How to Use a Home Essentials Food Hydrator

People have been preserving food by drying it for generations. With the advent of grocery stores, this practice is no longer as prevalent. However, with a Home Essentials food dehydrator, you can return to tradition. A food dehydrator has a heating unit that removes moisture from food using heat and air flow. Removing this moisture prevents bacteria from spoiling food while making delicious, long-lasting snacks.

Things You'll Need

• Home Essentials Food Dehydrator
• Food
• Knife
• Cutting Board
• Airtight container

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Instructions

• 1

  Choose the food you want to try and check how long it needs to be dried. Heavier foods, such as meat, take longer to dry than water-based food like vegetables. Cut your selected food into thin strips so that it will dry in a short amount of time. Lay the strips out on the trays carefully so that they do not overlap. The heat will come through the trays from below and dry the food evenly all over.

• 2

  Home Essential food dehydrators have thermostats that can be adjusted to the appropriate temperature for the food you have chosen. Choose the correct temperature and set the timer so that the dehydrator will turn off automatically when the food has finished drying. The National Center for Home Food Preservation at http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/ is a good source to find recommended temperatures to dehydrate food. Meats need to be dried at higher temperatures than fruits and vegetables.

• 3

  Remove the food from the trays when it has finished drying and store it in an airtight container. Allow the Home Essentials food dehydrator to cool before attempting to clean it, as the trays can get as hot as 155 degrees Fahrenheit. When it has cooled, remove and wash each tray in hot water with soap until clean.