Food dehydrators are a wonderful way to preserve seasonal fruits and vegetables. If you are a gardener, you probably know all about over stock and are wondering what you are going to do with all that zucchini! While freezing is great for some produce, food dehydrators provide a whole new world for food preservation. Dried fruit can be used in trail mix, hot or cold cereals, fruit compote, or for just plain snacking. Dehydrated vegetables are fabulous for soups, stews and other slow cooked meals, particularly for camping or backpacking. The great thing about using food dehydrators is once the food is dehydrated and stored it can be kept anywhere. There is no need to take up space in the refrigerator or freezer.
When using your food dehydrator, it is important make sure that what you are dehydrating maintains its freshness. Using two preservatives, ascorbic acid and sodium bisulfite will lock in the freshness of the fruits or vegetables that you are dehydrating while preserving the important vitamins as well. When the inside of a fruit is exposed to oxygen it immediately starts to turn brown and lose its fresh flavor. By immediately sprinkling your fruit with ascorbic acid, the freshness and flavor are preserved. Of course the additional benefit of ascorbic acid is that it is straight vitamin C. So you are essentially adding nutrition to something already healthy.
Sodium Bisulfite is a frequently used preservative that kills mold, yeast and other unwanted processes that take place when your food is exposed to air. One common use for sodium bisulfite is as a preservative in wine. Using sodium bisulfite will ensure that the food you want to preserve does not spoil in the process. In addition, it will inhibit mold growth afterwards. One thing to note is that sodium bisulfite cannot be used by anyone with sulfite allergies.
In general, dehydrating food is a delicious and nutritious way to enjoy your seasonal fruits and vegetables. Using ascorbic acid and sodium bisulfite will help you to lock in the freshness and flavor you already love.
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