There are so many variables to take into account when you are dehydrating food. It really is worth experimenting with your dehydrator to get the best out of it. Here are some of my hints and tricks to help you get the best out of your plant-based treats!
#1
Keep a notebook of all the things you dehydrate (of course it could be a digital note on your phone if paper isn’t your thing). You need to know a few things about your food, consistency is key – if you want consistent results then the food needs to undergo the same process every time.
- Shape/size of your food, thickness of the slices, size of the chunks. It can be helpful to compare them to an object that you can visualise if cm/inches aren’t your forte. If you’re slicing your food with a mandolin or similar, note down the setting that you used. You could always take pictures and share them with me on instagram @snackalinaeats!
- The temperature and time setting on your dehydrator, low and slow is usually best. With softer food products, like fruit, the low and slow approach is essential in ensuring that your snack is dried all the way through. If you heat the food up too fast, a dry skin will form on the outside, making it difficult to dehydrate your snack all the way through.
- The outcome, the most important part of the process! Did you get what you were aiming for? Were your banana chips crunchy? Did you over-dry your pineapple chunks? Sometimes erring on the side of caution is best, it’s much easier to pop the dehydrator back on than it is to un-dehydrate your dried out products! If it wasn’t quite right there are a few changes you can make but if you can’t remember what you did last time, you won’t be able to improve your final product!
#2
Know your machine. Not all dehydrators are created equal, they come in a variety of configurations and there are a few things to bear in mind.
Just like with any heating contraption, the thermostat may not be entirely accurate. Keeping track of the results of your dehydrated creations as you go will help you gauge how accurate your machine is. If you are getting crispy outsides and soggy insides then you are heating your food product up too quickly, try a lower temperature to achieve and even dehydration.
The position of the fan and the heating element are the other main variables. My dehydrator has the heating element and the fan at the bottom, underneath a series of stackable trays. I have found that it is working pretty evenly at the moment but the denser you pack your trays with product, the harder it is for the air to circulate evenly at the same temperature. If your dehydrator has all the business at the bottom, you may find that the products at the top of the column don’t get the same treatment – try swapping the tray around mid way through the process if this is something that you are afflicted by.
If your fan and heating element are alongside the trays then you are in league with the Premiership Dehydration Squad. Typically, these dehydrators are at the pricier end of the spectrum, but you get what you pay for I guess. This configuration usually leads to a more even drying outcome across the trays but you may find that the products at the top are done slightly ahead of time. As you know, heat rises, so without direct heat underneath the bottom tray you may find them a little neglected.
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