Posts Tagged ‘food dehydrator’

Dehydrated Food: Testing Dryness

Dehydrated food is a simple way to store your excess bounty from your garden for future use for your family, and it stores well with a typical shelf life up to one year.

What is dehydrated food? Simply put, dehydrated food has most of the water removed so it can be stored for a long time.  You will also preserve more of the food’s nutrients. Dehydrated food has been used by humans to preserve food for centuries. Of course, centuries ago people weren’t using an electric dehydrator, they were using the sun!

Making dehydrated food takes up less of your time than canning your food. You simply need to slice your food, place them on the dehydrator trays, set the timer and leave them for hours until they are done. While it takes a long time (typically about 12 hours) to dehydrate the food in a typical dehydrator, the only time you are really involved is when your are slicing the food.

Dehydrated food does not take up as much room for storage. And since the water is mostly removed, dehydrated food weighs very little so it’s easy to carry with you or bring on the road. Some dehydrated food, such as banana chips, can be eaten as is without reconstituting it with water. Other dehydrated food, like green beans, you simply need to reconstitute with a liquid.

Testing dryness, when dehydrated food is done ‘cooking’ – Generally speaking, most professionals (experts) use the following percentages as a measure of being ‘done’. Fruits should have about 10% moisture content, vegetables, 5%, and meats, 20% for example. Residential dehydrators (compared to professional commercial dehydrators) cannot measure and control the moisture content. Really, our only method as amateur do-it-yourselfers is to periodically test the food by hand, and with experience you will learn accurate testing.

As a general rule of thumb, you should not dehydrate fruits until they are brittle. Most fruits should still have a 10 to 20% moisture content left when you have dehydrated them. To test your fruit, take a piece you have dried and cut it in half. There should be no visible moisture. They should be pliable to almost brittle. You would rather have them a little too dry than not dry enough. If there is too much moisture, you can run the risk of them developing mold. Generally speaking, fruit is considered to be sufficiently dry when, after you cut a piece of dried fruit, you cannot squeeze any water out of the piece.

Vegetables, on the other hand, generally, should be brittle. For example, a pea should shatter if you hit it with a rolling pin. Only a few vegetables, such as tomatoes or yellow squash will feel leathery when done.

Dehydrating food is not complicated and you will love the rewards! Give it a try.

Several years ago we purchased an Excalibur 3900 Food Dehydrator. We bought this large model with 9 trays because we knew we would be using it a lot. Not only do we use it for our excess garden bounty, but when the supermarkets run a great sale on something like bananas or strawberries, we may buy some and dehydrate them for later.

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Strawberries on Sale – Dehydrator to Preserve

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In today’s hard times economy, most of us are continuously looking for a deal or a sale, ways to economize a little more and be a bit more frugal. Here is a way to save money on food that will not only save you money on sale, but you will eat healthier and it will taste great all year long!

I love strawberries. So, during every visit to the grocery store I am looking for fresh strawberries on sale. During times of the year when harvest is plenty, food items like this are often on sale. Sometimes you will find two-for-one deals, or buy two – get one free, sales deals like that. Take advantage of it! Here’s how…

After buying the quantity of strawberries that I want on sale, I will slice them and preserve them with a food dehydrator, and store them in glass canning jars (I like to use canning jars because it’s convenient to “see” what’s on your shelves). Of course, you will need a food dehydrator. I happen to have the Excalibur dehydrator, which has worked out great for us.

Excalibur 3900 Deluxe Series 9 Tray Food Dehydrator – Black

Excalibur 3500 Deluxe Series 5 Tray Food Dehydrator – Black

I usually use the “dehydrator strawberries” to add into my breakfast cereal. There is nothing like having fresh strawberries during the middle of winter, and all year long!

It’s simple… you just sprinkle the amount of strawberry chips that you want into a bowl, add milk, wait about 15 minutes, add cereal, and enjoy a delicious fresh taste.

This video shows how simple it is to make a breakfast cereal from preserved strawberries (and bananas) from the dehydrator.

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Home Dehydrated Food Shelf Life

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Four major factors will affect the shelf life of long term storage of home dehydrated food

1. Temperature
2. Moisture
3. Oxygen
4. Light

Temperature

Temperature affects storage time the most. The cooler the better. Most official guideline statistics for shelf life are based on ‘room temperature’, or 70 degrees F (21 C).

Each drop of 10 degrees F (5.5 C) will double the shelf life! That is pretty significant.

60 F instead of 70 F will double a 1 yr storage to 2 yrs, which may simply be the difference between storing your food upstairs in the pantry or downstairs in the basement (assuming you have a basement).

