Dehydrating Food: A Beginner's Guide

By Jay Bills and Shirley Bills

With the easy-to-follow, step-by-step directions here, anyone can have fun, save money, and create delicious meals by dehydrating food. Learn the basic methods—sun drying, oven drying, net bag, and commercial food dehydrators—before moving on to drying herbs for tea, making your own tasty (and healthier) jerky, and so much more. Also included is a section on the nutritional benefits of drying food. With 164 recipes ranging from breads to desserts, soups to pies, and cereals to entrees, Dehydrating Food is a book for anyone who is interested in learning how to save money and create delicious meals by drying their own food.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Skyhorse
• Release date: Nov 1, 2010
• ISBN: 9781628732382

Book preview

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Jay Bills

Shirley Bills

Dehydrating Food

A Beginner's Guide

Copyright © 2010 by Jay Bills and Shirley Bills

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 555 Eighth Avenue, Suite 903, New York, NY 10018.

Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 555 Eighth Avenue, Suite 903, New York, NY 10018 or [e-mail].

www.skyhorsepublishing.com

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bills, Jay.

Dehydrating food : a beginner’s guide / Jay and Shirley Bills. p. cm.

9781602399457

1. Food--Drying. 2. Food--Drying--Equipment and supplies. I. Bills, Shirley.

II. Title.

TX609.B52 2010

641.4’4--dc22

2010012564

Printed in China

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Nesco FD-39 Food Dehydrator.

© The Metal Ware Corporation.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

« INTRODUCTION: ERE YOU BEGIN . . . »

CHAPTER I - « GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON FOOD DEHYDRATING »

CHAPTER II - « METHODS OF DEHYDRATING »

CHAPTER III - « BASIC DEHYDRATING TECHNIQUES »

CHAPTER IV - « USING PRESERVATIVES »

CHAPTER V - « DEHYDRATING FRUIT»

CHAPTER VI - « MAKING FRUIT LEATHER »

CHAPTER VII - « DEHYDRATING VEGETABLES »

CHAPTER VIII - « DEHYDRATING HERBS»

CHAPTER IX - « DEHYDRATING MEATS »

CHAPTER X - « STORAGE AFTER DEHYDRATING »

CHAPTER XI - « BREAD RECIPES »

CHAPTER XII - « CAKE RECIPES »

CHAPTER XIII - « CEREAL AND COOKIE RECIPES »

CHAPTER XIV - « DESSERT RECIPES »

CHAPTER XV - « DRESSING RECIPES »

CHAPTER XVI - « FRUIT RECIPES »

CHAPTER XVII - « ICE CREAM RECIPES »

CHAPTER XVIII - « MEAT RECIPES »

CHAPTER XIX - « PIE RECIPES »

CHAPTER XX - « SAUCE AND TOPPING RECIPES »

CHAPTER XXI - « FRUIT-FLAVORED MILKSHAKE RECIPES »

CHAPTER XXII - « SOUP RECIPES »

CHAPTER XXIII - « VEGETABLE RECIPES »

CHAPTER XXIV - « ONE-DISH DINNER RECIPES »

« MY RECIPES »

« INTRODUCTION: ERE YOU BEGIN . . . »

Welcome to the exciting world of food dehydrating! In this book, you will find the practical application of techniques applied to an ancient art of food preservation!

For centuries, man and nature have been preserving foods by reducing their water content down to about 10 percent. In this drying process, almost the full nutritional value is maintained, and, in dehydrated form, the foods may be stored in a comparatively small space for long periods of time.

Preserving foods by drying is certainly not the only available method, but in these critical times it offers a safe, practical, and delicious way of providing nutritional essentials. This method is available to all who are willing to observe a few basic guidelines.

Most of the information presented here has been developed by research in our own kitchen. We do not claim this book to be all-inclusive. We caution the readers and users of this book to be aware of the fact that best results are only achieved through accurate control of temperature and air flow. This, of course, can be achieved in several ways, but we feel that a well-designed commercial dehydrator will produce the best results, and if used according to our recommendations, produces a delicious product, as many users have discovered.

We are on constant alert to improve our product and our book and realize that many friends will develop interesting and practical improvements by their own experimentation. We invite and solicit your ideas and comments.

