Tips For Best Results; Preparating Your Food - Gastroback Design Dörrautomat Pro Bedienungsanleitung

TIPS FOR BEST RESULTS

Before dehydrating (drying) your food, some steps of preparation are required (see
below: 'Preparating Your Food'). However, an essential rule is: Only use food in
perfect condition for dehydration.
• Very larger pieces will be dehydrated better, when cut into slices or stripes.
However, small apricots, peaches, and pears may be dried in halves. In these
cases, expect a considerably elongated dehydrating time. Do not place any
food directly onto the base of the dehydration chamber! Additionally, ensure
that no pieces of food hang down from the food trays and therefore block the
air flow. During use, it is good advice to cover the bottom of the dehydration
chamber via the provided plastic tray.
• For free circulation of air, sufficient free space above each food tray is required.
Therefore, leave the shelf directly above large pieces empty. As well, when you
did not fill all trays, you should leave empty the appropriate number of shelves
between the food trays. Flavours of strongly aromatic types of food (e.g. oni-
ons, garlic, some herbs, fish) could influence other delicate food, when dried
in the same dehydration cycle. Therefore, you should load your food sorted
according to their various tastes and types and process them in separated dehy-
dration cycles.
• Flavours will not merge so easily, when loading each food tray with only one
type of food (e.g. apples). Sort your food accordingly. If possible, leave a shelf
empty between food trays that are loaded with different types of food (e.g.
apples and peaches).
• Ensure that no droplets drip down from the upper food trays onto the food
below. Dab dry very moist types of food, before loading the food trays. Food
that could drip, should be placed on the lowest shelf. Protect the base of the
dehydration chamber via the plastic tray.
• Spread your pieces of food on the food trays separated from each other with
some free space left between the single pieces. This will ensure good circulati-
on of air, therefore your food will be dried evenly and the pieces will not stick
together. The correct dehydrating time and temperature depend on the amount
and type of food, the humidity and thickness of slices or pieces and the desired
consistency. If possible, you could select a somewhat higher temperature.
Increase the temperature as well, when loading the dehydration chamber with
large amounts of food. Clean the appliance, before starting the next dehydra-
tion cycle to avoid any interference of flavours and the build-up of unpleasant
odours. After the dehydration process, store dried food within sterilized and dry
vessels in the refrigerator. If possible, you should store your food in evacuated
bags and containers.
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• For storing dryed food, prefer vessels resistant to heat up to at least 100°C.
Sterilize the vessels via boiling water. To avoid that germs get in again, leave
the vessels dry naturally, where it is clean. Keep in mind, that the consistency of
dried food may change during storage. You should consume dried food before
long. To avoid prolonged storage, prefer to dehydrate smaller portions.

PREPARATING YOUR FOOD

Clean all pieces of food carefully under running tap water. Remove all inedible parts
(e.g. shells, stalks, seeds, and stones). Depending on the type of food, you should
perform the following further steps of Preparating Your Food.
• Whenever possible, the pieces of food should not be thicker than 2cm (4/5
inch) for getting an efficient drying performance. If applicable, spread a little
lemon juice on food that may change colour, when it is in contact with air (e.g.
apples, some vegetables). Most types of vegetables should be blanched for
3-5 minutes (cooked in water, steam or oil), before dehydrating. Marinate meat
in salty liquid to remove the moisture and keep your meat fresh. After marina-
ting, cut the meat into stripes. Poultry needs to be cooked, before dehydration.
Steam or roast the pieces until they are well done. Fish should be steamed, roa-
sted, or baked for approx. 20 minutes in your oven. Wash herbs and remove
any already wilted parts. For drying, spread the whole leaves on the food trays.
After dehydration, store the dried herbs in whole. Just before usage, remove the
stalks and grind or crumble the leaves. This is the best way to avoid excessive
loss of flavour. Bread slices should be dried without the crust. You will get a
delicious snack, when seasoning the bread slices before dehydration.
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