Dehydrator part 2

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Vegetable Drying Guide

 

All vegetables except onions and peppers,and mushrooms should be washed, sliced, and blanched. Dry vegetables in single layers on trays. Depending of drying conditions, drying times make take longer. Dry vegetables at 130-degrees Fahrenheit.

 

Beans, green:Stem and break beans into 1-inch pieces.Blanch. Dry 6-12 hours until brittle.

Beets: Cook and peel beets. Cut into 1/4-inch pieces. Dry 3-10 hours until leathery.

Broccoli: Cut and dry 4-10 hours.

Carrots: Peel, slice or shred. Dry 6-12 hours until almost brittle.

Cauliflower: Cut and dry 6-14 hours.

Corn:Cut corn off cob after blanching and dry 6-12 hours until brittle.

Mushrooms: Brush off, don't wash. Dry at 90 degrees for 3 hours, and then 125 degrees for the remaining drying time. Dry 4-10 hours until brittle.

Onions: Slice 1/4-inch thick. Dry 6-12 hours until crisp.

Peas: Dry 5-14 hours until brittle.

Peppers, sweet: Remove seeds and chop. Dry 5-12 hours until leathery.

Potatoes: Slice 1/8-inch thick. Dry 6-12 hours until crisp.

Tomatoes: Dip in boiling water to loosen skins, peel,slice or quarter. Dry 6-12 hours until crisp.

Zucchini: Slice 1/8-inch thick and dry 5-10 hours until brittle.

Fruit Drying Guide

All fruit should be washed,pitted and sliced. Arrange in single layers on trays. Dry fruit at 135 degrees Fahrenheit. You may wish to pretreat your fruit with lemon juice or ascorbic acid or it won't darken while you are preparing it for drying. Just slice the fruit into the solution and soak for 5 minutes.

 

Apples:Peel, core and slice into 3/8-inch rings, or cut into 1/4-inch slices. Pretreat and dry 6-12 hours until pliable.

Apricots: Cut in half and turn inside out to dry. Pretreat and dry 8-20 hours until pliable.

Bananas: Peel, cut into 1/4-inch slices and pretreat. Dry 8-16 hours until plialbe or almost crisp.

Blueberries: Dry 10-20 hours until leathery.

Cherries: Cut in half and dry 18-26 hours until leathery and slightly sticky.

Peaches: Peel, halve or quarter. Pretreat and dry 6-20 hours until pliable.

Pears: Peel, cut into 1/4-inch slices, and pretreat. Dry 6-20 hours until leathery.

Pineapple: Core and slice 1/4-inch thick. Dry 6-16 hours until leathery and not sticky.

Strawberries: Halve or cut into 1/4-inch thick slices. Dry 6-16 hours until pliable and almost crisp.

 

Fruit Leathers

Fruit leather is easy to make if you have a blender of food processor. The fruit leather is like a "fruit roll-up" and is made out of pureed fruit. Applesauce works great for fruit leather since it is already in puree form. Overripe fruits can also be used since these are easily pureed. For an added flare, you can add coconut,raisins,poppy seeds,seasame seeds, or sunflower seeds to the fruit leather. If you add any type of garnish to your fruit leather however, you will have to store them in the freezer or refrigerator. Otherwise, you can store fruit leather in an airtight container. Just roll up the fruit leather into a roll after it has dried, wrap in plastic, and store them altogether in an appropriate container.

To make fruit leather, puree your fruit. Apples, pears, peaches, and nectarines should be cooked before pureeing. Pour the fruit puree about 1/4-inch deep on special fruit leather drying sheets, or drying trays that have been lined with plastic wrap. Since the center does not dry as quickly as the edges, Only pour the puree 1/8-inch deep towards the center.Dry at 135 degrees Fahrenheit until pliable and leathery. The center should also be dry and have no wet or sticky spots.

 

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