Filling The Drying Trays; Basic Food Preparation Tips - Victorio Food dehydrator Operating Instructions Manual

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you as well as those that don't.

Basic Food Preparation Tips

To Peel or Not to Peel
The peels of fruits and vegetable often contain much of the food's nutrition-
al value. It better not to peel if the dried food is to 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 is 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, but slicing all the pieces to as close to the same size as is possible will
help ensure success and consistency.
The skin of may foods naturally protects the food, but it can hamper
the dehydration process. During dehydration moisture escapes best from a
cut or broken surface, not through the tough skin. Therefore, the larger the
cut area, 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 as possible.
Fruit should be sliced across the core and not down through the core.
Try to always make thin, flat cuts.
Broccoli stems should have halved or quartered, depending upon diam-
eter—small fruits like strawberries can be cut in half. Even smaller berries
should either be cut in half or blanched slightly to break the skin.

Filling the Drying Trays

When loading the food into the trays you can use all the trays top surface,
but some airflow must be maintained. Try to place the food in a single layer
where possible. This is particularly important with foods like banana slices
and pineapple rings and not quite as important with beans. If some of the
pieces come out with too much moisture when you are finished, one of the
reasons is that it might have been covered by other pieces of food.
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