Looking for Food Dehydration - How to Dry Foods Instead of Canning or Freezing in 2022? Scroll down this page and follow the links.
And if you bring home some fruit or vegetables and want to can, freeze, make
jam, salsa or pickles, see this
page for simple, reliable, illustrated canning, freezing or preserving
directions. There are plenty of other related resources, click on the resources dropdown above. If you are having a hard time
finding canning lids, I've used these, and they're a great price & ship in 2 days.
If you have questions or feedback, please let me know! There
are affiliate links on this page. Read our disclosure policy to learn more.
Food Dehydration - How to Dry Foods Instead of Canning or Freezing
Food Dehydration - How to Dry Foods Instead of Canning or Freezing
Dry your own fruits, vegetables and other foods
Click here to print a PDF overview of the steps
Dehydration is an alternative to canning (called "bottling" in the UK)
and freezing fruits and vegetables. If you
have a surplus of fruits or vegetables from your garden, but lack the
canning equipment or freezer space, drying may be the right method for you!
Dehydrated foods have a number of advantages: Dehydration is a low-cost way
to preserve food that is free from concerns about botulism, the dried foods
require less storage space than canned goods, and there's no freezer to keep
running.
If you want to dry meats or make a meat jerky, see this page.
Best / Easiest Fruits to Dry
Some fruits are easier than others to dry at home. The more challenging ones can become sticky and fall apart, not firm, so it's best to start with
these until you get some experience drying fruits:
- apples
- bananas
- blueberries
- cantaloupes
- cherries (pitted)
- citrus peel
- coconut
- cranberries
- currants
- dates
- figs
- grapes
- nectarines
- papayas
- peaches
- pears
- pineapples
- plums / prunes
- pomegranates (if infused with sugar or juice)
- rhubarb
- strawberries
Equipment needed
Select the drying method and equipment that is
right for you.
Foods can be dried in a
(from best to worst, in terms of effectiveness, quality and safety)"
- a food dehydrator, (Be sure to read the instructions with your dehydrator). A food dehydrator is a small electrical appliance for drying foods indoors. A food dehydrator has an electric element, similar to a a hair dryer) for heat and a
fan and vents for air circulation. Dehydrators are efficiently designed to dry foods fast at 140ºF. Costs vary depending on features, from a low of about $35 to a high of $200. Most models are expandable and you can purchase additional trays later. Twelve
square feet of drying space dries about a half-bushel of produce. The major disadvantage of many dehydrators is their limited capacity.
See this page for models, prices and features of popular and
reliable food dehydrators and where to get them.
or
- a convection oven (has a fan, like a dehydrator, but it may be difficult to maintain a low enough temperature),
- A regular oven, (note: Drying is in a regular kitchen oven slower than dehydrators because it does not have a built-in fan
for the air movement. It takes about two times longer to dry food in an oven than it does in a dehydrator. Thus, the oven is not as
efficient as a dehydrator and uses more energy.)
- in the sun. (very, very slow... Drying times for sun drying
could range from 2 to 6 days, depending on temperatures and humidity.
Links to all steps:
Related pages