark, cool place. If in doubt, freeze it.
@twilight021 (2059)
• United States
18 May 07
Thanks so much for you comments. That's a great tips on keeping the apples from browning. Also, thanks for the heads up on peaches...now I will know that the "browning" is natural and not becuase something has gone off :-)


