Dehydrating Foods – FAQs For All

What is dehydration in terms of food technology?

Dehydration is the oldest technology to preserve food, even before the freezers were invented. In dehydration, we dry the food by extracting all the water out of it and then save the food for later use. No moisture will inhibit the growth of microorganisms, and you can store food for a long period.

What food items can be easily dehydrated?

You can dehydrate a lot of food items and later enjoy them in your way. The list of items that can be dehydrated include:

1. Meat – to dehydrate meat, you need to bake your meat at lower temperatures for 3 to 4 hours.
2. Fruits – fruits like bananas and apples can be dehydrated and safe for later use. They both need 3 to 4 hours of dehydration. Later you can add the seasoning or honey and enjoy them.
3. Vegetables – you can dehydrate vegetables and save your leftover to eat them crispier later.
4. Eggs – yes, you can dehydrate eggs if you have an abundance of those.
5. Yogurt – you can dehydrate yogurt to later add as an ingredient when you don’t want to add water. It can give flavor and consistency.

Are dehydrated foods healthy?

The straight answer to this question is yes. Dehydrated foods are healthy as they retain their nutrition and minerals even after the dehydration procedure.
The dehydrated food items are all-natural, no artificial flavor or preservatives are added to them.

They are 100% natural. The best option to eat after fresh food.

They are perfect for the diet as they don’t have any added sugar or additives.

The bacterial growth is usually linked with moisture. They are free from moisture and many microorganisms.

So yup, the dehydrated foods are healthy in various ways.

Why do we need to dehydrate food items?

Suppose you have some fruits or vegetables in bulk or have some leftovers of meat. You can dehydrate them to save them for later use.

Dehydration will remove all the water molecules so that no fungi or bacteria can grow on them as they need a moist environment. Then you can store them. Dehydrated food items will retain their nutritional values and also can stay for a longer time.

So to safe food with their full nutrition, you can dehydrate them and store them.

What are the ways to dehydrate food?

There are several ways to dehydrate food items. You can use either of them or the recommended one for the food that you are dehydrating.

1. Sun-drying: it is the oldest technique of drying food. A place where the temperature is 30 degrees Celsius and humidity is 60% will work fine for sun drying. This way of drying and storing food is the oldest and still in use because it is that economical and environment friendly.
2. Air Drying: it is also an ancient technique to dehydrate food. Food items that cannot tolerate sun and heat are dried with the air in the shade.
3. Oven drying: it is a procedure that is invented with time. For this, you need your regular oven and dry your food in it by baking them at a lower temperature for a longer time.
4. Solar drying: solar drying uses power from the sun, and a dehydrator is present that will dehydrate the food item using solar energy.
5. Electrical drying: this is the most advanced technique of drying food quickly with proper equipment. It will use electricity and has a fan inside to dry your food up. It also has a temperature gauge and fan speed adjuster.

What food items should we not dehydrate?

Everything is not suitable for dehydration. Certain food items cannot be dehydrated. Let’s see what we cannot store by dehydration:

1. Juices or soda items: you can use so the canning for them, or you can freeze them, but you cannot dehydrate them.
2. Avocados: avocado is a fruit that is very rich in fat. It is not advisable to dehydrate such high-fat content.
3. Non-lean meat: they are again full of fats, so it is not advisable to dehydrate them.
4. Butter: again, for the same reason of high-fat content. You should not dehydrate it.
5. Olives: they do not taste good when you dehydrate them. They already have a long shelf time storage, so it’s better if you don’t dehydrate them.

These are some items that you should not dehydrate.

Can I leave the food dehydrator overnight?

You can leave the dehydrators on for 24 hours. But there are some precautions and safety measures that you need to take for leaving a food dehydrator overnight.

• Leave your dehydrator on a fixed surface.
• Do not leave anything like cloth or paper that can catch fire.
• Check and turn on your fire alarm.
• Make sure it has proper ventilation.

That all, take these precautions and leave the dehydrator on overnight. But make sure to only leave the food items inside that require that much time, like meat.

For how long can dehydrated food last?

The answer to this question varies relating to the circumstances.

If you dried them properly, then sealed them in the airtight containers or bags, your food can last from 5 years to 10 years.

If you plan to eat them within a year, you can put them in the freezer bag with airlock zips and can keep a check on them.

If you rehydrate food, then vacuum seals them, your food can last up to 30 years. This is the longest food that can stay.

So it depends on you for how long you are going to leave that food before eating.

Is food dehydrator worth buying?

Food dehydrator has a lot of uses, which can convince you to buy it once and enjoy it for the rest of your life.

1. It extends the shelf life of the food items that will normally rot within a week.
2. It will save the space taken by your food.
3. They are not very expensive as compare to the benefits they give us.
4. They will keep the food healthy with full nutritional value.
5. It will not lead to over-drying or spoiling of food.

So a food dehydrator will help you to store food items, save the leftovers, and use them later that is healthy even after years.

What are the disadvantages of dehydrating food?

