The Ancient Way of Food Preservation: Dehydration

Miss Ingrid had bought a "new" Kirby from a yard sale and needed to learn how to use it and its attachments. I wanted to learn how to dehydrate foods, but I needed a food dehydrator. My husband had sold Kirbys for a while and knew all the information Miss Ingrid needed, and Miss Ingrid had a five-tray food dehydrator she was not using since she had bought a bigger model. The swap was quickly made, and thus started my love-affair with dehydrating foods.

Dehydrating preserves food by exposing the food to heat and air, which forces the moisture out of the food and carries the vapors emitted during the drying process away from it. Bacteria and mold needs water to survive, so drying produce or meat, whether by using the sun, wind, an electric dehydrator, or the oven, is a safe, effective way of preserving food! It can be used in conjunction with most other methods of food preservation that we have studied as well!

THE HISTORY

Dehydrating food as a means of preservation has been used for centuries. Fishing settlements used the open air to dry fish. The Chinese dried tea leaves, and the Egyptians dried out their grains for storing, as in Joseph's day. The Native Americans dried fruit, meats, and vegetables by means of the wind and sun. The French dehydrated their food and are credited with creating the the first food dehydrator. People from all around the globe have used this means of food preservation since ancient times and still use it today. The Italians still bring us sun-dried tomatoes. Our jerky is dehydrated meat. We have sun-dried raisins from California, and the list goes on. Dehydrating always has been, and still is, beneficial, since it removes the water for storing, but leaves all the flavor and nutrients behind for our enjoyment.

                                      SUN AND WIND

You can set certain fruits and vegetables out in direct sunlight on windy day to dehydrate, providing the temperature outside is 85 degrees or higher and the humidity level is low, but to insure proper dehydration when using this method, I would recommend building a solar dehydrator. There are two  that I found blueprints for. One is a quick and easy and would take a few hours and about $10 to build. It is made with cardboard and plastic wrap and can be found here. The other is a more hard core dehydrator, which will take more time and effort to build, but will last longer. Blueprints for this one can be found here.

OVEN DRYING

Although I do not recommend this method, it is possible to use your oven to dry foods. Ovens do provide a moisture-free, warm area to dehydrate in, but since they take more energy to heat due to their size, and since they take longer to dehydrate food since they do not have a fan to move the air, it is not a very economical way to dry food. It is also an unsafe method if you have small children or pets.

If you decide to use this method, set your oven to 140 degrees, prop the door open about two to six inches, and set a fan at the open oven door to aid in circulation. Place the food you intend to dehydrate in a single layer on a cookie sheet or tray that is smaller, both by length and width, than the oven racks and place them inside. The drying times will vary depending on the food you are drying and the thickness of each piece.

HOMEMADE DEHYDRATOR

Yes, I said a homemade dehydrator. I personally would not use one of these. I would be so worried about burning my house down or it not working correctly that all I would get done is worrying! However, if you are adventurous or if you want to do a REALLY COOL SCIENCE EXPERIMENT, this might be fun to make. It seems simple enough. They can be made from cardboard boxes, aluminum foil, a light bulb, a light socket, and an electrical chord. For step by step instructions on how to build one , visit this website. This particular dehydrator is made with 2X2s, plywood, and nails, so it is a little bit more durable, but I am still iffy on the safety of it.

ELECTRIC DEHYDRATOR

NOW, WE ARE TALKING MY LANGUAGE! There are many different brands and sizes of dehydrators out there to fit any number of needs. I could not find the specific dehydrator I use, but one similar to mine is the Deni 7100 Food Dehydrator. I only require a small one, since most of my food gets preserved through canning and freezing. There are larger dehydrators, like the LEM Products 10 Tray Food Dehydrator. If you need to dehydrate more food at one time, I would recommend a larger dehydrator to make the job quicker and easier.



THE PROCESS



Any fruits, vegetables, and most meats can be dried. Select foods that are ripe, as those that have naturally ripened dry the best. You also want your produce to be in excellent condition. If they do happen to have any spots or bruising, remove those before you begin drying. Any meats, herbs, or flowers should also be of high quality to insure good results.

