Dehydrating Garden Foods for Winter Storage

The months of winter are long and cold. There are not so many activities that can be done during these months. Likewise, in this season, the fresh produce is so limited and its availability is so scarce. It is then very important to be prepared and stock up foods before supplies run low. Of course, you can buy as many fruits and vegetables as you can before the season takes a turn around the corner and heads towards winter, but it does not take too long before these would also come to waste because of spoilage or rotting. To get the best of fruits and vegetables for a long time, food preservation techniques are very essential. It is even great if you have your own space in your backyard to grow these emergency garden foods.

One of the most common food storage techniques is dehydration. Dehydration, as it implies, is the removal of water to prevent the growth of bacteria and other microorganisms that speed up spoilage and rotting. Drying of food has its advantages, which includes food storage for a longer period of time. This is to your best money-saving advantage, especially when a fruit or vegetable is in season and you can bulk buy. It also saves you a lot of time in the kitchen because chopping can be skipped. There are many ways to dehydrate your garden food: sun drying, solar drying, freeze drying, and indoor drying. Each of these processes gives out the same result of delaying the decomposition process.

There are many garden foods that are ideal to dehydrate. Sources of plant protein like beans and peas are easier to store when still uncooked. But it’s a totally different story when it is cooked. Just make sure you wash it properly before cooking in fresh water. Potatoes and carrots are a lot easier to handle. In fact, there is no need to dehydrate them because they can be kept in a dry corner in the kitchen, but if you choose to precook and preserve them, it’s no problem. It is also very good to store food rich in potassium like berries and those that are a good source of lycopene like tomatoes. These are just a few of the emergency garden foods, but the varieties are endless. A lot can actually be preserved through dehydration, including vegetables like broccoli, squash, lettuce, peppers, cabbage, and a whole lot of greens.

The process of dehydration starts by cleaning fruits and vegetables to wash off all the dirt from them. In doing this, check out if there are bad spots and make sure that you remove them. It is also best to use vegetables that are uniformly sized so that they will all dry with the same amount of time. The next important step is blanching. This step takes a few minutes to complete and is pretty simple. The fruits and vegetables are plunged into boiling water. Make sure that everything is evenly blanched. Soaking the fruits and vegetables in ice cold water follows immediately. Naturally, the next step is to drain them. See to it that they are perfectly dry before doing the dehydration process of your choice which could take up to four to 12 hours to complete.