← Drying H51-01 · Module 1 of 7 · Pages: 21 · Worksheets: 6

Drying basics

Why dried food keeps, the four things that decide every drying, temperatures by food, the dryness test, conditioning and choosing the right method for your homestead

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Drying basics

In short

  • Food dries in warm, dry, moving air. Airflow matters more than high temperature.
  • Temperatures: fruit 55–65 °C, vegetables 50–60 °C, mushrooms 40–50 °C, aromatic herbs up to 35 °C.
  • Too hot at the start causes case hardening: dry outside, moist inside, mould in the jar.
  • Pieces of the same thickness, in a single layer; always test a cooled piece.
  • Before storing, 7–10 days of conditioning, then 48 hours in the freezer against moths.

What's inside

Chapters

  1. Why dried food keeps
  2. The four things that decide every drying
  3. Temperatures by type of food
  4. Preparing food for drying
  5. When it is dry enough
  6. Conditioning and pasteurising
  7. Drying methods: what to choose
  8. Safety when drying
  9. How much to dry for a family
  10. Common mistakes
  11. Printable checklist

Worksheets

  • Year-round drying calendar
  • Stock calculator
  • Tray calculator
  • Choosing a method
  • Equipment and shopping
  • Date calculator and drying diary

Fields and checkboxes can be filled in with Adobe Acrobat Reader (desktop and mobile), and the calculator adds up by itself. Filling in may not work in some browsers. A print version comes with the screen PDF.

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