Clean your produce carefully. Use a vegetable brush and running water to be certain all the dirt and bacteria has been removed from the outside of the food. If any is remaining, it can be pushed down into the fruit or vegetable when you slice it.

You can peel the fruits if you wish, but it is not necessary. Leaving the skin on will add to the drying time, but the skin is a highly nutritious part of the fruit. To peel, or not to peel... that is the question. This can only be determined by your personal preference.

Be sure to cuts the foods in each batch all the same size so that you do not have some of them dry and crispy while some pieces are still raw. Slices should be about 1/4 of an inch thick for best results. Your foods can be sliced, shredded, or diced. I use a food processor for this step. After the food is cut, quickly place them on the trays to dry to keep spoilage or browning from occurring.

Some fruits and vegetables are best when they are pre-treated prior to being dried. This will help the vegetables retain their color. Blanching helps them retain their color and helps to break down the waxy skins of some fruits. Instead of being blanched, some fruits can be soaked in lemon, orange, lime, or pineapple juice for two minutes, then patted dry immediately before they are placed on the dehydrator trays. Syrup blanching, a process that helps some tree-grown fruits (apples, apricots, nectarines, figs, peaches, plums, and pears) to retain their color and also produces a sweeter tasting, candied fruit can also be used.

       **SYRUP BLANCHING**
       Mix 1 c of sugar, 1 c of white corn syrup, and 2 c of water in a heavy sauce pan. Add 1 1/2
       pounds of cut fruit. Bring to a boil, then remove it from the heat and let stand for 35 minutes.
       DO NOT STIR! Drain, and lightly rinse with water, then place on dehydrator trays.

When placing the food on the trays, do NOT let anything overlap, although they are fine to touch each other. Put all of your dehydrator's trays in place, whether they are being used or not, to utilize air flow, which is important to the drying process. Rotate the trays from top to bottom often while the food is dehydrating to insure even drying.

Drying foods, even the same foods, can take differing amounts of time. The time it takes varies depending on humidity levels, temperature, the number of trays used, what you are drying, and more. For ballpark figures on drying times, see your dehydrator manual.

Fruits will be pliable and leathery, but not hard and tough. When you tear a piece of dried fruit, no moisture should develop. If it does, your fruit is not yet dry enough.

Vegetables are hard and brittle with sharp edges when they are dry. Some foods, like tomatoes, will be more leathery. Beans, corn, and peas are hard and seed-like and will shatter when hit with a hammer. Leafy thin vegetables will be brittle, and larger chunks or slices of vegetables will be leathery when they are dehydrated.


STORAGE AND LABELING


Dehydrated food can be stored in ziplocks, vacuum-sealed, or placed in glass jars. They should be stored in a cool, dry, dark place. They can be frozen or refrigerated to increase shelf life. Do not forget to label the contents!

Most fruits, if properly dried and stored, have a shelf life of up to one year. Vegetables only last six months unless they are frozen as well. Jerked meats can be refrigerated for two to three months or frozen for up to a year. Dried fish can be refrigerated or frozen for up to three months.


A FEW RECIPES

STRAWBERRY LEATHER ROLL-UPS
Puree about 2 c of fresh strawberries. Strain through cheesecloth to remove some of the seeds. Pour onto the fruit roll tray. Spread 1/4" thick. Dry for 8-15 hours. (For variety, you can add apples to the strawberries or sprinkle cinnamon or coconut on the fruit puree after it is on the tray.)

DRIED SOUP MIX
Mix any combination of your favorite dehydrated vegetables with rice or noodles and your favorite meat bullion and place it in an airtight container.

