Teaching Choral Concepts Curriculum

Review

     Every important facet of home food dehydrating is covered in this handy reference volume, which provides directions for making dozens of thrifty, healthy, do-it-yourself meals and convenience foods. 

Starting with a reminder of the "whys" of dehydrating foods, the book inspires its readers forward through chapters that carefully explain the various methods used to dehydrate and preserve foods.  Pretreatments and preparation of fruits, vegetables, herbs and meats are outlined in orderly detail, followed by useful dryness testing information and guidance on labeling, packaging and optimum storage conditions. 

The ABC's of Home Food Dehydration is a basic text for the industry--a book that belongs in every kitchen and food storage library! A rehydration section, with food items listed in alphabetical order, gives quick and easy reference and recipes when it's "time to put back the water" and to make the foods table-ready. 

The second half of the book is filled with delicious recipes for using dehydrated foods--recipes that are simple to prepare and delicious to eat. A wide variety of foods are covered: apples, apricots, asparagus, chicken, coconut, comfrey, fish, fruit leather, granola, jerky, noodles, onions, papaya, peppers, persimmons, rhubarb, sage, squash, turkey, yogurt, and dozens of other foods. The list is comprehensive, and the results are great! 

Table of Contents

About the Author, vi

Foreword, vii

I. Dry Food! Why?, 1
Nutritious Foods, 1
What's That Word We Hear So Often? Economy!, 1
The Battle of the Bulge, 2
Do-it-yourself Convenience Foods, 2
Just For Fun, 3

II. Drying Methods and Techniques, 4
Attic Drying, 4
Cloth Bag Drying, 4
Drying on the Plant, 5
Oven Drying, 6
Solar Dryer, 7
Sun Drying, 8
General Instructions for Sun Dried Sulfuring, 8
Sulfuring Rack Diagram, 10
Table 1. Sun Dried Fruit Sulfuring Chart, 12

III. Selecting a Home Food Dehydrator, 13
Home-made Units, 13
Choose the Dehydrator that Meets Your Needs, 13
Exterior Walls, 14
Heating Unit, 14
Fan, 15
Thermostat or Thermoswitch, 15
Shelf Material, 15
Capacity, 16

IV. Understanding the Drying Process, 17
Enzyme Action, 17
pH Factor, 18
Micro-organisms, 18
Water Content of Dehydrated Foods, 18
Table 2. pH Scale, 19
Case Hardening, 20
High Humidity, 20

V. Pretreatment of Foods, 22
Vitamins A and C, 22
Pretreatment Determines Food Value After Dehydration, 23
Treatments to Preserve Vitamin C, 23
Table 3. Fruits and Vegetables Containing High Amounts of Vitamins A and C, 24
Ascorbic Acid, 25
Erythorbic Acid, 25
Fruit Fresh, 25
Invert Sugars, 25
Pineapple Juice, 25
Sodium Bisulfite, 26
Steam Blanching, 26
Sulfuring, 26
Water Blanching, 26
Test Results of Vitamin C Preservation Methods, 26
Table 4. Sulfuring Table for Fruits to be Dried in the Dehydrator, 27
Erythorbic Acid, 27
Fruit Fresh, 27
Invert Sugars, 27
Pineapple Juice, 28
Sodium Bisulfite, 28
Steam Blanching, 28
Sulfuring, 28
Water Blanching, 28

VI. Twenty-five Helpful Hints for the Dehydrater, 29

VII. Fruit Preparation Guide, 32
Preparing the Fruit, 32
Checking, 32
Pretreatment of Skins for Easy Removal, 33
Dehydrofreezing, 33
Sulfuring for the Dehydrator, 34
Drying Times, 35
Table 5. Average Drying Time for Fruits, 36

VIII. Herb Preparation Guide, 37
Gathering and Preparing Herbs, 37
Storage of Herbs, 37

IX. Meat and Fish Preparation Guide, 38
Temperature, 38
Fish, 38
Jerked Meat, 38

X. Vegetable Preparation Guide, 40
Vegetable Selection, 40
Blanching, 40
Storage, 41
Table 6. Steaming Time--Average Drying Times for Vegetables, 42

XI. Testing for Dryness, 43
Fish, 43
Fruits, 43
Jerky, 43
Meats, 43
Vegetables, 43
Table 7. Tests for Dryness, 44

XII. Labeling, Packaging, and Storage, 45
Labeling, 45
Packaging, 45
Storage, 45

XIII. Rehydration, 47
Time to Put it Back Again--Water That is!, 47
Directions for Fruits, 47
Directions for Meat, 47
Directions for Vegetables, 48

XIV. Buy it-Dry it-Try it Guide, 50
Apples, Apricots, Asparagus, Avocados, Bananas, Green Snap Beans, Beets, Berries, Carrots, Celery, Cereal and Cracker Crisping, Cherries, Chicken, Citrus Peels, Coconut, Comfrey, Corn, Coating Mix, Croutons, Cucumbers, Date Sugar, Dill, Eggs, Eggplant, Figs, Fish, Fruit Leather, Granola, Grapes, Ice Cream, Jerky, Melons, Meat, Milk, Mint, Mushrooms, Nectarines, Noodles, Onions, Papaya, Parsley, Peaches, Pears, Peas, Peppers, Persimmons, Plums and Prunes, Potatoes, Pumpkin, Rasberries, Rhubarb, Sage, Sprouts, Strawberries, Strawberry Pie, Squash, Zucchini Bread, Sweet Potatoes or Yams, Candied Sweet Potatoes, Thyme, Tomatoes, Turkey, Yogurt.

XV. The Synopsis, 104
Food Dehydration Terminology, 105

Metric Conversion Equivalents, 108
Buying Guide, 108
Index, 109
Suggested References for Dehydration Information, 112

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