[70th Division]

Finally my area of expertise. You can dehydrate everything but water. I do 10 Lbs of jerky every year. I made trail mix for the family of boys and girls a few years back. I did apples pears apricots, coconut, and bananas. With this I put mixed nuts and raisins. Details upon request. You must dip the fruit in citric acid first. Coating them with sugar and nutmeg or cinamon is a treat too. You can put all in vaccum seal bags and it is good for ever. YUM

[Cold Heart]

Ascorbic acid also called vitamin C (C6H8O6) is a better preservative than citric acid (C6H8O7) :)

[ChocChipCookie]

Thanks, appleseed, for posting one of my blog articles!

The one food I haven’t had any luck dehydrating is potatoes. I blanched them, per instructions, but they still turned out a horrific pinky gray color. If anyone has any suggestions for next time, I’d love to hear them.

Someone asked why I would dehydrate canned peaches. They’re more portable that way and take up much less space.

I have made jerky only once, and that was out of ground beef. I over-dried them and ended up with something akin to doggie treats. Someone told me I could rehydrate the meat and still use it. We’ll see.

With food storage, beans and rice are common, but humans are going to need the nutrients in fruits and veggies. That’s one reason for dehydrating your own.

Thanks again, appleseed, for reading my blog. It’s a thrill to know that what I write is helpful to someone. :o)

[Library Lady]

I would love to know how to dry bananas. We tried that a few years ago and they were not good.

[Library Lady]

I should have read all of the posts before I asked. I will try to dry bananas your way. Ours were hard as rocks. Thanks for the information.