Dehydrating foods is an age-old preservation method that extends shelf life, maximizes storage, and allows you to enjoy your favorite foods year-round. It's a simple and effective way to preserve food by removing its water content, preventing the growth of harmful contaminants. This article explores methods, benefits, downsides, and the best foods to dehydrate.
Methods of Dehydration
Several methods exist for dehydrating foods, varying in drying techniques, time, and equipment needs:
- Sun Drying: An ancient and straightforward method where foods like fruits are laid on mesh screens in a sunny area with low humidity (minimum 86°F or 30°C). Avoid hardware cloth screens to prevent residue. Fruits may take days to dry fully.
- Air Drying: Similar to sun drying, but food is placed in the shade to protect it from the sun's rays. Ideal for leafy greens, herbal teas, and spices.
- Solar Drying: Solar dehydrators, powered by the sun, dehydrate foods without electricity. They resemble tabletop greenhouses and can be bought or made at home.
- Oven Drying: Ovens can dry foods at around 140°F (60°C) for 6-10 hours. Ensure your oven can maintain this low temperature and prop the door open to release moisture.
- Electric Dehydrators: Efficient and convenient, these appliances have timers, temperature gauges, and fans for even heat distribution. Multiple trays allow simultaneous dehydration of various foods. Prices vary, with some models starting around $50 and higher-end options costing up to $1,000.
Benefits of Dehydrating Foods
Food drying extends shelf life by reducing moisture content, preventing the growth of harmful bacteria and fungi. This is particularly beneficial for seasonal foods, increasing their availability year-round, even in remote locations. Dehydration also reduces food weight and bulk, lowering packaging, handling, and transportation costs. It alters taste and texture, often giving dried fruits a sweeter, more concentrated flavor, offering vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants as a substitute for sugary, processed foods.
What Foods Can You Dehydrate?
Many foods can be dehydrated, including fruits, vegetables, lean meats, yogurt, sauces, and even pet food. You can dehydrate jams and sauces to free up storage space and extend their pantry life. However, foods high in fat or oil, like peanut butter or avocados, don't dehydrate well because the fat can go rancid. Trim meat to remove fat before dehydrating. While nonfat dairy can be dehydrated, it's not recommended due to a higher risk of foodborne illness. Raw meat and poultry should be cooked to a safe internal temperature before drying to prevent foodborne illness.
Foods to Dehydrate:
- Fruits: Apples, bananas, apricots, cherries, grapes, mangos, peaches, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, dates.
- Vegetables: Carrots, beets, broccoli, cabbage, mushrooms, eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes.
- Lean Meats: Beef, chicken, fish, jerky, ground beef, ground turkey.
- Sauces and Syrups: Jam, pizza sauce, maple syrup, spaghetti sauce, barbecue sauce, molasses, ketchup, tomato puree.
- Herbs: Basil, dill, rosemary, oregano, thyme, sage, mint, lavender, marjoram, coriander, celery.
- Grains: Rice, quinoa.
- Legumes: Beans.
Storing Dehydrated Foods
Store dried foods in airtight containers in a cool, dry area to maintain quality. Exposure to heat and moisture can shorten shelf life. Shelf life varies from months to years, depending on the food and storage conditions.
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Recommended Shelf Life (USDA):
- Homemade Jerky: 1-2 months (pantry or refrigerator)
- Dried Fruit: 6 months (refrigerator or pantry), 1 month (pantry after opening)
- Dried Herbs: 1-2 years
- Dried Mushrooms: 1-2 years (pantry), 3 months (pantry after opening)
Conditioning is an important final step, primarily for dehydrated fruits, before packing them away for storage. Cool the dried fruit to room temperature and store it, loosely packed in a clear, airtight non-plastic container such as a large glass jar. Let it sit for a week, checking daily for any signs of moisture or condensation. If you see any, put the fruit back into the dehydrator to dry longer. If you see any mold growth during this time, toss the entire batch. You do not need to condition vegetables, as much more of the moisture is removed during the dehydrating process and it’s easier to tell if they are fully dried, but it doesn’t hurt to condition them anyway.
Preparing Foods for Dehydration
Proper preparation is key. Slice foods evenly to ensure uniform dehydration. Fruits and vegetables should be 1/4-inch (0.6-cm) to 1/2-inch (1.3-cm) thick, while meat, fish, and poultry should be thinner. Blanching fruits and vegetables preserves flavor before drying. Soaking sliced fruits in acidic solutions like citric acid or lemon juice prevents color and texture changes. Avoid drying strong-smelling ingredients with mild-aroma foods.
- Cutting: Ensure food is uniformly sized. A mandoline allows you to slice in uniform thickness.
- Ascorbic Acid (for fruits): Soaking fruit in an ascorbic acid solution will help prevent browning. Mix 1 teaspoon of powdered ascorbic acid into two cups of water, and soak sliced fruit for 3-5 minutes before draining.
