Drying Food. Drying Food. University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. College of Agriculture. Cooperative Extension Service. Complete homeopathy resource site, online search directory, free newsletters, complete line of remedies, books, homeopathic kits, Alternative health care, safe and. Circular 1. 22. 7 Contents. Food Drying Basics. Equipment and Methods for Drying. Drying Fruits. Drying Vegetables. Drying Herbs How to Add Herbs. Diabetes Foot Care Soaking Feet The 3 Step Trick that Reverses Diabetes Permanently in As Little as 11 Days. DIABETES FOOT CARE SOAKING FEET The. Brining Meat is the secret to juicy flavorful meat on the smoker, grill or in the home kitchen. The effect of brine on poultry is absolutely amazing. Tenderizing Facts. There are several methods to tenderize meat. Breaking the muscle fibers by scoring or pounding the meat is excellent for thick cuts of meat. The benefits of sprouting can include digestive support, better nutrient absorption and improved metabolism. Learn how to sprout grains. Food. Drying Meats. Storing and Using Dried Foods. Selected References Drying is the oldest method of preserving food. The early American settlers. Soaking Meat In MilkCompared. In fact, you may already have. Dried foods keep well because the moisture. Drying will never replace canning and freezing because these methods. But drying is an excellent way to preserve foods that can. One of the. biggest advantages of dried foods is that they take much less storage space. Soaking-ox-tails.jpg' alt='Soaking Meat In Salt Water' title='Soaking Meat In Salt Water' />Food processing, packaging and weighing equipment manufacturer Heat and Control for snack food, process prepared, french fries, meats, poultry and seafood systems. Briefly soaking meat in a solution of baking soda and water raises the pH on the meats surface, making it more difficult for the proteins to bond excessively. Recommended methods for canning and freezing have been determined by. Home drying, however, does not have. Food can be dried several ways, for example. With the renewed interest in gardening and natural foods and because. Drying is not difficult, but it does take time and. Although there are different drying methods, the guidelines. How To Make Cannolis here. Although solar drying is a popular and very inexpensive method, Illinois. Dependable solar dehydration of. F. and the humidity is very low. The average relative humidity in central. Soaking Meat In Baking SodaIllinois on days with 9. F. temperatures is usually 8. Solar drying is thus not feasible. Drying food in the oven of a kitchen range, on the other hand, can be. In an electric oven, drying food has been found to be nine. Food dehydrators are less expensive. A convection. oven can be the most economical investment if the proper model is chosen. A convection oven that has a controllable temperature starting at 1. F. and a continuous operation feature rather than a timer controlled one. For. the rest of the year it can be used as a tabletop oven. GUIDELINESSpeed. For a good quality product, vegetables and fruits must be prepared for. They should be blanched, cooled. Foods should be dried rapidly, but not. Drying must not be interrupted. Once you start drying the food, dont. Mold and other spoilage. Temperature. During the first part of the drying process, the air temperature can. F. 6. 5 degrees to. C., so that moisture can evaporate quickly from the food. Because food loses heat during rapid evaporation, the air temperature can. But as soon as surface. The air temperature must then be reduced. F. 6. 0 degrees C. Toward the end of the drying process the food can scorch easily, so you. Each fruit and vegetable has a critical temperature. The temperature should be high enough. Carefully follow directions for regulating temperatures. Humidity and Ventilation. Rapid dehydration is desirable. The higher the temperature and the lower. Humid air. slows down evaporation. Keep this in mind if you plan to dry food on hot. If drying takes place too fast, however, case hardening. This means that the cells on the outside of the pieces of food. The surface becomes. Moisture in the food escapes by evaporating into the air. Trapped air. soon takes on as much moisture as it can hold, and then drying can no longer. For this reason, be sure the ventilation around your oven or. Uniform Drying. Drying the food evenly takes a little extra effort and attention. Stirring. the pieces of food frequently and shifting the racks in the oven or dryer. For. the best results, spread thin layers of uniformly sized pieces of food on. NUTRITIVE VALUEDried fruits are