Likewise, when foods are stored in warmer temperatures, you will lose shelf life at the same proportion. 80 F instead of 70 F will halve the storage life. This fact may be more of a concern for those that don’t have a basement to conveniently store food in a cool environment.

One thing that I miss, having moved from the Northeast US to California more than a decade ago, is having a basement. Many homes here are built on slabs, where outdoor temperatures don’t freeze to extremes like other parts of the country (where deep foundations are required, and thus a basement). Without a basement, use your common sense and simply beware of storing food in places where temperatures will be higher than normal.

Moisture

The process of dehydrating removes most of the moisture from foods while retaining much of the nutritional value and flavor. It is a great method to preserve your harvested fruits and vegetables for later consumption off-season.

Fruits will typically contain about 75 percent moisture when fresh, and should be dehydrated to a 20 percent moisture level, the point at which they become leathery and pliable. Apparently, it is OK for fruits to be dried to this ‘pliable’ level rather than a lower ‘brittle’ moisture level because the natural sugars and acids in fruit act as an added preservative.

Vegetables must be dehydrated to a moisture level around 5 percent, the point at which they become crisp and brittle, and will break if bent.

Oxygen

Oxygen will interact with, and break down fats and proteins resulting in poor flavor and eventual spoilage. Fruits and vegetables only have small amounts of fat and protein but will still oxidize over a period of time when stored in an environment containing oxygen. Oxygen absorbers are commonly used inside long term food storage containers.

Light

Photons from light will also eventually break down fats and proteins as well as vitamins in the food, resulting in poor flavor and possibly eventual spoilage.

Dehydrated Fruit and Vegetable Shelf Life

‘Shelf Life’, when referring to survival food storage, is typically defined as the maximum amount of food storage time whereby the food will not spoil and still contribute to keeping you alive. Shelf Life, when referring to grocery store and typical food packaging labels, is defined as the length of time that the food will still taste its best and retain most all of its nutritional value, usually far before actual spoilage. Having said that, shelf life is a subjective thing, and may fall somewhere in between the two extremes.

Generally speaking, home dried fruits will have a shelf life of about 6 months to 1 year, if stored in glass mason jars and in a dark, dry, and cool environment (the cooler, the better).

The shelf life of home dried vegetables vary depending on the vegetable itself, but some say it is about half that of home dehydrated fruit. I believe it’s safe to say that it will generally be between 6 months to 1 year. Some claim storage life success of several years, but again, storage conditions will change storage life by either increasing, or even decreasing if stored poorly.

Store-bought dehydrated fruits and vegetables processed specifically for long term storage will be prepared, dried, and packaged in processes that bring moisture content down to as low as 3 percent, and will store much, much longer (I’ve seen claims of 25 years in #10 cans if stored properly).

My opinion and experience with home-dehydrated storage and shelf life is that 6 months to 1 year has been fine for me because the following growing season I am growing all new foods. So as long as they last during the off-season, which is quite simple to achieve, then I’m personally okay with that (some of my long term food storage supplies are not home dried, but professionally manufactured). As long as I am able to grow my own food each year, our home dehydration method works just fine.

Vacuum Sealing, Mason Jar, or Zip Lock Bag

In my opinion it is debatable whether vacuum sealing home-dehydrated food will add significant shelf life in most practical situations. Common sense tells me that it will definitely add some storage time, but I’m not so sure how significant that will be assuming we’re talking about foods that are already dehydrated, and are being stored in normal conditions (cool, dark, dry – mason jar), and will be replenished during the following growing season.

Granted that opening and closing a mason jar lid to remove some of the product when needed, will reintroduce fresh air and oxygen into the jar. However, so long as the air in the room isn’t laden with moisture, it would seem not to be such a big concern. If you live in a very humid environment, I can see an advantage though. Some vacuum sealers also have an attachment for mason jars to remove the air. Vacuum sealing in vacuum seal bags will definitely save space too.

Having said all that, I just don’t think it is a huge difference to vacuum seal versus using a mason jar when we’re talking about foods that will only last a year or so anyway… (although some claim to get several years from home dehydrated fruits and vegetables when stored well).

I believe that Zip Lock Bags are a fine alternative too. They take up less space than jars. I am a little leery about the effectiveness of the seal when compared to a mason jar with the nice lid. Quite often I have experienced these bags not holding a nice seal, even after ‘burping’ the bags quite efficiently.

