This text explores a key challenge of meals preparation for meals dehydrators and the way a number of easy steps can create good outcomes with any dehydrator. Whereas there are various totally different meals that may be dried, focus right here will think about these meals that require some form of slicing, fruits, greens, and meats, being the most typical.

Uniformity is essential to having meals dry in a constant method. Getting your meals to a constant thickness subsequently, permits for uniform drying, and meaning meals comes out of the dehydrator correctly dried, and able to eat. The emphasis right here, is on correctly dried. Meat is an efficient instance of creating certain your meals cuts are uniform. A bit of meat three quarters inch thick on one facet, and one quarter inch thick on the opposite, won’t dry correctly in any meals dehydrator.

Uniform thickness pays dividends with meals storage additionally. Whether or not you utilize a vacuum sealer, air tight jars, or freeze it, the extra constant the thickness of the meals, the simpler meals storage turns into.

A meals slicer is a superb software for constant meals prep. There are numerous obtainable designed for residence use. Nevertheless, you are able to do a great job with a pointy knife. I desire a Chef’s knife as the massive blade supplies stability when making particular person slices. Moreover, it’s a nice assist to partially freeze meals, particularly meat, to the purpose of excellent stiffness, but not frozen exhausting, earlier than slicing. You don’t get good outcomes with uniform slices if meat is frozen exhausting and also you try and slice throughout the thaw-out section. Understandably, not all fruits and veggies can stand up to even partial freezing with out sustaining injury.

A great way for fruit and veggies to be ready for the meals dehydrator is working them by way of a meals grinder. Snacks, rollups, and nut bars loaded with nice vitamin can simply be dried with the difficulty of thickness solved when ready with a meals grinder then unfold out evenly on a non-stick drying sheet.

In abstract your meals dehydrator will carry out higher by getting ready meals that’s lower with uniform thickness, whether or not performed with a meals slicer, or a great sharp knife. Whereas meals dehydrators may match totally different on a person foundation, constant thickness in meals preparation stay key, to the outcomes you might be on the lookout for.