Everything has its advantages and disadvantages. While having a great list of advantages, there are some cons to this method too. The disadvantages of dehydrating food are:

1. The taste of the dehydrated food alters a lot.
2. If the moisture is left, the mold will grow fast.
3. Some of the food items will never be softened again like jerky.
4. The food does not help you with the daily requirement of fluid intake.
5. The whole process will take time.
6. High-calorie count because only all the water is extracted.
7. May leaves you with a high level of sodium, not suitable in many medical conditions like hypertension.

These are some of the main disadvantages of dried food items.

Does dehydrating food kill bacteria?

Dehydration is a procedure that removes water molecules from the food items. Bacteria and fungi such as mold growth in a humid environment in the presence of the bacteria.

When you dehydrate a food item, it will not kill the bacteria, but it will not let them grow either. So your food will be safe to eat because there will be no bacterial growth.

Should we cook meat before dehydrating?

Only dehydration does not kill the bacteria. You need to cook it before dehydration. To make the jerky, it is advisable to heat the meat, either beef or poultry, before dehydration.

The recommendations say that heat your beef to 160 degrees F and your poultry to 165 degrees F before you put them in the dehydrator for dehydration.

Heating will kill the bacteria if present any, and then dehydrator will remove the moisture, so your meat will be able to stay preserved for a longer period.

Should we cook vegetables before dehydrating?

If you want to eat raw vegetables later, you can dry it even without cooking. You can just wash them properly, cut them, and spread them on the dehydrator tray.

You can also do the blanching of the vegetables if you want to kill the microorganisms and ensure safety.

How do you seal dehydrated food?

After dehydration, you should seal the food items. For the sealing, you should either put them in the plastic zip containers, or you can put them in the jars.

Putting your dried food items, especially fruits and vegetables in an airtight jar or Mason jar, can also work as a decoration piece on your kitchen shelf. And you can open them and eat them when you want to.

You can also do the vacuum sealing, which will store the food for a way too long than normal sealing.

Are banana chips bad for our health?

You can make banana chips by dehydration. Dehydrating your banana that is cut in slices will make them crispy. These banana chips are not healthy for eating them a lot.

Banana chips have a lot of sugar and saturated fat. These high contents will lead to obesity and a high level of cholesterol. A half-cup serving of banana chips has about 210 calories. In taking this, much caloric food is not good for your health.

What are the benefits of dried apricots?

Apricot is a fruit that you can dry and store with the help of the dehydrator. It is very beneficial for health. Some of the benefits of dried apricots include:

1. They are very rich in nutrients, including potassium, calcium, vitamin A, C, folate, carbohydrates, proteins, and many more. One hundred grams of dried apricot will have 241 calories in them.
2. Dried apricots will help in weight loss despite having a high caloric count. As they are very rich in fibers, when you take the proper prescribed amount, they will help you in weight loss. Forty grams of dried apricot contains 10 grams of fibers. This is quite much to take as a daily intake of fibers.
3. Apricot contains iron and folate that is beneficial in pregnancy as well as in anemia. Regular intake of the apricots will help you with iron supplies. Iron is a basic need for hemoglobin in anemia and babies in pregnancy.
4. As we know that apricots contain a lot of fibers, so they are helpful in constipation. You can eat dried apricots to relieve constipation.
5. Dried apricots are good for diabetic patients as they have low glycemic value and will be suitable for a person with diabetes. They are also known to affect insulin levels.
6. The dried apricots have boron, which helps increase bone mineral density at a young age and in problems like osteoporosis.
7. The vitamin A content in the dried apricots help maintain skin health. Beta-carotene present in dried apricots is also converted to vitamin A in our body, and it is really good for our skin.
8. Dried apricots have beta-cryptoxanthin, which helps in the inflammatory form of arthritis. The magnesium level in the foods will also help with bone strengthening.

All in all, dried apricots have a lot of benefits. You must have some dried apricots in your jar to add them to your routine.

Will the food over dry if I turn the temperature high?

Over drying will not matter if you leave the dehydrator on but with a low temperature.

If you turn the temperature high, the outer part of the food item will dry, giving us the feeling of dried look, but the inside of the food will still have moisture. So do not make the temperature settings higher than recommended as you will end up with the spoiled or moldy food later on due to the moisture still present inside.

How to use a dehydrator to dry food items?

A dehydrator is a machine that will dehydrate your food items, including fruits, vegetables, meat, etc. it is usually rounded in shape but also rectangular type is present.

It has trays on which you can put your food. Then stack the trays, one on top of the other, and cover them.

Let’s see the steps one by one and suppose we are dehydrating fruits.

1. Get some fruits from the markets, fresh ones.
2. Wash them properly.
3. Cut them in thin slices.
4. Then put the slices on the tray.
5. You can fill all the trays with different kind of fruits.
6. Then you can put the lid on.
7. Attach it with the power and turn it on for the recommended time and also set the recommended temperature. You can check-in between if you want to.
8. After they are done, fill them up in the jar and store them.
9. And your dry fruits are ready to munch on later.