JERKY
Slice your preferred meat into thin strips or slices, cutting across the grain (Cutting it while it is frozen may make it easier.). Mix together 3 c of soy sauce, 1 c of brown sugar, and 1 c of liquid smoke. Let stand for 5 minutes. Add 1-2 pounds of meat, cut into thin strips or slices, and let it marinate for 3 hours or overnight in an airtight container in the fridge. Drain and place on the dehydrator trays to dry. DO NOT OVERLAP! Dry i a dehydrator until it cracks when it is bent, about 8-15 hours. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks... if it lasts that long...


Happy Drying... and Nibbling!
Nishoni Harvey
Author of The Fanatics

The Northern Way of Preserving Food

Some of my fondest memories revolve around harvest and the times our family spent working together preserving the bounty each year. One of my mom's favorite ways to put up vegetables and meat was to freeze them. Freezing is one of the easiest and quickest methods for preserving food. The fact that it is so versatile explains why it is a highly preferred way of preserving, especially in the North.

It does not come without its cons. Freezing only slows down or stops the growth of micro-organisms that cause food spoilage, as opposed to canning, which kills them. If you lose power or your freezer dies, you run the risk of losing all of that hard worked for food. If you live in an area where you lose power frequently or for long periods of time, freezing may not be for you.

WHAT NOT TO FREEZE

Although you can freeze just about anything, there are certain things that you cannot or should not freeze. The biggest no-no in freezing is a given. NEVER refreeze something that has been frozen previously! Since freezing does not kill the bacteria in the food, it starts growing rapidly again once the food, especially meat, is thawed. Refreezing greatly raises your risks of food poisoning. If meat does thaw out accidentally, you CAN cook it, then refreeze it just fine.

High moisture fruits and vegetables also should not be frozen. This is because the water in them will expand as it freezes, which damages the cells and walls of the produce and turns it to mush. For a helpful graph (pdf) on what can or cannot be frozen, click here.

BLANCHING

Many fruits must be blanched to kill the enzymes before they are frozen. How they are blanched and how long to blanch each one differs according to what you are blanching. The Frozen Food Guide has graphs of some of the different vegetables and how long to blanch each one.

One way of blanching produce is by boiling it in water. Bring your water to a rolling boil. Place your vegetables into a basket that will easily fit down inside the pot and into the boiling water. I use my pasta pot, which came with a metal removable basket/ sieve, to do this. This is used to dip the produce into the boiling water and to quickly remove it at the correct time. You must start timing the blanching process as soon as the vegetables are submerged in the water. If the water stops boiling, you have added to much of your produce at one time. You can reuse the water, but be sure to bring it back to a rolling boil before you add more vegetables.

The next way to blanch your vegetables is to steam them. Put 1 to 2 inches of water in the bottom of a pot, and bring it to a rolling boil. Suspend a thin layer of your vegetables above the boiling water using a tray, cheese cloth, or a wire mesh basket, and put a lid over it for the recommended time. My pasta pot also comes with a steaming tray, which is what I use to steam my vegetables.

PROPER PACKAGING

A freezer is a very dry environment, which is necessary unless you want it to build up with so much ice so quickly that you are constantly needing to defrost it. Because of this, proper packaging is very important. Different things are packaged different ways, but they are all packaged for the same purpose--preventing freezer burn, which is caused by the food drying out.

There are many packaging choice possibilities out there. You can use freezer bags, plastic wrap, jars, containers, aluminum foil, or a combination. For small fruits or vegetables like peas or berries, I place them in the freezer on a cookie sheet in a single layer to freeze, then I transfer them to a glass canning jar and tightly close the lid, which fits wonderfully on my freezer door. For corn on the cob, I blanch them for 3 minutes, place them on a cookie sheet in the freezer until they are solid, then individually wrap them in foil and put as many ears as I can into a gallon-size freezer bag. I wrap meat cuts in plastic wrap, then foil, then stick them in a freezer bag. I double bag anything that I cannot wrap in foil or plastic wrap before bagging. For soups, broths, or anything liquidy, I freeze it in ice cube trays, then transfer it to a freezer bag, which I double up. When packaging anything, the important thing to remember is to make sure whatever the package moisture resistant and air-tight, which includes removing as much air from the package as possible. Remember that the air and the freezer's uncanny ability to suck moisture out of things is what causes freezer burn.

