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Congratulations on Choosing the
Computer Controlled Food Dehydrator
This quality appliance is designed to give you many years of use.
For best results and trouble-free service we urge you to read this entire manual
Dehydration - Preserving Food
Thousands of years ago, one of the few ways people had to preserve foods was
by laying them out to dry in the sun
refrigerators and before chemical preservatives, dehydration was an easy way to
safely store foods for use at a later time when food was scarce or not in seaso
n
Your new food dehydrator applies modern science to this ancient art to bring
you a controlled predictable, and safe way to preserve foods at home.
Dehydrating food opens a new dimension in preserving fruits, vegetables and
meats to you Your new food dehydrator will be able to perfectly capture the fresh-
picked
in-season flavor and nutrition of almost any food for out-of-season eating
enjoyment. These dried foods can be more easily stored because they are less
likely to spoil and they take up less room as well
them perfect for camping or backpacking meals. Dried fruit snacks are delicious
and nutritious. Ingredients for your favorite soup recipes can be dried and stored
which also make a great last-minute meals, ready to cook.
Your food dehydrator keeps the temperature in the drying chamber at a computer-
controlled constant. Food is bathed in a constant stream of warm dry air which gently
removes the moisture from the food The result is beautifully dried food every time.
You will find that drying food is practical and economical as well as easy. And it
all starts with your state-of-the-art food dehydrator
What is Dehydration?
Dehydration refers to a process in which moisture is removed from food
allowing the dried food to be stored safety for later use. It's main benefit over other
such ancient methods (such as salting or smoking) is that it adds no flavors and
removes few nutrients from the food being dehydrated
When done properly, few nutrients are lost during dehydration According to the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA), dehydrating retains 95-97% of the nutrients
in the original food
In contrast, canning only preserves 20-30% and freezing only
retains 40-60% of the food's nutrition
Dehydrated food tastes good too! Since natural flavors concentrate as you
remove moisture, the dried product is naturally delicious.h
As you will soon learn reconstitution is an integral part of dehydration Reconstitution
refers to the adding of water to the dried food
dried food absorbs the water and swells back to its original size, shape and texture
while retaining nearly 100% of its original flavor and nutrition
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Before such modern appliances as
They also weigh less making
When allowed to soak in water,
Tools You Need To Get Started
Paring knife (stainless steel blade).
Cutting board
Storage containers
Additional tools that make the job easier and faster can include
A food processor or other similar appliance for faster and consistent slicing
A steamer and basket, or kettle and collapsible steamer for blanching
Blender for making fruit puree for fruit leather.
A small notebook to keep track of times and recipes that work for you as well as
those that don't.
Basic Food Preparation Tips
To Peel or Not to Peel
The peels of fruits and vegetables often contain much of the food's nutritional
value
Thus, it is better not to peel if the dried food is to be eaten as snacks or
used in cookies
On the other hand you will want to peel apples intended for pies
or tomatoes intended for soups. Generally, if you would normally peel the food for a
specific recipe, plan to peel the food before it is to be dehydrated
Cutting Makes a Difference
One of the most important factors in successful dehydration is how the foods are
sliced When drying fruits it helps to get all the slices about the same thickness so
they all dry to the same moisture level at the same time. Thick slices dry more
slowly than thin slices
The thickness you choose is up to you
pieces to as close to the same size as is possible will help ensure success and
consistency.
The skin of many foods naturally protects the food
dehydration process. During dehydration moisture escapes best from a cut or
broken surface
not through the tough skin
the faster and better the food will dehydrate
For this reason
thin stalked vegetables like green beans asparagus, and
rhubarb should be cut in half the long way, or with an extreme diagonal cut to
expose as much of the inner parts of the food as possible.
Fruit should be sliced across the core and not down through the core
always make thin flat cuts.
Broccoli stems should be halved or quartered
fruits like strawberries can be cut in half. Even smaller berries should either be cut
in half or blanched slightly to break the skin
but slicing all the
but it can hamper the
Therefore, the larger the cut area
Try to
depending upon diameter Small
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