One of the most famous methods to preserve foods for the longer period is known as food dehydration, and people are doing this for several years. Earlier, people prefer to use the method of sun dehydration but now the new chefs of today have to get the benefit of electric food dehydrators.
The electric food dehydrators not only accelerate the procedure of eliminating moisture from the food but also perform the entire process in just a few hours. The dried foods are also one of most healthy things to consume in which all the nutrients and enzymes remain intact. There are many things for which a food dehydrator is used.
In the below article, we will discuss that what is food dehydrator used for? But before conferring that, let’s tell you about that what a food dehydrator does actually.
What Does a Dehydrator Do?
If you are a professional user of the dehydrator, then you must be familiar regarding the function of a food dehydrator. But if you are a beginner and looking to buy a food dryer for yourself, then you must know about the purpose of this appliance in brief.
A food dehydrator is a machine which utilizes the low temperatures as well as a fan to dehydrate the food. It eradicates the content of water from the food in such a way that all the enzymes of the raw food stay inside.
According to our judgment, the dried foods are one of the surprising ways to convert a raw food into the nutritional one. Such foods can easily replace the most addictive and unhealthy foods like cookies, bread, chips, chocolates, etc. So, would not you like to have that?
List of 10 Common Uses of a Food Dehydrator
A food dehydrator is one of the ultimate multi-tasking appliances in your kitchen. You do make the following creative things in this incredible machine in easiest ways besides the dried fruits and vegetables:
1. Cook Sprouted Flour
You can cook sprouted flour in the food dehydrator. You have to dry the sprouted grain seeds at the low temperature after the complete grinding of the flour.
2. Dehydrate Crunchy Seeds and Nuts
When you dry and soak the seeds or nuts, it might diminish the phytic acid as well as enzyme inhibitors. It can stop the absorption of the nutrients in the food. There are several nuts like almonds, walnuts, etc. that must be soaked in the salty water for overnight. After this, you can dehydrate them at just 150°F for around 12 to 24 hours till they become brittle and crunchy.
3. Prepare Your Jerky
You can make your jerky in the food dehydrator in a very easy way. You can either use the tofu, or strips of sliced meat. The dehydrators come with plastic or stainless steel trays. Some of the dehydrators are suitable for drying hard meat like jerky, and some take more time for drying. Thus, you have to check the appliance in advance before drying such food.
Important Tip
While using the raw meat, it is always advisable to use non-stick sheets or unbleached parchment paper.
4. Cook Your Yogurt
You do not have to use a yogurt maker (which normally does only one thing) for making yogurt. You can use the food dehydrator for doing this job. Every single food dehydrator consists of some different features. Thus, for making yogurt, always read the specifications about the appliance before. The temperature required for making yogurt need to be around 110 degrees F in the food dehydrator.
Important Tip
if you are thinking to make individual servings, then always put the mixture of yogurt in the open mouth half-pint canning jars. You can also utilize the trays of the dehydrator for making various levels of the maximum quantity of yogurt in one single batch.
5. Prepare Your Own Natto
The traditional food of Japan which is also known as Natto is made from the fermented soybeans. This diet consists of beneficial bacteria, protein, as well as vitamin K2. With the aim of drying Natto, you have to dehydrate it around 100 degrees F for the period of 22 to 24 hours. Using a food dehydrator is one of the stress-free ways to retain the culturing of the Natto excellent and warm.
6. Proof Your Sourdough
You can keep the sourdough appetizer warm in the period of the cool winter months with the help of the food dehydrator. Normally, by setting the temperature of the dehydrator between 75 degrees F to 80 degrees F functions amazingly.
Important Tip
in case, if the temperature of your dehydrator cannot be set too much low to the above range, then you have to sustain the temperature by detaching the dehydrator’s door. To avoid the issue of overheating in the sourdough, you must check the temperature of the appliance twice.
7. Prepare Fruit Leather
It is very simple to make fruit leather in a food dehydrator. With the help of a non-stick sheet, you can remove the leather of the fruits quickly from the appliance. If you do not have any non-stick sheet, then you can use the unbleached parchment paper that is easily available in the market or at the online shopping websites.
Important Tip
if you want to increase the nutritional value of the fruit leather more, then it is advisable to do culturing of your fruit mixture.
8. Recipe of Pemmican
Again one more traditional food i.e. Pemmican! This food is eaten by the Native Americans which usually comprise of animal fat (such as tallow), ground meat, salt and dried fruit.
9. Cook Granola
You can prepare sprouted or spooked granola with the help of your food dehydrator. There are lots of easy and delicious granola recipe which can be made with the soaked and dehydrated seeds as well as with the sprouted flour.
10. Tempeh
The traditional food of the Indonesia is Tempeh which is prepared from the fermented soybeans which muddle the beans into some cake. This food is an excellent source of fiber, protein, as well as vitamins. A food dryer is one of the perfect tools for nurturing tempeh.
Important Tip
If you want to do fermenting of the tempeh, you have to keep the cake mixture at the range of temperature between 86 degrees F for around 24 – 48 hours.
