Preserving food using the process of Drying?

Question

Any suggestions and or knowledge about drying food (without modern technology) would help out greatly. Thanks.

Answer 1

I live on a permaculture farm.  We grow/produce most of our own food.  I spend a lot of time canning, pickling, dehydrating (drying), and freezing our food supply.

Modern technology is not always a bad thing....especially in the case of dehydrating (drying) food.

The old way was used by people who lived in sunny, dry, and sometimes slightly windy areas.  If you didn't have enough sun, and dry climate, you preserved your food by dehydrating it, and smoking it over a fire.  Like the Indians of the Pacific Northwest and how they preserved salmon.

Dehydrating was used by people who mainly lived in desert type climates.  Itally, India, Egypt, ect just to name a few.

So back to the whole modern technology thing.  People a long time ago didn't have any other job, other than to bring in the harvest and process it for storing.  They could spend the entire day (especially the children) whisking away flies, and chasing away birds (and rodents) from stealing their food.  

The usual way was to lay it out on cloth (like sheets) or woven mats to dry.  Depending on what the item was, and how juicy it was, it was probably cut into thinner segments, so you would achive proper drying, before mold, or rot set in.  Something like a fig could be cut in half, or quarters.  A tomato had to be cut into slices.  If you are doing grapes, or berries, each and every single berry must be pricked, so the moisture can escape.

Some things, like herbs, and mushrooms dry very, very fast.

If you really have your heart set on drying, without using modern technology, like electricity, may I sugest the rear window of a car?

Park the car so the rear window faces the full sun, and put the trays of prepaired food (like on cookie sheets) on the rear dash.  It will do a suprisingly good job dehydrating food.  Best of all, you will not have to deal with fly maggots on your food, nor birds stealing your food, or pooping on it.

Otherwise you need to use screening and do it outside.  Keep close watch on it, because flies can still manage to lay their eggs on the food, even through some pretty small screen, and birds may come p**p on the screen, trying to figure out how to get the goodies.  If you have squirrels, you will pretty much need to keep constant watch, as they are clever little buggers.

If you have a specific food in mind, post it, and I'll let you know what to do.  Many things, like apples and other fruit, dry much more appealing to the eye, and the taste bud, if you dip them in lemon juice first.  That prevents them from turing that icky brown as they dry.

Apples can be sprinkled with Tang, or just about any other powdered fruit punch to make some really delicious apple chips, that are a bit like candy.

~Garnet

Homesteading/Farming over 20 years

Answer 2

traditionally, you just hang it out to dry.

kind of like the laundry.

and don't think about all the flies you're sharing with.

(that should make your day.)

worked for thousands of years.

still works many places around the world.

adding salt helps.

that's where we got ham.

salted and dried pig.

Answer 3

It's a great way to make raisins.

Answer 4

you can use two glass windows with frames, out in the sun with the food in between,,

Answer 5

A lot depends on where you live. If you are in the desert (SW US, for example), you can sun-dry effectively. Place the food on screens (non-metalic) and cover with cheesecloth. Take it inside at sunset and put it out again in the morning. During the rainy season, fuhgeddaboudit.

If you can't dry in the sun, you may be able to use your oven the same way. You don't need the cheesecloth.

Your library should be loaded with books on various ways of preserving food, including drying..