Here’s a kind of a strange one, but it works and is free. Doesn’t even use any energy.
Place food on racks over drip pans. Hang in your car parked in a sunny place with one or two windows very slightly cracked. Dries things out quickly if food slices are thin.
Makes your car smell like whatever you’re drying, of course.
I’ve also used this technique to dry my cell phone when it fell in the sink. Worked like a charm.
BTW, what’s your reason for believing dried food loses less food value than canned? I suspect it varies with the nutrient in question.
I'll address this since those are my words...just what I've read. That the canning process by nature leaches out the nutrients while drying preserves them within the food.
For example, from this link -
Because drying does not violently heat food, it does not destroy as many of the nutrients as canning or cooking.
You're probably right though, probably determined by the type of food being dried.
Thanks all, for your responses thus far.