Drying food is one of easiest, best, and oldest ways of preserving food.   Unlike other methods of food preservation, food drying is not an exact science.   There are many methods; some are more traditional using dry air and the sun, and others that use modern day technology such as food dehydrators or ovens. The more traditional methods do have many benefits but are often not feasible considering the climates we live in.    To understand the best method of dehydration, it is important to understand how drying food works.

Drying food, simply stated, is taking the moisture out of the food so that bacteria cannot grow and harmful enzymes cannot react to spoil food.  The process is typically done by passing hot dry air around the food.  This causes the moisture to evaporate from the food leaving a leathery feeling to the food when the moisture is gone.  Since we are removing the moisture from the food, at first the air can be hot and not cook the food, however as the moisture is removed it is important to remember that the temperature may need to be adjusted.  To ensure proper dehydrating please follow the following simple guidelines.

1.  Preparation:

- Make sure that you have the proper equipment necessary. This includes clean trays for good air flow, the right size of dehydrator for the amount of food to be dehydrated.

- Make sure that the food is properly prepared.  Cut to the right sizes, peeled when necessary, and ALWAYS fresh.

- Ample time to dehydrate the food.  Food dehydration must not be interrupted.  If it is interrupted it gives the opportunity for bacteria to grow.  Bacteria will grow quickly because of the warm moisture left in the food.

 

2.  Temperature:

- The temperature is very important to food drying.  The temperature can be at a higher range (150 - 160 degrees) during the beginning of food dehydration.  The temperature can remain high because the moisture keeps the food temperature lower.  As the moisture evaporates from the surface of the food the food temperature can rise, so it is important to monitor the temperature so that you do not "cook" the outside trapping moisture inside.  

- As the surface of the food dries, turn the temperature down, as the drying process slows to pull out the moisture from the inside of the food.

- Carefully follow directions / recipes for temperatures and timing

 

3.  Air Flow:

- The higher the temperature and the lower the humidity in the air will speed up the drying process.  Humid air slows down evaporation, it also contributes to "case hardening" or cooking the outside of the food before the moisture can be released.

- Make sure that there is pleanty of room for air flow around the dehydrator.