- Fruit Juice (for fruits): Fruits high in citric acid, like lemons, limes, and oranges, can be used to make a pre-treatment solution. Place cut fruit into a bowl with enough juice to cover. Soak 3-5 minutes before draining. You can use the juice for two batches before replacing it.
- Blanching or steaming (for vegetables): Blanching (dipping food in boiling water and then rapidly cooling in cold water) or steaming can help vegetables retain their color, and can reduce rehydration time. Steam or blanch vegetables that you would not eat raw, or that are particularly tough or fibrous: carrots, corn, asparagus, broccoli, green beans, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Bell peppers do not need to be steamed or blanched, though they will rehydrate faster if they are.
- Sulfite Dip (for fruits and vegetables): Sulfite dips are an option if you’re planning on storing fruit long term. It can cause reactions in people who have sulfite sensitivities or asthma, so we don’t personally have any experience with this method.
Downsides of Dehydrated Foods
While healthy, dried foods have downsides. They are more condensed than fresh foods, increasing the risk of overeating, which may lead to excess calorie, sugar, or sodium consumption. Dehydration may slightly alter nutritional value, reducing vitamins and minerals like vitamin C and beta-carotene. It's also important to drink more water, as dehydration removes moisture from foods, and about 20-30% of daily water intake comes from food.
Dehydrated Food and Sugar
Dehydrated fruit tastes extra sweet because dehydrating concentrates sugar while removing water vapor. There is more sugar per gram in dried fruit than fresh fruit, but dehydrating fruit does not increase sugar content overall.
Considerations
- Fats: Proper dehydration relies on the evaporation of moisture, and fats do not evaporate. This will leave moisture in the food, which can cause it to spoil, or go rancid.
- Dairy & Eggs: Dairy products and eggs are generally not safe to dehydrate due to the high chance of food poisoning.
Rehydrating Dehydrated Foods
Rehydration is a factor of water, heat, and time. Generally speaking, you want to add as much water back into the food as you took out in the dehydration process.
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- Soak & Simmer: This is the fastest method, but uses the most fuel. Add your meal and water to your pot and let it soak for a bit, maybe while you set up camp or do chores (keep within arms reach if in bear country). Then, simmer the meal until it has rehydrated.
- Soak, Simmer & Set: This method takes a bit longer but uses far less fuel than the previous method. It’s also a great option if you use a backpacking stove like a JetBoil which doesn’t have great simmer control. Same as above: add your meal and water to your pot and let it soak for a bit. Then, cover and bring the meal to a rapid simmer for a few minutes before turning off the heat. Place the pot in a cozy (if you’re using a Jetboil or Windburner stove, the insulating wrap should be sufficient). Let the meal rehydrate, stirring after 10 minutes.
- Boil in Bag: If you pack your meals in mylar bags that are heat-rated 212F or above, you can pour boiling water right into the bag, seal, and let it rehydrate (stir the food after 10 minutes). Placing the bag in a cozy will help retain heat. This method will take the longest, usually 15-20 minutes but sometimes longer depending on the…
Specific Foods to Dehydrate for Health
Here are some specific foods recommended for dehydration, along with their benefits:
- Apricots: Dehydrating apricots helps to concentrate their flavor and sweetness. They make the perfect on-the-go snack.
- Strawberries: Sweet and tasty when dehydrated, with a sweet and tangy flavor and chewy texture. Add to smoothies, oatmeal, yogurt, or trail mix, or enjoy as a snack.
- Tomatoes: Dried tomatoes have an intense, sweet and savory flavor, and are slightly chewy, pairing nicely in salads, sandwiches and pasta dishes. Grind down dehydrated tomatoes into powder for homemade ketchup and tomato puree.
- Peaches: Dried peaches have a sweet, juicy, concentrated flavor that is much more intense than fresh peaches. They are slightly crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, and make a great addition to granola or trail mix.
- Apples: Dehydrating sweet and juicy apples means that you will access to delicious apples at any time of the year. Dip dehydrated apple slices into peanut butter for a simple snack. Or, place finely sliced apples into your dehydrator and make this beautiful Raw Vegan Apple Pie.
- Bananas: Slice a banana thinly and place in the dehydrator - once dried, you will have banana chips to snack on throughout the day.
- Raspberries: Try making this Three Kings Cake recipe since it uses dehydrated raspberries - take a look, I think I could easily eat more than two slices!
- Blueberries: Dehydrated blueberries are also crunchy and super sweet. Store away and sprinkle on to your breakfast cereal, coconut yogurt, or super power bars!
- Cherries: Add a few dehydrated cherries to the drinks that you serve. You could also drop dehydrated cherries into scones.
- Dates: You could easily snack on dried dates or rehydrate to make beautiful tasting recipes. Why don’t you make raw apple sandwiches with date caramel + almond butter, quinoa date nut truffles or a chocolate tart?
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