
If you are looking to learn the basics of dehydrating, and how to stock your own healthy, shelf-stable pantry, then the Prepper’s Dehydrator Handbook was designed for you. Written specifically for preppers, homesteaders, busy families, suburban and urban gardener’s, and parents, it was designed to accommodate active lifestyles taking as little time from your day as possible.
The first nine chapters cover the various techniques required for dehydrating specific foods.
Starting With Chapter 1 “Why Dehydrate?” the author explains the benefits of dehydrating, describes The Prepared Pantry, and provides a suggested list of foods for One Year Of Food Storage For A Family Of Four.
In Chapter 2, you learn the various techniques available for dehydrating. Mentioned are Sunlight, Oven, Dehydrators, and Microwaving. Each method is explained and the pros and cons discussed. Under the dehydrator section, the various types of dehydrators are also explained and tips offered.
Basic Dehydrating Instructions are covered in Chapter 3. Here you will learn what supplies are needed, techniques for dehydrating in small or large batches, how to blanch to pre-treat, and various other required techniques. This section is also where you’ll find information on how to keep good records so when you go to dehydrate the same item again you’ll be able to achieve the same results.
With Food Purchasing And Safety Information you will learn how to select the best produce, clean it, what not to dehydrate, the effects of various environmental conditions on your dehydrating process, and using frozen fruits and vegetables. A goodly portion of this section also is devoted to best techniques and times to buy in large quantities in order to save money.
Storing Your Dehydrated Food is covered in Chapter 5. This provides you information on required equipment, pantry, inventory, and rotation. Chapters 6 discusses Fruit And Vegetable Leathers. Here you’ll have instructions on how to create your leather and tips on what to do if things go wrong.
In Chapter 7, you will find the instructions for creating Jerky. Everything from preparing, pretreating, dehydrating, to storage and rehydrating is covered. With Chapter 8 you will find information on Soups, Powders, And Herbs. The pros and cons of dehydrating soup are discussed. Powders and Herbs are also mentioned.
The final instruction chapter, Chapter 9, is a basic overview of the dehydration process for 50 common fruits and vegetables. From Apples to Winter Squash, each one provides a brief description/instruction for Cleaning, Preparation, Thickness, Drying Time, Temperature, Consistency, Blanching, Oxidizing, Rehydrating, and Yield.
After the instructions for how to dehydrate are out of the way, the recipes begin. Recipe chapters include:
- Pantry Basics
- Snacks
- Sides And Entrées
- Drinks And Desserts
The recipes themselves each include a brief description, Yield, Prep Time, and Cook Time. The conversion chart is included at the end with common conversions, volume, weight, and the temperature.
An Excellent Go-To Guide
I’m a visual person, I like having pictures of my cookbooks. For that reason, I rarely give a cookbook a five-star rating if there aren’t a goodly amount of pictures.
There are no pictures in the Proper’s Dehydrator Handbook, so you will understand the value I place on this book when I tell you that it will definitely receive a five-star rating from me.
The level of detail, the ease of use, is all tremendously impressive. With this book, I think that new and experienced dehydrators will be able to gain an excellent amount of knowledge.
I purchased my first dehydrator because this book is so impressive. I look forward to being able to hit up our local farmers market for produce that I can store for the winter.
But storing for the winter isn’t all that this book is good for. Many of us will remember a few years ago when the entire eastern seaboard lost power. Some areas were out for a couple of weeks.
Relying entirely on the freezer for your food storage means that during a prolonged power outage you are out of luck. All of your food with spoil unless you are able to cook it right away.
A Go-To Resource For Many Uses
Those of us who like to go camping, or have remote cottages, will also be able to make good use of the dehydrated food. Being able to store food at the cottage/camping site without having to take up space in tiny refrigerators or coolers is, therefore, invaluable.
The number of uses for this book would only be limited by your imagination. This is a book you want to read if you want to save money and would like to ensure that you have fruits, vegetables, and meat on hand at any moment.
Normally I have a recipe included with my review, but this really isn’t that kind of book. Although there are recipes included, they are useless without the prior information on how to achieve the dehydrated ingredient. So pick up this book to get the recipes, you will not be sorry!
About the Reviewer: Chris Sadler is WebAdmin and Reviewer for RecipesNow.comRecipesNow! The Reviews And Recipes Magazine
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