What is Food Dehydration
Food dehydration is the process of removing water and moisture from food such as meats, fish, vegetables and fruits. This practice has been done since prehistoric times to help people preserve and store food for a longer period.
There are 3 ways to dehydrate your food:
With the use of a food dehydrator
If you decide to dehydrate your food, the most convenient way is to use a dehydrator. When compared to over-drying, this method doesn’t destroy food enzymes. It also guarantees an even drying of your produce, not to mention it’s energy and time efficient as well.
You can view our Food Dehydrators available here.
Oven drying
When dehydrating food using an oven, you need to consider the type of oven you have. The process will take hours and it might not be cost efficient on your part especially when your oven runs on electricity. You also must leave the oven slightly open to release moisture which will waste energy and increase the temperature in your kitchen.
Sun-drying
The traditional way of dehydrating is by sun-drying. This method works best for fruits and vegetables. When drying meat this way, it may develop bacterial growth due to its protein content. Sun drying fruits may take 10-14 days.
Benefits of Dehydrating Food
1. Buy in bulk and store them for later use
Imagine visiting your local farmer’s market and seeing some fruits and vegetables you like at a great price. Now you can buy them in bulk, dehydrate them and consume them when you wish.
This leads us to the next benefit which is
2. Save on time, money and effort
Reduce the amount of time you have to spend on going to the grocery store or market. When you already have an ample supply of food stored in your pantry, you will not have to waste time going back and forth to shop.
It saves you energy and fuel too.
3. Store food that are out of season
If you like using a particular fruit or vegetable as an added ingredient, one way to always have them available in your pantry is to dehydrate them. Doing this means you have them handy and won’t have to wait for these to be in season again before you can use them in your favourite recipes.
4. Manage what you eat and how much you eat
You will have full control of what to include in your meals with the ingredients you have dehydrated. You can choose the quality of ingredients you buy from the store and dehydrate them in order to preserve it’s nutrients.
That way you know that you only include quality food in your meals.
5. Dehydrated food are as nutritious as fresh ones
When dehydrating food, especially fruits, you’ll be able to preserve all the vitamins, nutrients and healthy properties they have. On top of that, dehydrated food is much more flavourful because they are not watered down. Don’t believe us? Go try a dehydrated Banana !
You will have a whole new appreciation of its real flavours while enjoying all the healthy benefits that they have.
6. Save up on space and avoid spoilage
Dehydrated food shrinks, so you don’t need too much space to store them. You can keep them in jars, containers or even in Ziploc bags. Food that will be stored longer should be kept in vacuum sealed bags or air-tight containers.
The journey to start preparing and dehydrating your own food takes a little consideration and some investment as well.
But in the long run, the benefits will outweigh the initial work you will encounter.
Kickstart the process by choosing the best equipment that fits your lifestyle and budget for a quality USA made Excalibur Food Dehydrator click here.