Appreciation is expressed to the following for their help, suggestions, and encouragement in our endeavors: D.K. Salunkhe, PhD, Professor of Plant Science, Utah State University; Flora H. Bardwell, Extension Foods and Nutrition Specialist, Utah State University; Glen W. Hancey; Dorothy P. Bills; R. N. Malouf, MD; and Edward and Leah Kearney—all good and well-qualified friends who live here with us in Cache Valley, Utah. We have also quoted with permission from Canning and Other Methods of Food Preservation, published by the Home Service Department of Duquesne Light Company, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (out of print).

It is our hope that this book will be a motivating guide to help people enjoy and utilize the full potential of the foods that are available. May you all have happy and delicious experiences!

Sincerely,

Jay and Shirley Bills

The Authors

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CHAPTER I

« GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON FOOD DEHYDRATING »

WHY FOOD STORAGE?

It’s smart to store food! The importance of a careful family program for storing food has been recognized for centuries. Until the invention of modern appliances and conveniences, proper food storage was essential for survival. With the development of modern technology and transportation, many people have come to feel that the need for food storage no longer exists. There is value in food preservation, however, and a food storage program will benefit the average family in many ways:

Planning ahead to preserve seasonal foods means it can be enjoyed all year.

In times of crises, adequate food storage provides a life-saving source of nutrition and gives a very fine sense of security.

A food storage program provides a method to help reduce the cost of food. If food is purchased when it is most abundant, the price is lower.

Dried food can provide delicious supplements to available—though oft-times limited—fresh foods.

Surplus food can be dehydrated to avoid food waste. For instance, fruit that is too ripe for canning or dehydrating can be used in fruit leather. Every part can be used—celery tops may be dehydrated, for instance, and used in soups or casserole recipes.

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American Harvest/Nesco FD-1020 Gardenmaster Food Dehydrator.

© Pleasant Hill Grain.

TYPES OF FOOD STORAGE

There are a number of types of food storage available to the average family. Each has a place and should be utilized in providing for family nutritional needs. The following are methods that can be used:

Dehydrating or Drying

Canning

Freezing

Salting or Brining

Root Cellars

Jams and Jellies

Smoking

Sprouting of Stored Seeds

e9781602399457_i0005.jpg

Nesco fd-1010 Gardenmaster Food Dehydrator.

©The Metal Ware Corporation.

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If a family uses all of the above methods, they will have a varied and well-balanced diet from their own cupboard.

The scope of this book, however, will be limited to the discussion of the most widely-used method throughout the world: dehydrating (or drying) fruits, vegetables, herbs, and meats.

DEHYDRATING: AN ANCIENT PROCESS

"Drying is a method of preserving food products in which so much of the product’s natural moisture is removed that spoilage micro-organisms (yeasts, molds, and bacteria), even though present in a living condition, are unable to grow or multiply.

"The process is not new, but the method is; the process is as old as the bees. The bees collect nectar from flowers and store it in small cells where the drones, or the workers, keep up a flow of warm air over them. The warm air takes away the moisture leaving concentrated honey.

"Since the beginning of time, man has cured (dried) hay and grass, corn, herbs, and meat for animal and human consumption by the heat of the sun. In food preservation today, we accomplish this curing or drying by evaporating the moisture or water in food products from a liquid to a vapor. Heat and air are required to accomplish this, but the heat must be held at a temperature that will not affect the texture, color, flavor, or nutritional value of the product.

"Heat evaporates the water from the product, and air circulating around it absorbs the vapor. Drying changes the appearance of products, but if properly dried and stored, very few of the original food nutrients are lost.

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Timucua Indians smoking game in Florida circa 1562. Drawings by Jacques le Moyne.

Drying has the great advantage of minimizing storage problems. The dried product’s weight is from one-fourth to one-tenth, or in some cases even less, compared to the fresh product. Then, too, it can be kept almost indefinitely, if stored under the proper condition.¹

DEHYDRATING RETAINS NUTRITIONAL VALUES

Fresh fruits and vegetables are the richest sources of vitamins, minerals, sugars, proteins, and other nutritive substances essential to good health. How necessary it is then, that we do our utmost to conserve these nutrients. Even though harvested or gathered, fruits and vegetables remain living materials capable of carrying on their own life’s processes. After the product is removed from its life source, these processes, if left unchecked, destroy quality because they include the oxidation of valuable materials within the product.

"The chemical changes that impair product quality, as well as attacks by organisms of decay, can be retarded by storing products in the refrigerator until processed, but this storage must be as short a time as possible; two days should be the maximum length of time.

"Only products in prime condition should be dried, and that means they are at their best for drying when they have reached maturity and are garden or orchard