Overview Of The Components / Scope Of Delivery; Worth Knowing In Advance; What Else Should You Consider - Profi Cook PC-DR 1218 Instruction Manual

Overview of the Components /
Scope of Delivery
1 Display
2 Housing
3 Handle
4 Air vents
5 Control panel:
button (increases time and temperature)
button (decreases time and temperature)
TEMP / TIME button (switches from temperature to time
and vice versa)
button (switching the appliance on / off)
6 Sieve trays (6 pieces)
7 Crumb tray
8 Fine tray
9 Door

Worth Knowing in Advance

Dehydrating is a method of long-term food preservation.
Vegetable and animal food contains a lot of water – this is
the reason why many foods only have a short shelf life. Wa-
ter is the basis of survival for bacteria and other pathogens,
such as fungi. By removing the water, pathogens lose their
livelihoods, which in turn prolongs the shelf life of foods. The
advantage over other preservation methods is: The vita-
mins, minerals and dietary fibers of the food are preserved.
In your food dehydrator, a fan circulates the heated air
throughout the sieve trays. Thus, it becomes possible to
speed up the dehydrating process compared to drying in
the open air.
You can set at the appliance the desired temperature and
the duration of the dehydrating process. Temperature range:
35 °C - 75 °C, timer: 0.5 - 24 hours.
You can dry using a single sieve tray or up to six sieve trays
at the same time. If you want to dry thicker food, do not use
all sieve trays.
Please note that food which you have produced at home in
your food dehydrator may have a different appearance to
convenience foods that you buy in the supermarket or or-
ganic food shop. The reason for this is that no artifi cial col-
ourings or preservatives are used in your food dehydrator.
You can also (partially) reverse the drying process by simply
soaking the dried fruit or vegetables in cold water or cooking
them with other foods (e.g. soup vegetables or mushrooms).

What Else Should You Consider?

• Do not use frozen foods. They contain too much water.
• Always use fresh foods.
• Overripe foods or food with rotten areas are not suitable.
• Do you want the dehydrating process of one type of
foods to be completed at the same time? In that case,
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the pieces should be equally thick, so that they can dry
at the same speed.
• Place the prepared pieces on the sieve tray in a way that
they do not overlap each other.
• The drying time depends on several factors: size, con-
dition of the pieces, quantities used, set temperature at
the appliance and ambient temperature. You will find the
standard values in a table at the end of this chapter.
• It is only partially visible to the eye whether the food
dehydration has already been completed. Instead of the
visual inspection, it is advisable to touch the food.
- Fruits must not produce moisture when exposed to
pressure.
- Dried vegetables should feel almost like leather.
- Herbs are done when they crumble when grated.
- The meat must not have any spots that feel soft. How-
ever, it must not break even when you bend it.
Fruits
• We recommend using ripe fruits because they contain a
high level of natural sugar. Unripe fruits often taste bitter
after drying.
• Wash and dry the fruits thoroughly.
• If necessary, remove kernels, stones and all bruises.
• Fruits with a naturally waxed skin, such as grapes or
plums, can be pre-blanched in boiling water. This short-
ens the dehydrating time.
• Cut larger fruits in equally thick slices (3 - 6 mm). Halve
medium sized fruits.
• It is normal that brightly colored fruits, such as apples
or bananas, become darker when dehydrating. You can
prevent this by previously soaking the fruit slices for
2 minutes into lemon or pineapple juice. Dry the fruits
then thoroughly with paper towels.
Vegetables
• Wash the vegetables thoroughly.
• Cut them in about 6 mm thick slices or pieces.
• Blanch the vegetables for 1 - 2 minutes in boiling water.
Afterwards, we recommend to shock them by tossing
them in ice water. Thus, they retain the color, flavor and
structure.
• Then dry the vegetables thoroughly with a paper towel.
Fish
• After having been prepared for eating, fish are divided
lengthwise.
• Fillet large fish and cut them into strips. Do not remove
the skin, so that the strips are held together.
• Dab the fish dry with paper towels.
Herbs
• Harvest the herbs preferably on a rain-free morning.
Before harvesting, they should have been exposed to at
least 1 or 2 days of sunlight. Early in the morning, in the
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