25.5 Drying

Bacteria need moisture, and they grow fast in moist food, so dry and salted foods carry less risk. Beef jerky, uncooked rice, uncooked beans and flour are among the foods that are not potentially hazardous. Once it is cooked, though, food of plant origin counts as potentially hazardous.

Fruit and vegetables can be dried in a home dehydrator. Work in two sessions some weeks apart: one to treat, dry and pack the food, and one to bring it back to life and judge it.

Treat before drying

Enzymes keep working in cut fruit and vegetables and spoil them, so the food is treated first to hold them back.

• Carrots and onions are washed, trimmed and sliced, then steam blanched: spread thinly in a steamer and steamed until hot in the center, about 3 to 3½ minutes. Compare them with untreated slices.
• Apples are washed, peeled, cored and cut into rings, then dropped at once into one of three soaks for 10 to 15 minutes: nothing (left untreated), 1 teaspoon of salt in 1 pint of water, or 2 teaspoons of ascorbic acid in 1 pint of water.
• Peas get no treatment.

Blanching in general is covered with vegetables. see chapter 17: Blanch first, finish later

Drying and conditioning

• Drain the food and pat it dry. Lay cheesecloth on the dehydrator racks and spread the food on it in a single layer.
• Set the dehydrator at 140°F to 150°F.
• Dry vegetable slices until they are brittle, 3 to 6 hours, and fruit slices until they are leathery and bend without breaking, 6 to 8 hours.
• Put each sample in a labeled zip-top bag.
• Condition the food: keep it a week in a large container with a loose cover, stirring it every day, so the moisture evens out through the batch.
• Pack it into small airtight containers and keep it somewhere cool.

Bringing it back

• Dried carrots: cover with water and soak for at least 20 minutes, adding water to keep them covered. Then cook them like fresh carrots in a little of the soaking water.
• Dried apples: eat them as they are, or cover with water, soak for at least an hour, and simmer in the soaking water until tender.

Then compare each treatment for look, texture and flavor, and look closely at bought dried fruits: apples, apricots, currants, dates, figs, peaches, prunes and raisins. Buying and using dried fruit is covered with fruit. see chapter 18: Preserved fruit