List of 10 Uncommon Uses of a Food Dehydrator
A food dehydrator is a useful appliance which let you a dry number of diversity of foods. On the other hand, do you know that there are other uncommon uses of the dehydrators which go far beyond the regular cooking?
In the following list of different uses of a food dehydrator, you can explore the other ways for using a food dehydrator other than the food:
1. Fire Starters
If you are also the person, who loves to go for camping or enjoy organizing the fireplace at home, then having some fire starters will add more to your pleasure. The cooking of good fire starters, i.e. by dehydrating big size pieces of orange peel, can be done in your dehydrator. As soon as the orange peel become dry with no content of water, you might light it directly and enjoy some exceptional good smell in your fire. The oils inside the orange peel keep on burning for the longer period.
Important Tip
While peeling any citrus fruit, always cut down the skins of the fruit into the strips thickly and dry them till they become crunchy.
2. Pet Treats
One more different use of a food dehydrator is that you can make treats in them for your pets. Such treats are non-allergic to consume by the animals. You can try out drying sweet potatoes for the pets as they make a tasty delicacy for them.
Sometimes the tastes of the pets differ from each other thus you can make some different treat for your pet in the machine. For example, you can buy meat leftovers from individual butchers and dry them in your dehydrator. Such type of dried food is much liked by the pets.
3. Potpourri
Potpourri is a marvelous mixture of dehydrated flowers and herbs which can work as a perfume for your cabinets and cupboards. Usually, potpourri used to be prepared by binding the packets of herbs collectively and letting them dehydrate for some weeks. But with the emergence of the food dehydrator, you can make Potpourri in just a few days. You just have to collect the flowers and leaves of your favorite plants and dehydrate them in the food dehydrator. However, the tricky part is to choose the type of scent you want to create.
Important Tip
There are lots of recipes which you can find online that helps you in getting out the maximum scent out of dissimilar plant mishmashes, accompanied by preservative elements and essential oils.
4. Cassette Tape Retrieve
The next uncommon use of a food dehydrator is to restore the cassette tape salvage. Yes, you read it right! The oxide layer over the old cassette tapes get separated from them generally, and to reinstate them back; it becomes essential to ‘scorch’ the layer back over the tape. Thus for doing this activity, the food dehydrator requires attaining the temperature between 130 degrees F to 140 degrees F. you just have to place the tapes over the dehydrating shelves and dry them for 8 hours. As soon as they cool down, you can play your tapes and enjoy the music again.
5. Herbal Teas
You can also make herbal teas with the help of the food dehydrator. You have to dry out the required herbs in the appliance so that you can get a good flavor while drinking the tea. It also lets you save the dried herbs for making tea when they are not obtainable in the particular season. There are few herbs like raspberry leaves which need to be preserved before drying. You can store the herbs inside a glass jar if you are not using it regularly.
Important Tip
if you want to enjoy the best tea, always pick the fresh and undamaged leaves or flowers of your desired herbs and dehydrate them entirely.
6. Dough Rising
A food dehydrator helps you a lot for making bread or pizza dough. It can make a huge difference in the outcome of the food. But, all this also depend on the type of dehydrator you have. You need to place the dough inside the machine accompanied by a narrow pan filled with water. The temperature has to be set at 115 degrees Fahrenheit, and your dough will take around half an hour to 1 hour for rising.
7. Paper Making
You can also craft the paper in your food dryer. There are some important guidelines which need to be followed strictly. You have to prepare paper pulp in a mixer from the salvaged junk mail, dehydrated plants, etc. and spread them in the thin form over the screens to build sheets.” The temperature of the dehydrator needs to remain small.
8. Creating Supplies
Various craft projects can be made with the help of dehydrated fruits to dehydrated flowers. For example, one of the famous craft goods that can be produced is apple head dolls. For making this doll, you need a dried apple that is decorated to appear like a wrinkled face.
Important Tip
The dehydrated flowers, seeds, seed pods, pine cones, and other natural craft materials are very beneficial and, with the use of a food dehydrator, you do not have to wait for longer weeks.
9. Humidifier
A food dehydrator can also act as a humidifier in your home in case of some dryness. You just have to set some bowls of water in the machine and turn that on. The water inside the dehydrator will get eventually, and the air inside your house will prove to be additional moister. It means that you do not need to buya a separate humidifier for your home if you already have a dehydrator.
10. Camp Out Food
The leftover meals at your home can be used for making backpacking foods. The food items like soups or leftovers can be utilized for making some delicious recipes. You can preserve such foodstuff for the camping or outdoor visits.
Final Word
At last, we just want to say that the above uses are not limited to few numbers. There are lots of common and uncommon uses of a food dehydrator through which some people come across. All the above applications will surely help you in making better utilization of the food dehydrator.
But, if you have any more idea or thoughts which you want to share with us, then simply write in the below comment box. Besides this, if you want to provide us any suggestion then we will be very happy to hear that.