Preserving Food Techniques

Dehydration of fruit, vegetables and deer using food dehydration is one of the oldest types of food preparation methodologies known to man. Since food preservation is the most important reason for dehydration, dehydration of fruits, vegetables and beef, deer or elk also lowers the cost ofstorage.

Dehydration is an alternative to canning (called "bottling" in the UK) and freezing fruits and vegetables. If you've got an abundance of fruits or vegetables from your garden, but lack the canning apparatus or freezing space, dehydrating may be the right method for you!

It may also be a good methodology for preparing deer and game that you could have bagged on your recent hunting outing. These may include deer, antelope, elk or moose. Sometimes you can purchase a quarter, half or full side of angus from some meat markets and dehydration is an exceptional way to prepare these for your whole family for using around the year.

Dehydrated foods have a number of advantages:

- Dehydration is a low-cost way to prepare food that will be free from worries about botulism
- the dehydrated foods take less space for storage than canned foods
- there is not any fridge to keep running.

Before Dehydration Pre-drying treatments prepare the raw product for dehydration and include: raw product preparation and color preservation.

Raw product preparation includes:

- selection and sorting
- washing, peeling (some fruit and veggies)
- cutting into the proper form
- blanching (for some fruits and most veggies).

Fruit and veggies are selected; sorted according to size, maturity, and soundness; and then washed to remove dust, mud, insect matter, mold spores, plant parts, and other material that might contaminate or affect the color, smell, or flavor of the fruit or vegetables. Peeling or removal of any unattractive parts follows washing.

To stop browning: try steaming or coating light-colored fruits and vegetables with lemon juice or ascorbic acid (FruitFresh) before drying. Steaming or blanching also is recommended for veggies to inactivate enzymes that cause the vegetables to mature, or toughen during dehydrating.

Before Dehydration for your Meat Cut or cut into the proper size pieces and prepare with spices or marinade if you select to utilize them.

After Dehydration Putting into packaging of dehydrated fruits, veggies and deer or elk is a complete must to defend the dehydrated food against:

- moisture
- light
- air
- dust
- microflora
- foreign odor
- insects
- rodents

Also packaging:

- provides strength and stability to maintain original food size
- shape
- appearance

all though storage and serving to your, your family, mates or putting in lunches.

Package with materials that are approved for contact with food. Cost is also an important factor in packing.

Package types include:

- cans,
- plastic bags
- bins
- cartons, and depend on how much and what your storage space is like.

Now the only other thing you'll be doing after dehydration is eating the attempts of your work and of course, enjoying doing that. Infrequently, gift giving could be another way to enjoy gifting your family and friends with healthy treats.

Marjorie J McDonald experienced growing up in a gardening family. Each and every year a large garden was planted and all extra food was sold, frozen, canned or dehydrated so the extra foods lasted all thru the year. Creating food dehydrator recipes was especially fun for her family to do. Preserving Food Methods were very important to her family.
Preserving Food Techniques