Drying Fruits And Vegetables

Drying is a form of food preservation where it involves removing water from food. By removing water from foods, it will prevent microorganisms to grow and decay. This form of food preservation has been done since the ancient times. At its most basic process, drying food involves evaporating water from the food. This can be done through air drying, smoking, wind drying, and sun drying.

Drying can achieved through freeze drying where food will be frozen first and water is removed through sublimation. You have to keep in mind that the bacteria and other microorganisms in the food need water to grow. By getting rid of water in the food, you are actually preventing the bacteria and other microorganisms to grow or even survive. Drying creates a hard outer later on the food, which helps stop microorganisms and bacteria from entering the food. Whether you dry food by sun, oven, commercial or homemade dehydrator, you will find that this is a great way to preserve food, particularly fruits and vegetables. Here are the steps on how to properly dry fruits and vegetables.

First of all, you need to know what equipments you need in order to properly dry fruits and vegetables. Basically, drying food will not require you invest large amounts of money. Drying fruits and vegetables can be as simple as placing fruits and vegetables on trays or clean sheets and placing them outside under the hot sun and low humidity environment. However, it is important to remember that the daytime temperature should reach around 90 degrees in order for you to sufficiently dry food. You need to keep in mind that it can take several days to dry most foods and you also have to bring them inside during the night in order to prevent moisture in the air from rehydrating the food you just placed under the sun.

If you are only drying small amounts of fruits and vegetables, you can easily do it indoors with your oven. Although this is not practical to do for large quantities of food, the advantage of oven drying your fruits and vegetables is that the temperature can be controlled. You can set the temperature as low as 125 degrees or if the oven cannot be set at temperatures this low, you can leave the oven door partially opened. Drying at higher temperatures can cause the pieces to harden on the outside while maintaining moisture on the inside, which will eventually spoil the food. If you can't achieve the right way to dry food in the oven, then you may want to try getting a commercial dehydrator.

This equipment can efficiently and consistently dry food, such as your fruits and vegetables. However, they can be costly but is well worth the investment if you do dry foods on a regular basis. Because the air flow as well as the temperature can be controlled with a commercial dehydrator, you can dry your fruits and vegetables at any weather at any time of the year. For vegetables, you will need to set the temperatures at 125 degrees. For fruits, you need to set it at a slightly higher temperature of 135 degrees because fruits contain more moisture. The mentioned methods for drying fruits and vegetables have been proven to be effective.

The most economical way to dry food is through sun drying. If it is not possible to do so in the area you live in, you may want to consider trying the oven or a commercial dehydrator. Whenever you dry fruits or vegetables, always keep in mind that you have to use trays that are made with food safe materials. This means that you should never use metals, such as copper or aluminum. You should avoid using metal that has been plated with zinc or cadium. Instead, you should use stainless steel, plastic or Teflon coated fiberglass.

You can use wooden trays with woven or perforated bottoms. These are the things that you need to remember whenever you dry fruits or vegetables in your home. With these techniques and tips, you can be sure that you will be able to provide you and your family with delicious food that is safe to eat and food that will last for a very long time on storage.
Related Articles:

• Drying Meats
• Drying Supplies And Equipment
• Freezing Fruits And Vegetables
• Freezing Meats
• Freezing Supplies And Equipment
• How To Can
• How To Cure And Smoke
• How To Dry