Recommended Tools; Food Preparation - Klarstein 10029505 Handbuch

Recommended Tools

• 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 blanching.
• Blender for making fruit puree for fruit leather.
• A small notebook to keep track of length of time and recipes that work for you as well as those that don't.

Food Preparation

Fruit and vegetable peel often contain much of the food's nutritional value. Therefore it is better not to peel
if the dried food is to be eaten as snack or used in cookies. On the other hand, you will want to peel apples
intended for a pie or tomatoes intended for soup. Generally, if you normally peel the food for a specific recipe,
then peel the food before it is to be dehydrated.
One of the most important factors in successful dehydration is how the food is sliced. When drying fruits it
helps to get all the slices about the same thickness so they all dry to the same moisture level, at the same time.
Thick slices dry more slowly than thin slices. The thickness you choose is up to you but slicing all the pieces to
as close to the same size as is possible will help ensure success and consistency.
The skin of many foods naturally protects the food but it can hamper the dehydration process. During dehy-
dration, moisture escapes best from a cut or broken surface not through the tough skin. Therefore, the larger
the cut area, the faster and better the food will dehydrate.
For this reason thin stalked vegetables like green beans, asparagus, and rhubarb should be cut in half the long
way, or with an extreme diagonal cut to expose as much of the inner parts of the food as possible. Fruit should
be sliced across the core and not down through the core. Try to always make
thin flat cuts.
Broccoli stems should be halved or quartered depending upon diameter. Small fruits like strawberries can be cut in
half. Even smaller berries should either be cut in half or blanched slightly to break the skin.
Filling the Drying Trays
When loading the food into the trays you can use all of the tray's surface, but some airflow must be maintained.
Try to place the food in a single layer whenever possible. This is particularly important with foods like banana
slices and pineapple rings and not quite as important with beans. If some of the pieces come out with too
much moisture when you are finished, one of the reasons is that it might have been covered by other pieces
of food.
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