Drying Foods

• 1). Vigorously clean foods, then peel (if necessary) and slice them. Fruits, vegetables and meats should be sliced thinner than a quarter inch. Remove all fat when drying meats.
  
  
• 2). Soak slices in an acidic mixture, such as ascorbic acid, lemon juice or sodium metabisulphite, to help dried goods retain color and kill harmful bacteria. Meat may be marinated for up to 24 hours if desired.
  
  
• 3). Preheat the oven to 140 degrees and prepare baking sheets fitted with cooling racks. Dry the slices thoroughly with absorbent paper towels and arrange them in one layer, leaving space between each. Drying time varies greatly among materials---thin apple slices may take as few as five hours, and meat jerky as many as 24.
  
  
• 4). Cool the slices to room temperature and squeeze them together. There should be no moisture on your hand, and the pieces should not stick together. A properly dried piece of jerky should crack (but not break) when bent.
  
  
• 5). Raise the oven temperature to 175 degrees for fruits and vegetables (250 degrees for meats) and pasteurize the slices 15 minutes.
  
  
• 6). Cool fruits and vegetables to room temperature and store them in airtight jars or plastic bags. Properly stored dried fruits and vegetables will keep six to 12 months. Properly dried jerky stored in a sealed jar will keep at room temperature for two weeks. Chilling or freezing safely increases shelf life.