Food Dehydrator – A Must Have For Your Kitchen

Spoon University|Feb. 22, 2014 3:36 pm EST

Instead of sampling the dried treats at the grocery store, why not make your own in the comfort of your own living space? Whether it is a dorm room, a tiny apartment or a sorority house, there is always room for a food dehydrator.

This kitchen essential often goes overlooked, as we settle for the sugarcoated dried fruit and packaged beef jerky on the shelves of supermarkets. Instead of sticking to the pre-made stuff, why not try something new?

The dehydrator gives you the power to make all kinds of amazing snacks, from all-natural dried fruit to beef jerky and even fruit roll-ups. Yes...FRUIT ROLLUPS! Food dehydrators come in all different shapes and sizes, but are always simple. All it takes is some quick slicing, laying out the ingredients on the trays and plugging in the dehydrator for a set amount of time. Some foods take up to sixteen hours to dry, which is easy to do overnight.

Photo by Jana Schwartz

Healthy options like dried mango and pineapple will melt in your mouth, while meat-lovers can get creative and enjoy hamburger jerky. Other cool recipes like kale chips, salmon jerky, taco chips, and no-cook oatmeal cookies are just a few of the crazy cool things you can do with a food dehydrator whenever you feel like it. So what are you waiting for? Get online, order the food dehydrator that best fits you, do some Googling for awesome recipes and start drying!

Here is my personal favorite:

Dried Mango & Apple chips

Directions:
1. Peel fruit completely.
2. Slice the fruit – Apples should be sliced straight down (remove the seeds) and as thinly as possible. Mangoes should be sliced about a 1/4" wide.
3. Lay out fruit on the trays of the dehydrator.
4. Set the food dehydrator to the temperature instructed for fruit (usually 135°F).
5. Leave on for 8 to 16 hours or until dried to your liking.

Photo by Jana Schwartz

The post Food Dehydrator – A Must Have For Your Kitchen originally appeared on Spoon University. Please visit Spoon University to see more posts like this one.