Monday, June 17, 2013

Dehydrate to Help Solve the Home Food Problem, 1943



An electric dehydrating unit like this can be built at home from plans obtainable from the Agricultural Experiment Station, N.C. State College.

“Dehydration Can Help Solve the Home Food Problem” by Ivan D. Jones, Department of Horticulture, Agricultural Experiment Station, North Carolina State College, as published in the June, 1943, issue of Carolina Co-operator.

The American public is becoming food-dehydration conscious. It is generally recognized today that dehydration is an important method of processing many fruits and vegetables to supply the requirements of Army, Navy and lend-lease agencies.

Dehydration will also meet a need on the home food front this year. At this time of greatly increased demand for home preservation of fruits and vegetables the public faces inadequate freezer locker facilities, pressure cooker shortages, container shortages, and limited storage space for processed foods. Home dehydration will help solve these problems.

Before discussing home dehydration in detail, let us take a general view of this processing method.

No Save-All Method
Dehydration is not a magic method which will mysteriously and satisfactorily preserve all fruits and vegetables for indefinite periods of time. Neither will all dehydration products, upon the addition of water, regain the appearance, flavor and texture of the fresh product from which they were preserved.

Dehydration does not improve the quality of the produce so processed. Fruits and vegetables of high quality harvested at the peak of maturity must be chosen for dehydration if high quality products are to be obtained.
Dehydrated foods must be carefully and properly packaged if they are to retain their quality during storage.

Finally, in the strictest sense, dehydration is more than just the drying of fruits and vegetables. It is the drying of such produce under controlled conditions of heat, humidity, and air-flow. It is accomplished by means of units in which artificial heat is employed and which are equipped with fans to circulate the air, thereby greatly speeding up the drying process. This shortening of the drying time favors improved appearance, flavor, and nutritive value of the products so dehydrated.

Home drying of fruits and vegetables is generally done on trays or frames suitably suspended or placed in the sun. As indicated previously, products preserved by the controlled and more rapid process of dehydration are somewhat superior in quality to similar slowly dried products. For this reason the home dehydration is to be preferred, where possible, to the more simple home drying of fruits and vegetables.

Home dehydration is generally carried out in cabinets fitted with 4 to 12 trays and which will hold from 10 to 25 pounds of the prepared fresh produce. Heat is supplied by some suitable electric heater such as heating elements or large light bulbs. The air is circulated in the cabinet by means of a household or other suitable small electric fan.

Although a large number of fruits and vegetables may be dehydrated, it is practical to preserve in the home only a limited number by this method.

Tomatoes do not reconstitute or refresh well after dehydration. Accordingly, this method of preservation is not generally employed for this crop.

Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, and turnips may be readily and satisfactorily dehydrated. However, such processing is impractical in the home. These vegetables may be satisfactorily stored in the fresh state in storage houses, pits, and mounds for long periods of time and home dehydration is not recommended.

Methods of Storage
Dehydrated carrots and cabbage keep well in storage for only short periods of time when packaged in the home. Large quantities of these two vegetables are dehydrated commercially for use by the armed forces or for lend-lease purposes. However, the commercially dehydrated carrots and cabbages are packed in hermetically sealed tin cans in which the air has been replaced by an atmosphere of carbon dioxide or nitrogen gas. Such packaging is not feasible in the home and for this reason the home dehydration of these vegetables is not recommended.

Vegetables for which home dehydration preservation is particularly recommended include snap beans, English and field peas, lima beans and corn. These are classed as non-acid vegetables and, generally, for their canning in a pressure cooker is recommended. This year the supply of available pressure cookers will be very inadequate to meet the needs of the canning public.

Fruits which may be satisfactorily dehydrated include apples, peaches, pears, and figs.

The dehydration process may be broken down into four principal steps. These are:

--Preparation, such as washing, trimming and subdividing if necessary;
--Pretreatment, such as the blanching or pre-cooking of vegetables and the sulfuring of fruits;
--Dehydration;
--Inspection and packaging.

The preparation of the fresh fruits and vegetables for dehydration is similar to that required for preparation for canning. Produce of high table quality should be selected. Over-maturity and lack of freshness reduce the quality of most fruits and vegetables. For this reason the produce should be prepared for dehydration as soon after harvest as possible.

Packaging
The packages suitable for packing dehydrated products must be not only air tight and waterproof but insect and rodent proof. Glass jars fitted with good rubber rings and well sealed are ideal home containers. It is undesirable to expose dehydrated products repeatedly to the moisture and oxygen of the air as the result of frequent opening of jars containing a supply of dehydrated products. For this reason the use of small jars is recommended. If jars are used, they should be stored in cabinets or rooms from which intense daylight is excluded.


A present certain companies are supplying laminated, heat-sealed cellophane bags or other specially prepared containers which are recommended for packaging dehydrated products. Generally such bags must be placed in buckets or cans supplied with close-fitting lids to offer additional protection against air and moisture absorption and against insect and rodent attack. Syrup buckets or lard cans are satisfactory for this purpose. An advantage of this method of packaging is that a quantity just sufficient for a family serving may be placed in a single bag and sealed individually. The removal from the larger metal container results in a minimum exposure for the unused portion of the supply of dehydrated products.

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