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Put the food dehydrator in a place that will not change during the drying cycle. Do not forget, that during the
drying there will be an aroma of drying foods in the room, which is not agreeable to everybody.
Wash the foods well before preparing them for drying.
Select only non defective food for processing, cut out the damaged areas. Remove pits and cores from fruit.
Processed fruit should be ripe, but not overripe.
The drying process will be even when the food is cut into equal slices. Thin slices dry faster, but do not forget
that drying makes them substantially smaller.
Do not fill your whole food trays . Use about 85% of their area.
Put unpeeled fruit with the peel down and the cut surface up. Put uneven shapes always on the edge with
the peel, not on flat surface.
Arrange the vegetables regularly in a single layer.
Dry the herbs very gently. Remove only the stem, do not cut the herbs any more. It is necessary to turn the
leafy herbs during the drying process to prevent them from sticking together. Do not fill the whole chambers
to ensure sufficient food circulation.
To prevent some fruit from browning, we recommend to prepare the fruit before the drying in a solution of
one table spoon of lemon juice and a cup of water and drying it with a paper towel. You can substitute the
lemon juice with pineapple juice or with the commonly sold vitamin C.
Some fruits have a natural protective wax coating, such as figs, plums, grapes, blueberries, etc. Submerge
them into boiling water for 1–2 minutes, and after straining immediately put into cold water and then dry
them. Slice them and put them in the dehydrator. The peel will become porous and the drying will be faster.
Most kinds of vegetables should be shortly blanched before drying.
Blanching should prevent damage to appearance and taste of the processed products. When blanched, the
fruits and vegetables are boiled or steamed for a short time (1–5 minutes). Put the prepared vegetables into
a wire basket and submerge it into a pot with boiling water. Dry the foods totally before putting them into
the dehydrator.
The food dehydrator is put into operation by pressing the swich ON.
DRYING
The drying time depends on the kind, moisture, ripeness and the thickness of slices of the foods, as well as on
the humidity in the room and on the number of filled chambers of the dehydrator. We recommend a shorter
drying time and checking the foods visually and by touch during the process. Before the end of the drying
process, it is possible to sort out the thicker slices, which are not entirely dry and let them dry for another ½ an
hour or an hour. The drying process should follow immediately after preparation of the foods and the whole
process should take place without any interruption. If herbs are dried too long, they lose their taste. The fruit
should not be overdried, ie. it should not break.
Kind of food
Form of preparation
Spec.
preparation
Drying test,
surface
Drying time
in hrs.
Apples
cut into slices or rings, remove core
yes
springy
4–15
Apricots
cut in halves or quarters.
yes
springy
8–36
Pineapple
fresh
peel and cut into slices.
–
springy
6–36
Canned
pineapple
slice, dry
–
leathery
6–36
Bananas
ripe, slice into circles or strips 4mm
thick
–
Crisp, crunchy
5–24
Pears
remove core, make slices or halves
yes
springy, leathery
5–24
Strawberries
slice in half, leave small ones whole
yes
non-dewy
5–24
