Our family raises a large garden every year. We also have many fruit trees and berry bushes. We can’t eat all of the fruits and vegetables before they over ripen or go bad, so what are we to do? We do can and freeze great quantities of produce, but one of our favorite methods of preserving food is dehydrating.

Canning is wonderful. But the bottles take a lot of space and are prone to breakage. Frozen foods can, if handled properly, taste almost as good as fresh. But, if the power goes out, a lot of food, and the hard work that it took to put it there, may go to waste.

Dehydrated foods are probably the easiest to store in so many ways. For one thing, they take a fraction of the space that they did when they were fresh. Very few individuals have too much space at their house, and pantry space is usually at a premium. I can pretty much fit a whole bushel of food, after dehydrating, into a gallon jar. That much food can go a long ways. And it doesn’t take power to store, thus saving money.

Dried foods usually don’t spoil, and, if they do, it was probably because they weren’t dried properly.  Some items need to be blanched, and some don’t.  But all should be very dry before storing.  It is very important to follow recommended procedures.

Dried foods are easy to use.