Lastly, do not forget to mark your packages! Using a piece of tape and a permanent marker, write the contents of the package and the date it was packaged on it. It may seem silly, but six months from now, you will not remember if that package of meat is pork chops or round steak. Be sure to be specific in your labeling as well, since "soup" could refer to any number of recipes!

For more information, there is a pdf file that you can download or simply view online for free, called the Frozen Food Guide. You can purchase a printed copy on Amazon.com here for $2.99. It not only gives instructions and many helpful hints for preparing, packaging, freezing, thawing, and using different vegetables, meats, and fruits, but it also has several graphs giving detailed information on how long to blanch and how long certain things can be frozen for.

To those of you out there like me, who love to freeze, but hate to be cold, have a brrreautiful day! And for those just starting out or considering freezing your food as a form of food preservation, try it! You will love it! You will find that freezing is easy, economical, and even entertaining at times!

Until Next Time,

Nishoni Harvey,

Author of "The Fanatics"

The Traditional Way of Preserving Food

The most widely known and used way of preserving food is canning. Canning was first discovered in the 18th century in France when Napolean Bonaparte offered a cash award of 12,000 francs to anyone who could find a way to successfully preserve food to keep it fresh for his armies, who were then fighting in a war. After fifteen years, Nicolas Appert, a confectionist and brewer, was the one to succeed. He put fresh foods into glass jars, corked them, and them heated them to certain high temperatures by boiling them. The cork seal kept bacteria out, and the heating process killed off the bacteria inside the jar that would have ruined the food.

The same basic process is used today. This process kills the bacteria without destroying the nutrients in the food. Fruits and vegetables are canned at the peak of harvest, which is also when they are at the peak of their nutrition. Since very few nutrients are lost in canning, canning a very good way of food preservation.

There are two basic ways of canning foods, pressure canning and hot water bath canning. Which method you use depends upon the recipe and the type of food you are canning. If you want to can a certain food, you should find a recipe for canning that certain food and follow it. However, the steps following for preparing the jars before hand are the same.

STEP 1: As when dealing with any type of food preparation, wash your hands and any surface you will be using. Make sure you keep your hands clean during the whole process. Even touching a non-food item warrants another trip to the sink to wash!

STEP 2: Wash the jars, seals, and rings in hot soapy water and sterilize the jars. To sterilize them, boil them for 10 minutes. Add an additional minute for every 1,000 feet above sea level. Place the clean, sterilized jars upside down on a clean towel. Place another clean towel on top of them to keep the dust off.

STEP 3: Prepare the food you are planning to can according to the recipe for that particular food. Different types of food have to be processed different ways for canning.

STEP 4: Fill the jars. A funnel will make this easier for liquids or small chunks of food. For larger foods, such as green beans, arrange them so you can fit the most in. Add the preservative the recipe calls for, usually salt, sugar, or a type of acid, like lemon juice. Pour any liquids, syrup, or brine in that your specific recipe calls for. Leave a space, usually 1/8 of an inch to an inch depending on the recipe, at the top of the jar.

STEP 5: Run a long plastic knife around the edges of the jar, and shake or gently tap it to remove any air bubbles that have accumulated.

STEP 6: Carefully wipe the rim of the jar off with a clean, damp cloth. If the rim is not clean, it will not seal properly.

STEP 7: Boil some water in a saucepan and remove it from the heat. Place the seals in the water and leave them for a minute so the seals can soften. Make sure they do not get stacked on top of each other.

STEP 8: Remove the seals from the water with tongs or a magnetic lid wand. After the seal is placed on top of the jar, tilt the wand to release the seal. DO NOT touch the seal with your hands.

STEP 9: Put the ring on the jar, and tighten it. Process the jar according to the recipe you choose to follow.

** For specific information on using your pressure canner, refer to the instructions for your specific canner. Follow the directions for canning specified in each recipe.

