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Drying Naturals 2: Veggies, Fruit, Seeds and Nuts

© Eileen O'dea

Drying food items is easy and convenient. It can also save you money. Have you seen the prices on those dried fruit snacks? You can dry them for a fraction of that cost. Also, it costs nothing for the storage of dried goods. You can buy produce when it is in season,and enjoy it all year round. If you grow the produce, you get virtually free dried goods.

Dried foods are also about the nutritional equal to frozen food, and take up much less space. Drying is superior to canning because the high temperatures used in canning kill many of the nutrients. Actually, canning can destroy as much as 65 percent of the foods nutrient value, particularly riboflavin, vitamin C, and Thiamin.

Now there is some loss of vitamins A and C during the drying process, but dried foods reduce to about one-quarter of their original weight - making them concentrated nutritional power kegs.

PREPARING FOODS FOR DRYING:

All of the produce you will use must be the freshest it can be. That means no blemishes or bruises. Drying fruit must be perfectly ripe.That way the sugar content is at its peak.

Make sure to thoroughly clean all fruits and vegetables.You also want to make sure you cut them all the same size to ensure uniform dehydration. The larger the pieces, the longer they will take to dry. You don't, however, want to cut them too thin. That could diminish the flavor, and even cause burning.

Many fruits and veggies need to be pre-treated. For fruit you'll want to soak the slices in lemon juice or ascorbic acid for three minutes. For veggies, blanch the slices or chunks for two minutes. For cherries, you'll need to "check" the fruits.This simply means to poke a few holes in the skins. I use a corn cob holder for this step.It makes the work go a lot faster.

DRYING METHODS:

Electric Dehydrator:
A combination of electric heat and air circulation is today's method of choice. It is faster and more efficient for evenly drying things from flowers to fruit to veggies. And using the lowest temperature reduces the vitamin loss. It also avoids destroying the digestive enzymes in the food.

Sun Drying:
The perfect choice if you have 90 F temperatures and LOTS of sunshine. Plus you need low humidity, low air pollution and great air circulation. It takes a very long time and you always run the risk of insect infestation, so we won't get into that now. If you are really interested in trying it, e-mail me and I'll send you the directions.

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