Drying Fruits, Vegetables
This is the first of a three-part
series on preserving foods by dry
ing. Dried foods are tasty, nutri
tious, lightweight, and easy to
store and use. The energy input is
less than what is needed to freeze
or can, and the storage space is
minimal compared with that
needed for canning jars and
freezer containers.
Drying is one of the oldest
methods of preserving foods.
Throughout history, the sun, the
wind, and a smoky fire were used
to remove water from fruits,
meats, grains, and herbs. Increas
ing the temperature of the food
makes its moisture evaporate,
and air moving over the food car
ries the moisture away. A balance
of temperature and humidity is
needed for successful drying of
foods. High humidity and low
temperatures can cause food to
dry too slowly encouraging the
growth of microorganisms.
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Temperatures that are too high
will cause the food to form a hard
shell that traps moisture inside
and cause the food to spoil.
Select a method of drying suit
able for the product and where
you live. While many commerci
ally dried foods are sun dried,
this method is suitable only
where there is low humidity. Sun
drying does not work well here in
central Pennsylvania.
Room drying works well for
herbs, nuts in the shell, or partial
ly dried high-acid sweet fruits
such as apple rings if there is
adequate heat and air movement.
Air conditioning may reduce
temperatures in your home too
low for drying foods.
Oven drying works well if you
can set your oven to a tempera
ture of 140 to 150 degrees F.
Meats can be dried as high as 160
degrees F. Higher temperatures
than this will cook the food in-
Well Preserved
stead of drying it. Open the oven
door two to three inches to allow
moisture to escape. A convection
oven works well because it com
bines the low heat with a fan to
move the air.
Commercially made and
homemade food dehydrators give
a better quality dried product
than other methods. Microwave
ovens can be used to dry small
quantities of herbs.
As with other methods of pre
serving food, the end quality will
only be as good as the food you
start with. Select ripe fruit for
drying. Trim away any bruised
spots.
Cut foods into 'A to Vi inch slic
es. The higher the water content,
the larger you should make the
slice. Small slices of high-mois
ture foods, such as watermelon,
would disappear when all the
moisture has evaporated. Peel
fruits and vegetables that would
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& The Chief Wahoo Miracle Elixir Medicine Show” Sat & Sun.,
PA German Dialect Pro i
SATURDAY: • Antique Auto Display • The Mountain Folk Band • Riding Demos
SUNDAY: • Carriages & Wagons • Antique Farm Equipment • Draft Horse Demos
BOTH DAYS: • Arts & Crafts • Homecrafts Demonstrations • Special programs
• Walking Tours • Children’s Games • Music & Entertainment • Food and Fun
for the whole famil
BPRp Sponsored by Berks County Board of Commisioners,
Berks County Parks & Recreation Department Funded m part
•acviiuti* by Musician’s Performance Trust Fund Local 135-211
Wanted
Antique Farm Equipment • Antique Autos, pre-1959
Carriages, Wagons & Sleighs
To register or for more information call 610-374-8839
normally be peeled. Although
apples and pears sometimes have
the skin left on, the skin tends to
toughen as it dries.
Apples, pears, peaches, and
apricots are better when pre-
treated. Pretreatment reduces
oxidation making the product
more appetizing, giving a better
color, reducing vitamin loss, and
lengthening shelf life. Place cut
fruits in a solution of ascorbic
acid or in fruit juices containing
ascorbic acid such as orange,
lemon, lime or pineapple juice.
Soak five minutes before placing
on trays to dry. Do not keep cut
fruit in a holding solution for
more than one hour. Other meth
ods of pretreating include syrup
blanching, sulfating, and blanch
ing.
Syrup blanching involves sim
mering the prepared fruit for 10
minutes in a sugar syrup (1 cup
sugar, I cup white corn syrup,
and 2 cups water) and then let
ting it stand in the hot syrup 30
to 45 minutes before draining,
rinsing, and placing on drying
trays. Syrup blanched fruit is
sweeter but also sticker than fruit
treated by other methods. Soak
ing fruits in a solution of one ta
blespoon sodium bisulfite in one
gallon water for five to 10 min
utes also slows oxidation. Sulfat
ing isn’t recommended for use by
individuals on restricted sodium
diets or who have asthmatic or
respiratory conditions.
Some fruits such as blueberries
and cranberries need to be
dipped into boiling water to
check (crack) the skins. Be care
ful not to let the fruit in the boil
ing water too long or the fruit
will turn to mush.
Blanching is recommended for
asparagus, green beans, broccoli,
cauliflower, com, eggplant, pota
toes, and peas to slow the enzy
matic reactions which will con
tinue during drying and storage.
Blanching also softens the cell
Milk Buds To Perform
At West Lampeter Fair
LAMPETER (Lancaster Co.) “hitching up” during its annual
West Lampeter Community re ®"^ a y Z lll1 ’ scheduled Sept.
„ . . , . , 25, 26 and 27 at the Lampeter
Fair is planmng to do some
iram & Celebration Sunday
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 21,2002-B9
sth5 th & 6 th |
- 5 p.m. J
;ritage Center
Road off Rte 183
f the Rte. 222 exit
all 610-374-8839
www.berksparkandrec.org
IFfig’S'fe
National Bank
&
TdSm
StL to
escape and allows the vegetable
to rehydrate faster.
Blanched vegetables should be
drained and placed on the dryer
trays. The heat from the blanch
ing will give them a head start in
the drying process. Onions, gar
lic, peppers, and herbs do not
need blanching.
Some foods dry much better
than others. According to Leanna
DeLong, author of How to Dry
Foods, fruits that dry well are
apples, apricots, cherries, citrus
peel, coconuts, dates, figs, grapes,
nectarines, peaches, pears, pine
apples, and prune plums. Some
fruits not recommended for dry
ing include avocados, berries
with seeds such as raspberries,
citrus fruits, crab apples, olives,
pomegranates, and quince.
Chili peppers were the only
vegetable to receive an excellent
rating for drying. Carrots, corn,
garlic, horseradish, onions, pars
ley, parsnips, peas, green beans,
and potatoes received a good rat
ing. Some vegetables including
brussels sprouts, lettuce, radishes,
and winter squash are not recom
mended for drying. Next week
we will look at storing and using
dried foods. The third week we
will look at how to make fruit
leathers and jerky.
If you have food preservation
questions, a home economist is
available to answer questions on
Wednesdays 10 a.m.-l p.m., call
(717) 394-6851 or write Penn
State Cooperative Extension,
Lancaster County, 1383 Arcadia
Rd., Rm.l, Lancaster, PA, 17601.
Community Grounds.
The “hitching” that
fair planners have on the
docket of this year’s
events is not some sort
of collective wedding
ceremony but special ap
pearances of the “Milk
Bud».”
A family of ponies,
the Milk Buds features
an eight-pony hitch
which has appeared at
fairs and exhibitions
across the country,
promoting milk and
family values. Accompa
nying the ponies is the
Schottler family, Somer
set, Wis., who not only
travel with the pony
hitch, but often add
music during their per
formances along the
way.
The Schottler family
are dairy farmers from
the northwestern part of
Wisconsin and have
found this promotional
effort to be a popular
one with fairgoers.
“We want to promote
what we think is the best
beverage. We want to
sell milk,” says John
Schottler of the Milk
Buds appearances. “We
can exhibit or perform
just about anywhere.”