Understanding Home Dehydrating Fruits & Vegetables

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When you home dehydrated fruits and vegetables you are applying a very very low, slow bake to them until they reach a low enough oxygen level to store for long periods of time. The less moisture the better without burning them. Every machine is different so what works for mine may not work identically in yours but the main dehydrators of today do tend to try and stay on equal footing.

I am *not* here to give you specifics like temps & times you need for a recipe. There are 1000s of books and blogs & I'm not an expert. I just study well and used my knowledge to write this post about proper storage and shelf life of your fruits and veggies.

MY REASONS TO DEHYDRATE:

• SPACE: 10 lbs of frozen mixed veggies = 1/2 gallon
• No Freezer Worries: Electric out? No prob when your food is in jars!
• Lightweight: 2 lbs of apples becomes 4 oz! 100 lbs apples = 6.25 lbs!
• Portable: You're reducing 95% of the water content in your veggies. That's a lot less space in your BOB, camping pack, RV, or cellar.
• Great As Snacks: I love tomato wheels, sliced cucumbers, apple chips, fruit leather, etc... <3
• Easy Meal Prep: Dehydrated egg powder, onions, garlic, a tsp of milk powder, and some salt in a baggy = easy scrambled eggs. Make 10 bags at once. OR boil pasta, dehydrated tomato powder, and spices, then add a $2 shelf stable beef crumbles packet. Spaghetti as good in 2 yrs as it is now. 
• Save Money: This month a local gardener was selling his last few bushels of tomatoes in bulk - $90 for 100lbs. Canning would have been great but that is a LOT of jars - instead dehydrate into tomato powder using 10% of the jars. Makes enough sauce for 50 meals for 4 probably.

Using a lot of info from the web including Modern Survival Blog and Barefoot In The Kitchen, I have come up with a few key notes you should adhere to, if you want the longest shelf life for your fruits and veggies. The inspiration for my writing this post came from Mandy and her blog, littlesuburbanhomemaker!

You should have:

• 1/2 Gallon or Quart Sanitized Mason Jars
• Drying System
• Foodsaver or equivalent and jar sealer attachment with correct "mouth"
• OR 300cc Oxygen Absorber
• These absorbers go on the TOP of your jars, after you add food.
• 1 Gram Silica Gel Packet 
• you could get 200 for $10 on amazon
• use 1 in quart jars
• use 2 in half gallon jars
• 1 gram per quart is the maximum, or your o2 absorber will fail
• these desiccants go on the BOTTOM of your jars, before you add food.
• Home dehydrator system
• having spare drying sheets (excalibur), or solid trays (nesco), etc will prevent your liquids from dripping. Although excalibur is the best machine for home use, nesco round lipped solid trays are easier for liquids, so I use my round trays in my square excalibur, losing some space but saving myself a headache

You can see with this egg powder batch how the nesco's lip is awesome, compared to the excalibur's flat tray.

Now that you have your "gear" you need your items.

• You only want a thin layer of items per tray, all spaced out basically the same, and of uniform size. Check online for photos of the item you're dehydrating to see how others space and cut the items for a better understanding. 
• You need to find the correct drying temp for what you're dehydrating.
• With a silica packet on bottom and absorber on top (or silica/foodsaver'd jar)
• fruits with 20% max moisture in 55-65 degree rooms will last about 12-15* months
• fruits with 20% max moisture in 65-75 degree rooms will last about 6-9* months
• vegetables with 5% max moisture in 55-65 degree rooms will last about 24-36* months.
• vegetables with 5% max moisture in 65-75 degree rooms will last about 12-18* months.
• *use common sense by checking for degradation often: look for changes or condensation, feel the jar lid to make sure its still compressed down, smell & feel the food when you open jar, listen to foods when they drop, you'll be able to tell if your green beans are dry or not.
• above 75 degrees you'll lose shelf life faster
• WHEN IN DOUBT: THROW IT OUT (Or feed to pigs, lol)

How They Degrade

• Oxygen breaks down proteins & fats. First flavor degrades and then they spoil.
• Light photons also break P&H down, then go further & degrade vitamins.
• Moisture is a haven for bacteria especially in low acid environments like veggies some fruits.
• Temperature degrades a food more quickly than all others except moisture.
• SEE CHART BELOW

Now you can go look at THESE PINS for recipes and uses!