Owner Manual

Basic Food Preparation Tips

Fruit and vegetable peels 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 a snack or used in cookies. On

the other hand, you will want to peel apples intended for a pies 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 possible will help ensure consistency in your dehydrated foods.

The skin of many foods naturally protects the food, but it can hamper the dehydration

process. During dehydration, 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 the

diameter. Small fruits like strawberries can be cut in half. Even smaller berries should

either be cut in half or merely blanched slightly to break the skin.