a good source of energy because they contain concentrated. Fruits also contain a rather large amount of vitamins and. The drying process, however, destroys some of the vitamins, especially. A and C. Exposing fruit to sulfur before drying helps retain vitamins A. C. Sulfur destroys thiamine, one of the B vitamins, but fruit is not. Many dried fruits are rich in riboflavin. Vegetables are a good source of minerals and the B vitamins thiamine. Both fruits and vegetables provide useful amounts. Save the water used for soaking or cooking. TYPES OF FOOD TO DRYMany kinds of fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs, meat, and fish can be. If you have never tried drying food before, though, its a good idea. This way you. can see if you like the taste and texture of dried food. At the same time. Fruits are easier to dry than vegetables because moisture evaporates. Ripe apples, berries, cherries, peaches, apricots, and pears are practical. Vegetables that are also practical to dry include peas, corn, peppers. Produce from the supermarket is. It is. a waste of time and energy to dry vegetables such as carrots that can be. Fresh herbs of all types are suitable for drying. The parts of the plant. Lean meats such as beef, lamb, and venison can be dried for jerky. Fish. also is excellent when dried. Certain foods are not suitable for drying. Lettuce, melons, and cucumbers are. SUCCESSFUL DRYINGDont be surprised to find a variety of suggestions for drying methods. The drying process is simply not as precise. You. may need to use a trial and error approach to find what suits you best. Whatever method you use, be sure to remove enough moisture from the final. When you dry foods, remember the following Cleanliness and sanitation are essential. The flavor of dried fruits and vegetables will be somewhat different. EQUIPMENTOne of the advantages of drying foods rather than canning or freezing. A kitchen. oven, drying trays or racks, and storage containers are the only basic equipment. If you want to dry large quantities of food, you may decide to buy. For sun drying you need only. Although the following equipment is not absolutely necessary, it will. Wood slats or stainless steel screen mesh are the best. Cake racks or a wooden frame covered with. Do not use solid metal trays or cookie sheets to dry food because air. Pieces of meat for jerky can be placed. Do not use racks made of galvanized screen, aluminum, copper, fiberglass. Galvanized screen contains zinc and cadmium. These metals cause. Aluminum. becomes discolored and causes an off flavor in sulfured fruit. Copper materials. C. Fiberglass may leave dangerous splinters in the food. METHODSOven Drying. Oven drying is the simplest way to dry food because you need almost no. It is also faster than sun drying or using a food dryer. But oven drying can be used only on a small scale. An ordinary kitchen oven. Set the oven on the lowest possible setting and preheat to 1. F. 6. 0. C. Do not use the broiler unit of an electric oven because the food on. Remove the unit if it has no separate. Some gas ovens have a pilot right, which may keep the oven warm. It is important to keep the oven temperature at 1. F. 6. 0 to. 7. 0 C. So put an oven thermometer on the top tray about half way back. Check the temperature about every half hour. Arrange 1 to 2 pounds of prepared food in a single layer on each tray. Put one tray on each oven rack. Allow 1 12 inches of space on the sides. To stack more trays in the oven, use blocks of wood in the comers. I inches apart. Dry no more than. A lighter load dries faster than a full load. Keep the oven door open slightly during drying. A rolled. newspaper, a block of wood, or a hot pad will keep the door ajar so that. Four to six inches. F. An electric fan placed in front of the oven. Shifting the trays often is important for even drying because the temperature. Rotate the trays from top to bottom. It helps to number the trays so. Stirring fruit. or vegetables every half hour or so also helps the food to dry evenly. Food Dryer. A commercial or homemade food dryer or convection oven provides automatically. Most households will not need a dryer unless. A food dryer takes less electricity than. However, the temperature. F. or 5. 0 C., so drying takes a little longer. You can buy a dryer at hardware, housewares farm supply. The price of commercial dryers varies greatly depending. Directions. for making an inexpensive dryer see illustration above are given in several. An old refrigerator. When using a dryer, preheat it to 1. F. 5. 2 C. Place the food on trays. Gradually increase the temperature to. F. 6. 0 C. It takes 4 to 1.