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favorite soup recipes can be dried and stored which also make a great last
minute meals, ready to cook.
Your Victorio™ Food Dehydrator keeps the temperature in the drying
chamber at a computer-controlled constant. Food is bathed in constant
warm, dry air which gently removes the moisture from the food. The result
is beautifully dried food every time.
You will find that drying food is practical and economical as well as
easy. It all starts with your state of the art food dehydrator.
What is Dehydration?
Dehydration refers to a process in which moisture is removed from food, al-
lowing the dried food to be stored safely for later use. It’s main benefit over
such ancient methods (such as salting or smoking) is that it adds no flavors
and removes few nutrients from the food being dehydrated.
When done properly, few nutrients are lost during dehydration. Ac-
cording to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), dehydrating retains
95-97% of the nutrients in the original food. In contrast, canning only
preserves 20-30% and freezing only retains 40-60% of the foods nutrition.
Dehydrated food tastes good too! Since natural flavors concentrate as
you remove moisture, the dried product is naturally delicious.
As you will soon learn, reconstitution is an integral part of dehydra-
tion. Reconstitution refers to the adding of water to the dried food. When
allowed to soak in water, dried food absorbs the water and swells back to the
original size, shape and texture while retaining nearly 100% of its original
flavor and nutrition.
Tools You Need To Get Started
• Paring knife (stainless steel blade)
• Cutting board
• Storage containers
Additional tools that make the job easier and faster can include:
• A food processor or other similar appliance for faster and consistent
slicing.
• A steamer and basket, or kettle and collapsible steamer for blanch-
ing.
• Blender for making fruit puree for fruit leather.
