Dehydration

Dehydration is the method of preservation that extracts moisture, inhibiting the growth of microorganisms, and food will last stored indefinitely.

This is one of the first methods homesteaders learn when it comes to food preservation. And one of the quickest when you have an abundant harvest to preserve. I started dehydrating roots before anything. Dandelion, chicory, and burdock roots. And around the same time I started really investing in perennial herbs, which then lead to bi weekly harvests and drying of those over the years as well. Now that I preserve using several methods, I experience with all of them to find my preferred method for that particular harvest or crop.

Besides foods, I think seeds could probably be filed under dehydration, essentially, that is how you are saving them. I do have seed saving under a different category, you can hit that button at the bottom of the page!

I also try to dehydrate a batch or two of fruits and vegetables once we have enough. It really depends on the harvest, for instance when were getting buckets of apples come fall, they get mixed, mashed, canned, frozen, dehydrated, fermented and baked lol. Some foods keep very well dehydrated, okra for instance I would rather have dehydrated than frozen or canned, many fruits dehydrate well, raisins, cherries, apricots and cranberries are excellent examples of that, even apples and bananas, but there *is* a method to the madness. It’s best to do a quick blanch to most foods before dehydrating, and when it comes to apples I let those babies soak in a lemon water ice bath before seasoning and dehydrating. Herbs and spices are most easy as you just stick them on the trays, and let them dry.

Natural dehydration is my favorite way to preserve my whole peppers, and an awesome way to get the job done with out an electric or solar dehydrator. I just string and hang them, sometimes on the porch, sometimes in the kitchen, and because they are whole they can be used in many different ways. I can re-hydrate them and use them raw or in a hot sauce or salsa, I can drop them right in some chili for a bit of spice, or crush them up for some pepper flakes as a little added heat to your food, or even get the seeds out of them to plant next season! Check out my video below, and there’s two additional buttons under the pictures at the bottom. Have fun dehydrating!