Dehydration is basically a method that is used for preserving food by drying it. It hinders the growth of various microorganisms like yeast, bacteria and mould through the removal of water. Traditionally, water was removed using evaporation, that is, air drying, smoking or sun drying. But nowadays, there are electric food dehydrators and freeze-dryers, which can be used for consistent results and faster removal of water.
Food Dehydrators have several exciting benefits
- The seasonal fruits and vegetables are always available at great bargains. Especially the farmer’s markets, fruit stands & pick-your-own-produce farms provide amazing value. So, you can buy these in bulk at low prices, and use them the whole year round when they are not in season and available at high prices.
- The costs are far less, compared to dehydrated foods commercially available in superstores.
- The flavour of fruits and vegetables is intensified once they have been dehydrated. They give the true taste without the dilution of the flavour by the water content.
- Dehydrated foods have almost the same nutrient value as the fresh foods. They maintain the essential nutrients, vitamins, minerals and enzymes even after dehydration.
- They can be stored easily for long, and take up very little space. Guess what! 20 pounds of tomato would fill only 2 large jars after being sliced and dehydrated.
- Dehydrated foods make healthy snacks that even your kids would love. The fruits and vegetables that they usually run away from, they’ll start having as a snack.
- It would prevent so much wastage! Any fresh food that you think is soon going to rot can be simply placed in the food dehydrator.
- If you have dehydrated versions of food in your pantry, you’ll never have to run to the grocery store at the last minute to buy those overly priced dried foods that also contain a large amount of processed sugar. Better to have home made dehydrated foods to obtain the true goodness.
You can dehydrate any food that contains water, so that includes fruits, vegetables, herbs, meats, flowers, pet treats, and bread. You don’t need to worry about the loss of nutrients in the process of dehydration, as there is a minimal loss of such nutrients and about 90% of minerals & vitamins will be retained. All you need to dehydrate food at your home is a dehydrator which is easily available online. There is no additional equipment required. One Tip: don't use very high temperatures for drying the food, it will result in faster dehydration, but then the nutrient loss will also be greater. Just buy one of those dehydrators with a timer and it will do all the temperature control for you and retain the essential nutrients at the same time.