I personally like the mason jars because I can easily see the foods inside while on the shelf, and they are convenient and easy to handle and use. Again, since I’m only dealing with shelf life requirements of 1 year maximum for my home grown foods, I don’t feel a need to use vacuum sealed bags. Don’t get me wrong, we love to use vacuum sealed bags on other items around the homestead, like on some of our other storage items such as 5 pound bags of flour – for convenience – although storing in 5 gallon buckets with Mylar is even better for longer term storage. We’ll save all that for another post some other time…


On a side note, this is the food dehydrator that we use, and have been very happy with it, the Excalibur 3900.
Excalibur 3900 Deluxe Series 9 Tray Food Dehydrator – Black

These wide mouth 1 quart canning jars make great storage for many types of dehydrated foods.
Ball Wide-Mouth Mason Canning Jar 1 Qt., Case of 12

The ultimate for storing dehydrated foods for long term is a vacuum food sealer, like this FoodSaver.
FoodSaver V2240 Advanced Design Vacuum Food Sealer

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Dehydrated Strawberries Satisfies Sweet Tooth

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A perfect addition for your survival preparedness food storage supply is the dehydrated strawberry. You must not forget the sweet elements for your storage food because rice and beans just won’t cut it for very long without variety. Sliced and dehydrated strawberries will be a welcome ingredient to your food stores!

Be frugal by taking advantage of stocking up on strawberries when they are on sale. Remember that this whole modern survival thing is a way of life and a way of thinking. When you see great deals on items that you can truly use, go ahead and get them because the price will only continue to rise in the future. With a food dehydrator you can take advantage of bulk food, fruit and vegetable purchases by preserving them for a very long time.

Recently we picked up 5 pounds of strawberries on sale, sliced them, dehydrated them, and stored them in canning jars.

It is so easy to do!

How to Dehydrate Strawberries

Rinse and slice. I end up with about 4 slices per strawberry and 5 slices if it is a big one.

1 pound of sliced strawberries fits perfectly on one tray of the Excalibur dehydrator.

Excalibur 3900 Deluxe Series 9 Tray Food Dehydrator – Black

Excalibur 3500 Deluxe Series 5 Tray Food Dehydrator – Black

Dehydrate at 120 degrees for about 10 hours. Time will vary depending on the moisture of the strawberries.

When finished, store them in an air tight container. Canning jars work quite well for this.

Here is an example of one use for dehydrated strawberries. They can be used in cereal. Add them to a bowl with some milk and let soak for about 15 minutes to soften them up. Then add cereal and enjoy the fresh flavor.

Remember that when you dehydrate foods, all of the nutrition remains 100 percent intact. Only the moisture is drawn out. This is a very healthy way to preserve and store food for your survival preps.

Delicious!

By the way, a side benefit while dehydrating strawberries is the wonderful aroma that fills the house. Mouth watering.

Food Dehydrator Basics

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Food Dehydrator

A food dehydrator is a low temperature oven with a fan that pulls air in, over the food, and out with the purpose of removing the moisture content from the food. The temperature may vary from about 95 degrees to 155 degrees Fahrenheit, some with an adjustable thermostat and timer. A typical and common recommended temperature to use for dehydrating is about 120 – 125 degrees Fahrenheit (about 50 Celsius). If the temperature is too much higher, the food may actually begin to cook if you are not careful. The objective is to only remove the moisture, not to cook it.

The dehydrator parts include a box, food trays, fan, heater, temperature thermostat, and timer. In my opinion, the best dehydrator configuration is one where air enters through the front or rear, and flows evenly through the horizontal trays while exiting through the opposite end.

Based on my research and product reviews that I’ve read, in my opinion the best food dehydrator is… the Excalibur. I own the 9-tray model. Excalibur 3900 Deluxe Series 9 Tray Food Dehydrator – Black

Excalibur also makes a 5-tray model. Excalibur 3500 Deluxe Series 5 Tray Food Dehydrator – Black

Food Dehydrator Advantages

Dehydrating food has some advantages over other food preservation methods including the following

• Longer shelf life (up to 10 – 30 years depending on food storage methods)

• Food maintains 95% of its nutrients

• Economical operation (a full nine-tray 10-hour batch will consume about 6kW hours of electricity costing about 90 cents)

• Save money on groceries, (buy extra fruit and vegetables when on sale at the grocery store, or extra quantities of fresh food at a farmers market, and dehydrate it all)

• Compact food storage (foods shrink down quite small and a large quantity of food will store in a small space)

• Light weight (moisture is removed)

• Great tasting food preservation method (no flavor is removed during the dehydration process – only water is removed, leaving 100 percent of the flavor intact)

Food dehydration is one of the best methods to use for food preservation and food storage. It is a great tool to use for preparedness. It is economical, fast, healthy, and is easy to do! Start researching this today!



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