Summer is upon us and that means festivals, walking, biking and hiking! Having portable snacks is key when you’re on the move, and dehydrated food is a great way to preserve and prepare on the go meals. This technique will save you time and money. You’ll also feel extremely savvy when you make your won granola, jerky, dried fruits and trail mix. I am here to guide you into the rejuvenating art of dehydrating food.
What is dehydration?
Dehydration is the cooking process of circulating low temperature air around an item to remove all moisture, but retain flavor and texture. Special dehydrator machines circulate air at about 115-160 F, which is why in most cases it’s difficult to dehydrate food in a typical oven. When dehydrating raw meat, some prefer to use an oven to help it reach that safe temp (i.e. 160 degrees for beef) before placing in the low temp of the dehydrator to get rid of any bacteria. It is a good safety precaution, but in my personal opinion, not necessary.
Next, you’ll need a dehydrator. I have owned only one, the Weston 4-tier Food Dehydrator which I bought from The Chopping Block. Throughout this blog, I will provide advice from my experience with this particular dehydrator. No judgment, it is the only one I have ever used, and she is beautiful, cooperative and always prevails in our dehydrating ventures. Other than the unit I will be speaking about, the most obvious “go-to” resource to find another dehydrator to suit your needs is Amazon, where I found plenty of brand name machines such as Excalibur, Nesco and Cabela ranging in price from $50 up to $250.
So, what to dehydrate?
Fruit
Fruit is coming into its prime, and is selling cheap and fast. This time of year, you can buy strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc. in bulk, while paying half the normal price. That also means that if you buy a lot of fruit, you run the risk of it spoiling too quickly. The ability to dehydrate your fruit is a great way to help it last longer.
- Purchase fruit that is in season, and of course, a fruit that you would eat in a dry state. Most fruits are great dried, but it’s totally up to your taste.
- I have found (and am waiting as I write) that fruit takes much longer than meat to dehydrate, especially strawberries (still waiting). But bananas and apples are pretty responsive to the dehydrator.
- Due to the fact that I am, no joke, physically waiting for the strawberries, I decided to make some fruit leather (recipe below). All recipes I have researched say they require a special mat, but that’s bull! Just use parchment paper, a silicone mat (Silpat) or even plastic wrap.
- Most importantly, make sure your fruit is cut thin and consistently. Otherwise it will not dehydrate evenly!
- Finally, put the sliced fruit into the dehydrator and wait. My dehydrator has only an on-off switch so no temp setting is necessary. However, because of this, I have over dried many things, so if you’re using a dehydrator without a gage, keep an eye on things.
Jerky
Here is the skinny on meat used for jerky. Ideally, you want very thin slices. You can cut slices yourself or get thin slices of meat such as skirt or flank. I just had my butcher thin slice a nice piece of rib-eye, which worked perfectly. You can also make jerky out of pork, turkey and fish. I haven’t tried these other options yet, but you might hear about it if I do!
Choose good quality, juicy red meat. You will marinate it and then dehydrate it. Make sure your piece of meat can take the heat!
After you have your meat cut, choose a simple marinade and let it hang out for at least 30 minutes or even overnight. I used some liquid smoke, Worcestershire, garlic, etc. I change it up every time, which is the fun part!
Place your cuts of meat evenly into the dehydrator and WATCH. The first recipe I used with my dehydrator told me to let it dehydrate for 7 hours! Little did I know, that is way too long. Remember, you will learn as you go! Watch and feel and you will be able to tell if your meat is done. Think about how YOU like the consistency of jerky to be, and if the meat is still red, it’s still raw, so it’s not done.
Storing
The great thing about making dehydrated food is that it doesn’t need to be refrigerated. Anything dehydrated will keep at room temperature, but most need to be in a sealed container. I find that a plastic Ziplock bag is fine for most foods, and taking out all the air before sealing will help keep the food as fresh as possible. If you have a vacuum sealer, you could keep the food edible for ages! Also if you are keeping a large quantity of dried food, be sure to label each bag with the date and ingredients. Dehydrated food is great for camping, hiking, picnics, long trips airplane flights, sporting events…. the list is endless! Dry it, seal it and take it anywhere to eat when you are ready!
Good luck with your new found dehydration hobby! I will leave you with a few more pointers and ideas:
- Load the trays evenly with the food flat; don’t overlap or stack anything.
- A good idea for food that will be dehydrating for longer periods is to flip them half way. Although the air does circulate very well, just like in cooking, flipping won’t hurt!
- Foods will also shrink about 1/2 their size, so don’t be alarmed. Be sure not to cut pieces too small, or there will be nothing left!
- There are many other things you can put into a dehydrator. If something is going bad don’t throw it out, dehydrate it: veggies, granola, kale chips, you can even make yogurt!
- No mistakes come with culinary experimentation; it is an art just as much as it is a science. Be creative!
Fruit Leather
Try this Strawberry & Banana Fruit Leather recipe from Naturally Obsessed.
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 240 minutes
Yields: Enough for 2 people
1 lb. organic fresh strawberries
2 organic bananas, ripe, but not over-ripe
- Thoroughly rinse strawberries. Dump into blender with tops on – if organic. Peel bananas and add to blender.
- Blend fruit until smooth. This should make 3 1/2 – 4 cups.
- Pour fruit mixture onto parchment paper or a Silpat. Divide liquid equally.
- With a spatula, carefully spread out mixture. Start in the middle and work out. Do not make liquid too thin.
- Dehydrate between 4 – 5 hours in dehydrator at 135 degrees.
Give dehydrating a try, and let me know what you think in the comments!
