Dehydrating food a little tricky, a lot of fun

While other kids were eating Fruit Roll-Ups in the 1980s, Terry Doyle’s three daughters snacked on fruit leather made from homemade applesauce and other pureed fruit in their mother’s food dehydrator.

That was just one way Doyle was able to squeeze every penny from her husband’s Marine Corps income, which was the only income their family ever had.

“I never wasted anything,” said Doyle, who has settled in Roanoke with her husband, Mike, after moving 19 times in 20 years. “I had to be economical because we didn’t have enough money to go payday to payday.”

The Doyle girls, now grown with kids of their own, might have been in the minority with their home-dried fruit. These days, however, it’s becoming increasingly popular to make healthy snacks from scratch and to preserve homegrown or local produce by canning, freezing or drying.

On June 26, Doyle and two other women, Melinda Hasty and Barbara Conti, both of Botetourt County, taught a dehydration workshop to about 26 people at the Salem Public Library. All three women are Master Food Volunteers with the Virginia Cooperative Extension, which regularly hosts excellent preservation classes.

Their overall message to the class was that dehydrating is an easy and fun way to make the most of any food budget.

The equipment

It’s true that foods can be dried in the oven, but that uses a lot of energy, heats up the house and may be dangerous, especially if children are home. It’s best to buy a food dehydrator, which range in price from $40 to $500 .

Food dehydrators can be left on overnight much like a slow cooker, and — according to experienced dehydrators — will cause no noticeable increase in energy bills.

I started drying food recently with a $39 Ronco 5-tray dehydrator I purchased at Target. This model has a heating element on the bottom and uses convection heat to dry the foods. I’ve already achieved some success with mangoes, blueberries and grapes (although I ate them all in one sitting).

The next category of dehydrators are stackable models that feature a heating element and a fan that circulates the heat, while the third category comprise s dehydrators that look like large boxes with removable trays. These often have a fan at the rear of the appliance for more even heat distribution that does not require periodic rotation of trays, but they are also the most expensive.

Some dehydrators come with a variety of special trays, such as those needed for making fruit leather. For other models, those accessories must be purchased separately.

Consider your budget when selecting a dehydrator, but also your needs and storage space. I chose a small, inexpensive model because we are a family of two and I don’t know how much I’ll use it. I also have too many small appliances as it is, so I don’t need a dehydrator the size of a mini-fridge.

Drying fruits and vegetables

Before tossing foods in the dehydrator, a little preparation is necessary.

First, be sure produce is fresh and fully ripe — Doyle likes to purchase sale- or clearance-priced fruits and vegetables for immediate drying. Bad spots should be trimmed away.

After peeling and trimming foods, they should be cut into uniform pieces so some don’t dry faster than others. It’s best if the foods are 1⁄8 -inch to 1⁄4 -inch thick.

Dehydration books recommend water blanching or steam blanching certain veggies before putting them in the dehydrator. This quick exposure to heat brings out the enzymes and prevents color and flavor changes.

To prevent discoloration in light- colored fruits such as bananas or apples, some folks dip the pieces in a pretreatment such as lemon or pineapple juice, food-safe sodium bisulfite, citric or ascorbic acid, or sugar syrup.

Excess moisture should be patted away from foods before they are placed on dehydration trays.

If you have a dehydrator with a heat source at the bottom, the trays may need to be rotated periodically throughout the dehydration process to ensure even drying. It will depend on the food and the number of trays being used .

A finished piece of fruit should be leathery, and when torn or cut in half should release no visible drops of moisture. Vegetables should be brittle.

Drying meats

Many people use dehydrators to make beef or venison jerky, but other lean meats such as turkey, pork and chicken can also be dried. Hasty likes to dry thin slices of chicken to make treats for her dog.

Dehydrating meat requires special precautions to avoid foodborne illness because dehydrators reach a maximum temperature of only 140 degrees, which is not high enough to kill harmful microorganisms.

The Virginia Cooperative Extension recommends boiling meat in the jerky marinade for about five minutes, or long enough to reach a temperature of 160 degrees for meats and 165 for poultry, before placing in the dehydrator. The meat can also be baked in a 275-degree oven until the safe temperature is reached.

To cut thin, even slices of meat for dehydration, slice it when it is still partially frozen.

Storage

Those dehydrating a lot of food may want to also invest in a food saver, which allows for vacuum sealing foods. Dried food can also be stored in zipper-lock bags or glass jars with clean, tightly fitting lids.

Dried veggies can be stored right away, but dried fruit must first be “conditioned” to prevent mold growth. To condition it, seal it in a plastic or glass container for 7 to 10 days, shaking daily to distribute moisture. If you find condensation inside the container, the fruit needs to go back in the dehydrator and the conditioning step must be repeated.

If stored in a cool, dry place, dried produce can keep for up to a year. But the master food volunteers advised against stockpiling dried food .

“Don’t do this and then put it in the cabinet for two years and wait for the apocalypse to come,” Hasty said. “Use it!

Unlike dried fruits and vegetables, dried meats should be kept in glass jars or plastic storage bags at room temperature for only up to two weeks. If you don’t plan to eat it within a week or two, it should be frozen.

Doyle makes venison jerky, then puts it in the freezer. She then removes a portion at a time and puts it in the oven until it is thawed and dry.

Rehydration

Most dried fruit and jerky will probably be eaten as-is, but lots of vegetables will require rehydration when you’re ready to use them.

Remember that dehydrated foods are very concentrated versions of their original form. An entire bag of carrots will only amount to a small pile after dehydration. Consider weighing foods before and after drying them, then labeling them so you won’t forget how much is in each container. Otherwise, you may end up with far too many veggies for your recipe.

Rehydrating some vegetables is as simple as tossing them in a pot of soup and allowing them to absorb the broth, but for other uses they can be covered with cold water in a bowl and allowed to soak for 20 minutes to 2 hours. If soaking for more than that, pop the bowl in the refrigerator to prevent spoilage.

Like any new skill, dehydration requires research and experimentation. The Virginia Cooperative Extension recommends buying a dehydration book such as “So Easy to Preserve” by the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension and following specific recipes, at least until you get a good grasp of the process.

Don’t fret if a project doesn’t turn out exactly as hoped — everyone has failures in the beginning.

“The more you dehydrate,” Doyle said, “the more you learn about certain foods.”

The VCE dehydration class will be repeated on Sept. 12 at the South Roanoke County Library from 6:30 to
8 p.m. Visit offices.ext.vt.edu/roanoke/ for updates on classes.

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