General Drying Guidelines - Nesco Food Dehydrator Use And Care Manual

General
Drying
Guidelines
here are no absolutes and quite a
T
few variables in food dehydration.
The only way to become proficient
is to dry, dry, and dry some more!
Certain varieties of produce, the humid-
ity in the air, and even methods of food
handling make a difference in the drying
time and quality of dried product.
• Experiment with different drying tem-
peratures, thicknesses of produce, pre-
treatment versus no pre-treatment and
different rehydration methods. You
will determine what works best for
your particular needs and preferences.
• To save nutrients and produce a
quality product, it is necessary to
work fast preparing foods to dry.
When placed in your dehydrator,
they need to dry continuously at the
recommended temperatures and
times. Do not turn off your dehydra-
tor and leave partially dried foods
sitting on the trays. The food may
spoil or develop off flavors.
• Spread all foods evenly to dry in
single layers. If slices overlap, the
areas that are overlapping will take
twice as long to dry.
• Do not add fresh produce to a partial-
ly dried batch. It will slow the rate of
drying for both products. It is possible
however, to combine partially dried
foods on to fewer trays.
• Many people have more than one
NESCO American Harvest
®
tor. If you have two, it' s easy to com-
bine a load from both dehydrators
after a few hours and start a new
batch in your second dehydrator
using the remaining trays.
Selecting food to dry
Select the best quality produce at the
peak of ripeness and flavor. Wash
carefully to remove debris, dust, and
insects. Cut away any bruised or
damaged sections.
Loading Trays
Lay food pieces evenly on trays. Don't
overlap food pieces as this will inhibit
drying. As each tray is loaded, place it
on the dehydrator to begin drying.
9
dehydra-
®