I had a fantastic conversation with one of our members Lynn about dehydrating food. She has sent me several links which you all might find useful when your share is perhaps too much. She said "I was excited to learn about dehydrating things like herbs then using the food saver to seal them into small mason/ball jars. You can do garlic that way, peppers and onions as well. Then you can use those to make your own seasonings, rubs. Oh the endless possibilities! Hope these are useful ideas for others as well."
Food drying or dehydration is the process of removing water from the food, thus preventing growth of bacteria. This is done by the circulation of hot dry air through the food. It is easy but take some time.
How does this affect the food? Here's what I learned from The Dry Store
"Dehydration minimally affects the nutritional value of foods, especially when the process takes place in your own home. Most research on the nutritional value of dried foods has been conducted on foods that are commercially dried. When you dry foods at home under gentle conditions (correct temperature and a reasonable amount of drying time), you produce a high-quality product. Compared with canning and freezing, both of which involve extreme temperatures, food drying is the least damaging form of food preservation.
Here are some specifics:
Vitamin A is retained during the drying process. Because vitamin A is light sensitive, foods that contain it-like carrots, bell peppers, mangoes-should be stored in a dark place.
Some vitamin C is lost during the drying process because vitamin C is an air-soluble nutrient and food drying is an air-based process. When a food is sliced and its cells are cut, the surfaces that are exposed to air lose some vitamin C content.
The caloric value of a fresh food stays the same when it is dried, although some dried foods, fruits for example, taste sweeter because the water has been removed and the sugar is concentrated.
Dried fruits and vegetables are high in fiber and carbohydrates, neither of which is affected by drying.
Dried fruits and vegetables are naturally low in fat. Minerals available in certain fresh fruits-such as potassium, sodium, magnesium, and so on-are also not altered when the fruit is dried."
So here are the links with a little excerpt from each that Lynn shared with us. Have a look and let me know what you think.
Smithspirations - Why a Food Dehydrator is a Must-Have in my Kitchen "Instead of baking granola in the oven and stirring it every 15 mintues so it doesn't bur, I just put mine in the dehydrator overnight."
Keeper of the Home - Ditch the Chips! 15 Healthier Ideas for Lunches. "The good news is you can still have crunchy, crispy, salty and tasty additions to your lunch. You just have to think outside the chip box"
It's a Love/Love Thing - Greens Gone Bad: How to Avoid the Guilt of the Wilt "Come on, you know it happens. It happens to all of us. You waltzed right into that grocery store, or farmer’s market, bought the lettuce, or the organic kale that was on special, and had every intention of doing something with it! You really did! But life happened. :) You got busy, you forgot about it, and now there it sits, sadly staring back at you."
Food drying or dehydration is the process of removing water from the food, thus preventing growth of bacteria. This is done by the circulation of hot dry air through the food. It is easy but take some time.
How does this affect the food? Here's what I learned from The Dry Store
"Dehydration minimally affects the nutritional value of foods, especially when the process takes place in your own home. Most research on the nutritional value of dried foods has been conducted on foods that are commercially dried. When you dry foods at home under gentle conditions (correct temperature and a reasonable amount of drying time), you produce a high-quality product. Compared with canning and freezing, both of which involve extreme temperatures, food drying is the least damaging form of food preservation.
Here are some specifics:
Vitamin A is retained during the drying process. Because vitamin A is light sensitive, foods that contain it-like carrots, bell peppers, mangoes-should be stored in a dark place.
Some vitamin C is lost during the drying process because vitamin C is an air-soluble nutrient and food drying is an air-based process. When a food is sliced and its cells are cut, the surfaces that are exposed to air lose some vitamin C content.
The caloric value of a fresh food stays the same when it is dried, although some dried foods, fruits for example, taste sweeter because the water has been removed and the sugar is concentrated.
Dried fruits and vegetables are high in fiber and carbohydrates, neither of which is affected by drying.
Dried fruits and vegetables are naturally low in fat. Minerals available in certain fresh fruits-such as potassium, sodium, magnesium, and so on-are also not altered when the fruit is dried."
So here are the links with a little excerpt from each that Lynn shared with us. Have a look and let me know what you think.
Smithspirations - Why a Food Dehydrator is a Must-Have in my Kitchen "Instead of baking granola in the oven and stirring it every 15 mintues so it doesn't bur, I just put mine in the dehydrator overnight."
Keeper of the Home - Ditch the Chips! 15 Healthier Ideas for Lunches. "The good news is you can still have crunchy, crispy, salty and tasty additions to your lunch. You just have to think outside the chip box"
It's a Love/Love Thing - Greens Gone Bad: How to Avoid the Guilt of the Wilt "Come on, you know it happens. It happens to all of us. You waltzed right into that grocery store, or farmer’s market, bought the lettuce, or the organic kale that was on special, and had every intention of doing something with it! You really did! But life happened. :) You got busy, you forgot about it, and now there it sits, sadly staring back at you."
Comments
Indeed a good post, And I believe having a Food Dehydrator at our home is very important as it helps dehydrating food,, so we need the best food dehydrators, that's why I have recently purchased one of the best food dehydrators available, because i want to make best food with food dehydrator.
By the way, Keep up the good work.