You can watch this video to get an idea of the things how they look like.

 What is the recommended temperature for drying food?

The recommended temperature is different for different food items. Some need a higher temperature like meat, and some require lower fruits.

• Recommended temperature for jerky is 130 degrees F to 140 degrees F.
• The recommended temperature to dehydrate fruits is 120 degrees F to 130 degrees F.
• Dehydrating temperature for vegetables is 140 degrees F.
• To dehydrate herbs, the recommended temperature is 125 degrees F.
• The recommended temperature to dehydrate almonds is 110 degrees F.

So the temperature is different for different kinds of food items. Set the dehydrator to the right temperature according to the food item.

Can we put different food items together in a dehydrator?

The temperature for dehydration is different for different food items, which means that you should not put different kinds on different trays at one time to dehydrate.

At one time, dehydrate food items that share the same dehydrating temperature to avoid over or under drying of any food.

How can I know if jerky is done after dehydration?

After you take the jerky out of the dehydrator, bend it to almost 90 degrees. If you feel like any moisture oozes out, then the jerky is not done yet. You need to give them more time to dehydrate.

If your jerky cracks and breaks after bending, it means that it is over dried.

If your jerky bends flexibly with no water, and it is completely dry, then it is perfect.

When we come to its texture, dried jerky should not be rough or crumbled; instead, it should have a leathery texture.

Can we dehydrate jerky in the oven?

Yes, we can. Making dried jerky in the oven requires a different procedure and timings, but we can surely make it.

• You need to line two baking sheets with aluminum foil.
• Then place a wire cooling rack on each sheet.
• Now spread the strips on the rack.
• Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
• Now bake the jerky and flip them once while the whole procedure.
• It will take about 4 hours to make them dry.

 What is better to dehydrate a jerky, a dehydrator, or an oven?

Both of the equipment, either dehydrator or the oven, will work fine for making jerky. It is all about your preferences and availability.

If you don’t have a dehydrator, the oven is the best option. Some people also choose the oven as the oven is hotter than the dehydrator, so you can make your jerky quickly while not destroying much of the taste.

People who recommend a dehydrator for making dried jerky says that if you want to make the jerky every few months, then a dehydrator is better. Also, the dehydrator is more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly than an oven.

 How can I dehydrate potatoes?

Dehydrating potatoes is super easy and very useful. There are a few steps that you should go through:

1. Wash the potatoes thoroughly.
2. Peel them or not to peel them, this step is totally up to you.
3. Slice the potatoes, try to keep the same measurement. It should not be more than 2.5 mm thick. You can also use a food processor if you have one to slice the potatoes up.
4. As you slice them, start putting them in the bowl of cold water to prevent them from turning brown due to oxidation.
5. The most important step is to blanch them before dehydrating. This step is really important. For this, boil water in a pot. Add your potato slices in it. Keep them in the boiling water until they become tender when you check with the fork, which usually takes 4 to 6 minutes.
6. Step 6 is that you should not miss the step 5 on any cost. If you have not to blanch them, blanch them first.
7. Now take them out and spread them on the dehydrating tray. Keep it in mind that they should not overlap. If you shred your potatoes for dehydrating, then they can overlap on the dehydrating tray.
8. Now turn the dehydrator set to 135 degrees F for 8 to 10 hours.
9. Now let them cool and put them in the jar to store them.

This is an easy way to dehydrate the potatoes.

What are the food items that need to be blanched before dehydration?

Blanching is preheating that will help you to preserve the nutrients and the flavor of the vegetables. The common vegetables that should be blanched are:

• Asparagus
• Spinach
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Carrot
• Beans
• Corns
• Potato
• Kale

These vegetables should be blanched for 1 to 5 minutes before you put them on the dehydrator.

Will dehydration remove the nutrients?

Every preservation method will remove or decrease the nutritional value, and so is dehydration. But it will affect the least as compared to the other methods. It does not provide that much heat that destroys the nutrients, so most of the nutrients are preserved.

Should we swap the trays while dehydrating?

Yes, it is advisable to swap the trays. There is more heat at the lower end than at the top. If you are dehydrating one kind of food item so rotate the trays somewhere in between the time to ensure the uniform drying of all the pieces.

How can we prevent sticking of food to the trays?

If the slices cut is too thin, they might get stick with the trays. To avoid this hustle, you can spray any vegetable oil on the trays. And after one hour slightly lift off the food with the spatula, then it will not stick with the tray.

 Which dehydrator is the best to buy?

There is nothing best. It all depends on your priorities and preferences. The dehydrator ranges from 30 dollars to 1000 dollars. The more you add, the more features you’ll get.

You can add on more trays, more space, and safe time by doing all the batch in one go.

Then there are rounded shaped and square-shaped. There is an option of the temperature setting and fan adjustment. A feature of timer also comes in some dehydrators, where you don’t have to worry about the turning off.

So it all depends on what are your needs and buy a dehydrator according to that.