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How to Use a Food Dehydrator

Using a food dehydrator is a cost-effective, fun and stress-free way for preparing healthy foods or snacks. But to get good results of drying, it is essential that you know “how to use a food dehydrator” correctly.

When you know the right way of using a food dehydrator, it will become quite easy for you to save and store your favorite foods for the season when they are not available. You can quickly stock them up for the next season.

There are so many people around us who know that what a food dehydrator is but they do not know how to use it in an accurate way for drying food. Are you also one of them?

Don’t worry as here in this article; we will guide you that how to use a food dehydrator so that with some experimentation and practice you become able to dry your food like a professional in very less time.

So, let’s begin our journey!

List of Things You Need Before Starting the Use of a Food Dehydrator

Before beginning the use of a food dehydrator, there are few things which you need:

• Knife
• Cutting board
• Air-tight containers or freezer bags
• Pot for blanching vegetables
• Spices, salt or sugar (optional)
• Citric acid or Ascorbic acid (optional)

List of Steps for Using a Food Dehydrator

The following are the steps which you need to understand for using the food dehydrator accurately:

1) Pick the fresh vegetable and fruits

The first and vital step is to pick the fresh and good quality vegetable and fruits. You should try to avoid the bruised, deteriorated and overripe produce as it will not give you good results after drying.

2) Slice the food evenly

After cleaning the fruits or veggies, consistently slice them with the even thickness. It will help you in the uniform drying of all the food at same temperature.

3) Use citrus juice

If you are drying fruits like pears, apples which are susceptible to oxidation then you can apply the ascorbic acid or the citrus juice (optional) on them. It will benefit in retaining the original color of the fruit at the time of dehydration and also after the process of drying.

4) Blanche vegetables

You can also do the blanching of the vegetables like broccoli, celery, cauliflower, corn, carrots, potatoes, and peas. It will help in maintaining the color of the veggies and also in speeding up the dehydration time. Around 3 – 5 minutes is adequate in the boiling water.

5) Add flavors

You may add sugar, spices or salt in the fruits or veggies for adding the taste but it is optional. If you are making a healthy snack then, we will not suggest you do this.

6) Load the trays

Now, you need to load the shelves of your food dehydrator with the slices of fruits and vegetables carefully. They should not be overlap as it can slow the drying time of the machine.

7) Switch ON the dehydrator

It’s the time to switch ON the food dehydrator as soon as the loading step is over so that the drying process can begin. You should check the manufacturer’s manual for knowing the exact drying time and temperature of your particular food which you want to dehydrate. The drying time varies between 8 to 12 hours.

8) Check the dryness

As soon as the food is about to reach the end of the drying process, you should just remove one slice out from it and let it cool down. Now, after cooling if the slice feels too dried, then it means it is correctly dehydrated.

9) Cooling down

The moment the time of the food dehydrator gets up; you need to cool down the fruits or vegetables for 30 to 50 minutes. The food needs to be completely cool before packing.

10) Packing

Place the dehydrated food in the airtight containers or the freezer bags. Remember that you need to shake them after every few days so that the residual moisture uniformly distributed among the dehydrated fragments. If you see any condensation on the container, then you have to dry them again in the dehydrator (especially in cases of fruits.

Essential Tips for Using the Food Dehydrator

The following are the primary tips that you must follow while using the food dehydrator:

• Fix the right temperature
  The time and the temperature play a significant role while dehydrating food in the dehydrator. It also depends on the type of dehydrator which you purchase and even the food you wish to dry. The guidelines regarding the drying time and the temperature provides by the manufacturer in the manual book.

• Proper dehydration
  For storing the food properly, it needs to be dehydrated at least 95 %. After taking out from the machine, if you feel that your food is still sticky, soft or spongy, then you must keep them back in the dehydrator for more time. The delicate, hard and crunchy pieces of food termed as “properly dried.”

  Sometimes the breezes, air conditioning, and indoor humidity also change the time desirable to dry out the foods. You must keep your dehydrator machine in a warm and dry place that is away from windows and air outlets.

• Don’t dehydrate food quickly
  You should not be worried about the over-drying of your food. Some people increase the temperature of the machine just to speed up the drying process, but that is not the right way of drying. It will not let the entire moisture of the food to vanish, and hence your food will get spoil soon in the short time.

• Be an efficient cook
  It is a wise thing to ON the food dehydrator machine for warming up before placing the food inside just like you do with the oven. You should always pick those foods for drying which needs same time and temperature for dehydration. To have the optimum results of the drying, in the end, you must slice the complete food in equal size and thickness.

Final Word

Using a food dehydrator is not a difficult thing to learn, but without proper knowledge, you cannot use the machine wisely for best results. Once you know the right way of using the machine, you can use it just like a professional cook at your home. Isn’t it amazing?

We hope that now you know the answer to the question that “how to use a food dehydrator” after reading the above article. If you still have any query to ask then, please write to us, we will reply back to you soon. Please share this article with all your near and dear ones also who does not know “how to use a food dehydrator.”