Drying & Dehydrating
Part of "Food Preservation"
As families begin to eat more vegetables and fruit, dehydrators have become a popular way of preserving them for nutritious, preservative-free, dye-free, tastier and less expensive alternatives to store-bought snacks.
Home-dehydrated fruits and vegetables can last for months, and if properly stored, often up to a whole year. Lightweight, they are easily transportable to work, school, and for hiking and outdoor activities.
Using a food dehydrator retains the original vitamins, minerals, and natural enzymes of foods more effectively than other forms of food preservation or cooking.
This Course segment starts with a basic tutorial on using a dehydrator. It is followed by how-to guides and videos demonstrating other ways of drying foods such as oven drying. The Course segment ends with a tutorial on how to make ‘ulu flour with a conventional food processor and a poster on larger scale ‘ulu flour processing.
> Back to Course 6: Food Preservation
Useful Links:
VIDEO: Using a Dehydrator
Hawai‘i-based video showing fruit preparation and steps to using a dehydrator with helpul tips. Publicly available from KanuHawaii.org
VIDEO: All About Drying Food
Excellent 5-minute video on the popular ways to dry food and great practical advice that will help you achieve the best results.
VIDEO: Making Breadfruit Flour
Use drying and food processing to make flour from breadfruit (‘ulu). Go back to the Trees & Orchards segment in The Kuleana Curriculum Course, "How to Grow Food" for more useful links on growing ‘ulu trees.
Guide to Drying Fruit
The comprehensive guide on preparing dried fruit describes a range of drying methods. From the Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN.
VIDEO: Oven Drying
No dehydrator? No problem! This short video shows you how to dry fruits in your oven. From the American Heart Association.
A great poster showing all the steps from harvest to cleaning to drying and packaging ‘ulu as flour. Produced by Hawai‘i ‘Ulu Cooperative.