Recipe - Drying Fruits And Vegetables - Info

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Drying Basics: Select ripe, flavorful produce and wash it well. Remove
bruised or damaged areas, then cut the produce into small, uniform pieces
about 1/3" thick. Place the pieces on the drying racks.

Pretreating helps retain original color, although most foods don't need
pretreating. Some fruits like apples, apricots, bananas, peaches,
nectarines and pears darken when they're cut and exposed to air. To
pretreat fruit, dip pieces into pineapple, lemon, lime or orange juice. For
vegetables, briefly blanch them in boiling water or in a steamer over
boiling water. Place the drained, pretreated foods on the drying racks.
Stack the racks over the heating element, cover them and set the
temperature. Drying times vary depending on the food type, the amount of
food, the food's water content, the thickness of the slices, the air
humidity and temperature, and the dehydrator's efficiency. Keep records to
help you determine future drying times.

Is It Done Yet? Watch the food near the end of the drying time. Don't
overdry it or the food will lose flavor, nutrition and texture. To test if
the food is ready, take a piece from the dehydrator, cool it, then feel it
with your fingers. If ready, vegetables feel dry and tough or crisp. Fruits
feel chewy, pliable and leathery with no moisture pockets. Another test:
Tear a piece of food and look for moisture beads along the rip. No
moisture? It is dry.

Storing Dried Foods Dried foods require little storage space because they
reduce to a third or less of their original bulk. A quart container holds
20 25 dried bell peppers or 16 20 dried tomatoes.

Before storing, cool all dried foods completely. Then transfer them to
airtight, insectproof glass or plastic containers. Don't mix different
dried foods in one container; they may absorb flavor and moisture from each
other.

Store dried food in a cool, dark, dry place. Check the dried foods after
24 hours. If moisture beads appear inside the containers, the food is not
dry enough; return it to the dehydrator.

Fruits: Apples (Peeled and cut or sliced up ) Sweet flavor; tender; slightly chewy.
Bananas Excellent concentrated, sweet flavor. Makes a great "candy".
Don't pretreat. Cherries (Halved, pitted) Chewy, tender, raisin like
rounds. Very good flavor. Took longer to dry than other fruits. Grapes
Became dark brown, moist, plump raisins. Delicious. Took longer to dry
than other fruits. Melons Bright colors; tender; excellent concentrated
flavor. Pears (Pretreated and untreated) Some darkening; peels
unattractive. Very sweet and tender. Pineapple slices (Canned) Excellent
sweet flavor. Retains pretty yellow color. Strawberries Crisptender;
very sweet; intense strawberry flavor and color. Dried fruits we didn't
like Blueberries, oranges and raspberries.

Vegetables: Carrots Vivid color; good taste. Celery Rather homely
appearance; good taste. Cucumbers Taste like a crispy snack without
adding seasonings. Mushrooms (Both domestic and wild) Fragrant; excellent
concentrated flavor. Don't pretreat. Onions Sweet flavor; slightly chewy.
Parsnips White, sweet rounds. Green and red bell peppers Flavorful and
sweet; slightly crunchy; good color. Tomatoes Intense flavor and aroma;
handsome red color; chewy. Zucchini Robust flavor. Crunchy; tastes like a
salty snack without adding seasonings. Dried vegetables we didn't like
Asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, potatoes and radishes.
Recipe By : Fast and Healthy, July/Aug 1996 (Reggie Dwork)

Posted to Digest eatlf.v096.n196

Date: Wed, 23 Oct 1996 00:13:09 0700

From: Reggie Dwork reggie@reggie.com