You also use the same basic method of handling the processed jars afterwards regardless of whether you use a pressure canner or hot water bath.

STEP 1: Remove the jars using a pair of jar tongs, and place them on a clean towel.

STEP 2: Cover all the processed jars with another clean towel to keep the draft off of them.

STEP 3. Listen for the wonderful "POP!" that tells you that your treasures have been sealed inside.

STEP 4: Check each seal by pressing the middle of the lid down. If it presses down or pops back up, it is not sealed properly. Immediately refrigerate any unsealed jars.

STEP 5: Wipe the jars down to clean any residue off from the canning process.

STEP 6: Label each jar according to their contents and the date they were canned.

For a more detailed explanation, see this article on "Instructionables".

My 6 year old helping to
pick apples last year.

CANNING HOMEMADE APPLESAUCE
(Note: This recipe can be doubled, tripled, or more.)

INGREDIENTS:

* 6 apples
* 3/4 cup water
* 1/4 cup sugar (optional)
* 1 tsp ground cinnamon

INSTRUCTIONS:

* Pick or purchase your apples. Find fruit that is ripe and as blemish-free as possible.

Our tree gave us
a lot of apples!

* Prepare the jars according to the above directions.

* Wash, core, peel the apples.

* Cut them into chunks ( about 1" by 1").

* Put the apples and water into a pot, and bring them to a boil.

* Boil for 15 to 20 minutes until they are soft. 

* For chunky applesauce, simply mash them with a potato masher; for smoother applesauce puree the cooked apples with a food processor. We made some each way. My husband prefers the smooth sauce, whereas I prefer the chunky. Return the sauce to the pot to keep it hot.

* Slowly add the cinnamon and sugar, tasting it between each addition. the amount of each that you add will be dependent on the type of apples you use and your personal preference.

This is only a portion of our bounty!

* Using the funnel, carefully fill your jars with the hot applesauce according the directions above. Leave 1/2" of airspace at the top. If you only fill the jar to the neck, where the line is for the start of the threads, that should be 1/2".

* Bring the water in your hot water bath canner to boiling.

* After removing the air bubbles, cleaning the rim, and placing the lids as directed above, lower the jars into the canner one at a time using your tongs. The water should be one to two inches above the top of the lid.

* Boil for 20 minutes.

* Remove the processed jars and cool as directed above.

CANNING CRUSHED TOMATOES

(You will need to figure out how many quarts of tomatoes you want to can and prepare accordingly.)

INGREDIENTS:

* 3 lbs tomatoes per quart jar you wish to can

* 2 TBSP concentrated lemon juice per quart jar

* 1 tsp salt per quart jar

* 1 tsp sugar per quart jar 

INSTRUCTIONS:

* Pick or purchase ripe tomatoes.

* Prepare the jars as directed above.

* Dip tomatoes in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds, until the skin begins to split.

* Quickly place them into ice water for 2 minutes.

* Remove the core and peel the skins, which you can now easily peel off with your fingers. 

* Cut the tomatoes into quarters.

* Place some of the quartered tomatoes in a large pot and crush them with a potato masher, while heating rapidly.

* Gradually add the remaining quartered tomatoes, stirring constantly. You should not have to crush the remaining tomatoes.

* After all the tomatoes are added, boil gently for 5 minutes. Stir constantly.

* Fill your clean, hot quart-sized canning jars with your hot tomatoes, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.

* Add 2 TBSP lemon juice, 1 tsp of salt, and 1 tsp of sugar to each quart jar. 

* Remove excess air from the jar by running a spatula or bubble freer between the tomatoes and the side of the jar. 

* Wipe jar rims, and cap the jars with properly treated lids. 

* Screw on the bands.

* Place in the hot water bath.

* Bring water to boiling, and boil for 50 minutes.

* Remove and cool cans according to the instructions in this blog.

Read more at: http://www.food.com/recipe/crushed-tomatoes-canning-252833?oc=linkback

HAPPY CANNING!

Nishoni Harvey

Author of "The Fanatics"