What does it mean to dehydrate foods?
Food dehydration uses 1) heat to draw out the moisture in foods and 2) air circulation to carry off the moisture to eventually evaporate. The purpose is to draw out the food’s moisture to avoid spoilage. If done properly, dehydrated foods can last for many months. What kinds of foods can be dehydrated? Almost any food can be dehydrated – Fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses and even yogurt! And if dehydrated properly, you can retain almost all of the nutrients. (Some fruits and vegetables may lose a bit of vitamins A and C, but this can be minimized if properly pretreated). And the recipes are endless to make crackers, breads, cookies, vegetarian burgers, potpourri, granola, snack bars, candy, you name it! For example, my daughter and I made blueberry nut bars on Friday night (just walnuts, almonds, blueberries and raisins), and it delivered a fabulous PB&J for lunch today! We also make low-calorie sweet potato treats for our overweight yellow lab and a variety of trail mixes for park ou
