Uses
Dried vegetables have a unique flavor and texture and are best used as ingredients for
soups, stews, casseroles, and sauces rather than stand-alone side dishes. When using in
soups, dried vegetables can be added without soaking. Dried vegetables used for other
purposes need to be soaked before cooking. To soak, start with 1½ to 2 cups of boiling
water for every 1 cup of dried vegetables. Soak for 1 to 2 hours or until vegetables have
returned to nearly the same size they were before dehydrating. Additional water should
be added as needed during the soaking process. After soaking, simmer the vegetables in
the soaking water until tender, allowing excess water to evaporate.
Drying Herbs
Drying fresh herbs allows your to have a ready supply of economical herbs that are
available to use all trough the year. To retain the best flavor of your herbs, it is
recommended that you dry them at the lowest temperature setting, 40 -50°C.
Selection and Preparation
Pick herbs for drying just before the flowers first open. These herbs will be most flavorful.
The best time to pick herbs is early morning just after the dew has evaporated. Rinse
leeaves and stems in cool water to remove any dust or insects and then gently shake to
remove excess water. Remove dead and bruised leaves or stems. Large leafed herbs, such
as basil, sage and mint, should be removed from their stems for faster drying. Smaller
leafed herbs can be left on their stem and removed after drying. Placing the herbs on a
mesh screen will help prevent them from falling through the grates in the tray as they
dehydrate.
Determining Dryness
Herbs are acceptably dry when they are crispy and crumble easily. Refer to the Herb Drying
Guide below and begin checking the herbs at the begining of the average drying time range.
Remove a few herbs from each dehydrator tray and allow to cool to room temperature. If
the herbs do not crumble easily, recheck every hour.
Packaging and storage
Dried leaves are best stored whole and then crumbled when needed. Follow “packaging
and storage” information on before pages.
Uses
Most dried herbs are 3 to 4 times stronger than the fresh herbs, therefore when using dried
herbs in a recipe that calls for fresh herbs, use 1/4 to 1/3 of the amount called for in the
recipe.
