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       #Post#: 378--------------------------------------------------
       Dehydrator Recipes Basic Methods!!
   DIR By: Hummingbird
       Date: August 19, 2012, 4:27 pm
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       Dehydrator Recipes
       Reach for a bowl of flavorful vegetable chips or roasted pumpkin
       seeds. When the snack urge hits, bite into your custom blended
       granola bars, naturally sweet fruit slices and roll ups. All
       without artificial chemicals and preservatives.
       FRUITS
       Dried fruit is superb! Try it plain, as fruit leather, or in ice
       cream, cobblers and pies. It’s hard to imagine a better tasting,
       more nutritious snack than dried fruit. Dried fruit is naturally
       sweet, has no preservatives, and is inexpensive. The dehydrators
       offered at Harvest Essentials make drying fruit easy.
       Pre-treatment
       Most fruits just need halving, coring or pitting, and slicing.
       Some fruits, such as apples, pears, peaches apricots and bananas
       tend to darken somewhat with drying, or storage beyond six to
       seven months.
       To prevent this, fruit pieces may be dipped in solutions of
       lemon juice, pineapple juice, orange juice, sodium bisulfite, or
       ascorbic acid prior to dehydration. Dip the fruit in the
       solution for two minutes. Drain on paper towels and place in
       drying trays.
       VEGETABLES
       Dried vegetables are every bit as versatile as fruits. With
       them, you can make delicious soups, stews, souffles, casseroles,
       and much more. Wash vegetables in cold water before processing.
       A certain amount of coring, slicing, peeling or shredding is
       required. Pretreatment procedures for vegetables vary from none
       at all to steam or water blanching.
       Heat Treatment
       Most vegetables will need to be steamed or blanched before
       drying. This inactivates the enzyme which caused ripening and
       would continue to bring about changes in flavor and odor.
       Although untreated vegetables used within three to four months
       will have acceptable flavor, heat treated vegetables
       reconstitute much more quickly, making it desirable to treat
       even those to be used on next week’s camping trip.
       Steaming is the better method of treating. Place a single layer
       of chopped or sliced vegetables in a colander or steam basket.
       Shredded vegetables can be 1/2 inch deep in the colander or
       basket. Set vegetables in a pot above a small amount of boiling
       water and cover. Water should not touch the vegetables. Begin
       timing immediately. Refer to table for length of steaming. When
       ready to remove, vegetables should be barely tender. Spread
       steamed vegetables on trays and dehydrate.
       Blanching is faster than steaming, but many nutrients are lost
       in the blanching water. It is not recommended for chopped or
       shredded vegetables, which would easily overcook during
       blanching. To blanch sliced vegetables, drop the prepared
       vegetable into a large pot of boiling water. Do not add more
       than 1 cup food per quart of boiling water. Begin timing
       immediately. For timing, follow standard freezing directions.
       Timing is approximately one-third to one-half that of steaming,
       or until vegetables are barely tender.
       A few vegetables, such as onions, garlic, peppers, tomatoes and
       mushrooms can be dried and reconstituted successfully without
       heat treatment. In general, if vegetables must be steamed or
       blanched for freezing, they must be treated for drying.
       MEATS
       Meats, poultry, and fish dry beautifully in dehydrators. The
       resulting products are lightweight and high in protein, making
       them an ideal food for outdoor enthusiasts. The dehydrator turns
       thin slices of beef, poultry, fish, or game meats into hearty
       mid-afternoon snacks or food to use much like salami on pizza or
       hash for main dishes. By taking advantage of fresh meat
       specials, these dried products can be obtained for a fraction of
       the cost of commercially prepared dried meats.
       Preparation
       Cut meats across the grain into thin strips about 1-inch wide
       and 1/4-inch thick. Trim off all fat and connective tissues. For
       easier cutting, partially freeze by placing meats on the bottom
       of the freezer for about 30 minutes. Turn and freeze 15 minutes
       longer. To prepare fish, filet, then cut into 1-inch strips.
       
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