Dehydrating Foods

[Guest guest]

Here's some general information about drying food from a book called

NEWSTART Lifestyle Cookbook (Weimar Institute):

 

*Foods for dehydrating should be uniform in size and cut relatively small

and thin. Fruits should have cores, pits, and/or seeds removed. The

following foods need extra preparation.

 

Marinate these foods in pineapple juice, 5 - 15 minutes:

 

Apples

Apricots

Bananas

Pears

Plums

Prunes

 

Blanch these foods in boiling water for 2 - 4 minutes:

 

Beans

Beets

Broccoli

Cabbage

Cauliflower

Corn

Peas

Potatoes

Pumpkin

Squash

Yams

 

*Bananas: Slice for chips or split lengthwise into thirdsy by inserting

finger in one end and pushing downward. Soak in pineapple juice. These dry

to the consistency of licorice. If any fruit is dried too long and becomes

brittle, you can rehydrate it to chewy consistency by spraying a small

amount of water into the container with the fruit.

 

*Fruit Leather: Process any combination of fruit and spread onto trays that

have been sprayed with a food release preparation. This is a good

replacement for candy.

 

*Lemon and orange peel: Grate onto fruit leather trays and dry. Store in a

covered jar.

 

*Peaches: Blanch in boiling water for about 30 seconds and remove skins.

Slice and dry.

 

*Backpackers love leftovers that can be rehydrated by adding water.

 

*Leftover bread can be cubed and dried. Add seasoning for dressing, or

process into crumbs for seasoned bread crumbs. For zwieback, thoroughly dry

thinly sliced bread.

 

*Onions, bell pepper, garlic, fresh herbs, etc. All can be dried and, if

desired, ground to make inexpensive single seasonings or seasoning mixes.

 

*Soup mix: Dry leftover vegetables and add seasonings.

 

*Zucchini chips: Sprinkle sliced zucchini with seasoned salt and dry.

 

*Flowers: Dry on fruit leather trays and make sachet packets, for lovely,

inexpensive gifts.

 

 

(

))

(((

CHRISTIAN VEGAN COOKING!

http://www.Christian-Vegan-Cooking