Food dehydrator.
A new preservative technique for your food to stay healthy and fresh. Generally, a healthy diet is essential for a balanced condition of the body .it’s not just about snacks, either. Those who eschew cooking to preserve the enzymes in raw or ‘living’ food can accomplish amazing things with a dehydrator.
Believe it or not, our research turned up raw-food recipes for cracker-like dried bread, desserts, wraps, pizza. you can even make raw-vegan pancakes!
Dehydrators are machines dedicated to speeding up the drying process with forced air and electric heating elements. Handy trays, temperature control, and built-in timers also help make the work easier.
Using a food dehydrator to remove moisture from food items such as fruits, vegetables, and meats, creates naturally concentrated, rich, and delicious tasting food. Not only that but when making the food yourself, you know the quality and freshness of the product you are using – unlike when eating dehydrated foods purchased from the grocery store.
Dehydrating foods requires only one ingredient, the food you’re drying, so not only is it 100% natural, but you benefit from all the minerals and fiber of the whole fruit, and unlike cooking and steaming, you don’t lose any of the nutritional content of the foods you are dehydrating.
Dehydrating will change the way you look at foods. Simple fruits and vegetables can be transformed into delicious, healthy snacks and treats.
Healthy alternatives to junk foods can be made in a dehydrator and the possibilities are endless! You will probably be surprised at the number of foods which you consume which are dried and you can make yourself – sultanas, dried herbs, dates, etc.
When we think of dried fruit, we tend to associate it with a “healthy snack” and a lot of the time when people are dieting they consume large quantities of dried fruit thinking it is a healthy alternative to sweets or lollies.
However, this is not the case when it comes to store-bought dried fruit. Many store-bought dried fruits contain added sugars, sulfur dioxide, and trans fat – all of which can be harmful to you and your family.
When we think of dried fruit, we tend to associate it with a “healthy snack” and a lot of the time when people are dieting they consume large quantities of dried fruit thinking it is a healthy alternative to sweets or lollies.
However, this is not the case when it comes to store-bought dried fruit. Many store-bought dried fruits contain added sugars, sulfur dioxide, and trans fat – all of which can be harmful to you and your family!
Processed, store-bought snacks can be expensive and organic dehydrated foods are often highly overpriced. You can save a lot of money by using your food dehydrator and by purchasing fresh food items in bulk when in season, or by harvesting your produce.
So, take advantage of those deals from your local grocery store or farmer’s market, and remember to dehydrate your foods and store them for later.
Dried foods take less than one-sixth of their original storage space and don’t require the ongoing electrical drain of a refrigerator or freezer. Simply pack the foods clean, dry, insect-proof containers or canning jars, plastic freezer containers with tight-fitting lids, plastic freezer bags, or vacuum seal bags (in single portion sizes) and store them in your pantry for the perfect go-to snack.
This significant reduction in size means that you can fit a lot of preserves into a small area – which is especially ideal for camping, trekking, and large families.
Because of these low temperatures, food created with a dehydrator is often considered ‘raw food’. A raw food diet has many benefits and is said to preserve the living nutrients and enzymes in fruits and vegetables, unlike the heating process which is said to eliminate or deplete these from food.
Subsequently, if you’re on a raw food diet, or are just trying to eat more raw foods, a dehydrator provides a good alternative for preparing foods at a temperature below 46 degrees celsius – the threshold temperature where enzymes and nutrients are considered to be maintained – than any other kitchen appliance on the market.
Foods that can be dried
- Dehydrated Fruit Roll-Ups – these are a winner with the kids! Simply blend fruit (and even some yogurt) dehydrate and roll-up. It’s the perfect lunchbox snack.
- Dried fruits such as grapes, blueberries, strawberries, mangoes, bananas, pineapple, and kiwi fruit
- Healthy vegetable chips – make crispy chips from beetroot, carrot, parsnip, and sweet potato with no oil
- Jerky – experiment with different varieties: beef, lamb, fish, and poultry with preservative-free, fresh marinades and spices
- Make healthy bread alternatives such as flaxseed bread, pizza bases, and crackers
- Healthy granola, activated nuts, and seeds
What’s more Dried fruit excellent in antioxidants Dates have the highest concentration of polyphenols among the dried fruits. Figs and dried plums have the best nutrient score among the dried fruits and dates among the fresh fruits.
Processing to produce the dried fruit significantly decreases the phenols in the fruits on a dry-weight basis. Compared with vitamins C and E, dried fruits have superior quality antioxidants with figs and dried plums being the best.
Fig antioxidants can enrich lipoproteins in plasma and protect them from subsequent oxidation. Figs produced a significant increase in plasma antioxidant capacity for 4 hours after consumption, and overcome the oxidative stress of consuming high fructose corn syrup in a carbonated soft drink
Low bacteria:
Very low risk of bacteria and spoiling Bacteria are the most important microorganisms to the food processor. Most are harmless, many are highly beneficial, some indicate the probable presence of filth, disease organisms, spoilage, and a few cause disease.
There are thousands of species of bacteria, but all are single-celled and fall into three basic shapes: spherical, straight rods, and spiral rods. To see them, you need a microscope that magnifies about 1000-fold. All bacteria reproduce by dividing into two cells Factors Affecting the Growth of Microorganisms.
The food dehydrator reduces potential problems from microorganisms in several ways:
Removing or destroying them by trimming, washing, heating, pickling, adding chemicals, or encouraging competition by acid- or alcohol-forming organisms.
Minimizing contamination from equipment, people, the environment, and from unprocessed food.
Minimizing microbial growth on equipment, by cleaning and sanitizing, and in the product itself by adjusting storage temperature, pH, and other environmental factors.
Although each factor affecting growth is considered separately in the following discussion, these factors occur simultaneously in nature. When more than one condition is somewhat adverse to microbial growth, their inhibitory effects are cumulative.
Oxygen is essential for the growth of some microorganisms; these are called aerobes. Others cannot grow in their presence and are called anaerobes. Still, others can grow either with or without oxygen and are called microaerophilic. Strict aerobes grow only on food surfaces and cannot grow in foods stored in cans or other evacuated hermetically sealed containers.
Anaerobes grow only beneath the surface of foods or inside containers.
Heat is the most practical and effective means to destroy microorganisms. Microbial cell reduction occurs slowly just above maximal growth temperatures. However, the rate of death increases markedly as the temperature is raised. Food dehydrators are the best source of treatment.
Your commercial kitchen is a potential breeding ground for harmful bacteria. Commonly these harmful bacteria can cause outbreaks of colds, cases of flu, and foodborne illnesses, affecting both your staff and customers. They tend to develop as a result of poor handling of food and then spread via hand-to-hand and hand-to-food contact.
Knowing what to watch out for can be valuable in tackling outbreaks and will give you the knowledge you need to support any procedures you put in place. So we’ve pulled together a list of the most widespread types of bacteria that you as a food handler should be aware of to be taken care of with the food dehydrator
The top 10 Indicator organisms for you and in your food :
- Campylobacter
- Salmonella
- Staphylococcus aureus
- Clostridium perfigens
- Clostridium botulinum
- Listeria
- Ecoli
- Bacillus Cereus
- Shigella
- Vibrio
Consuming high fructose corn syrup in a carbonated soft drink Food poisoning
Human illnesses caused by foodborne microorganisms are popularly referred to as food poisoning. The common use of a single classification is due primarily to similarities of symptoms of various food-related diseases Apart from illness due to food allergy or food sensitivity, a foodborne illness may be divided into two major classes, food infection and food intoxication. Food infection results when foods contaminated with pathogenic, invasive, food poisoning bacteria are eaten.
These bacteria then proliferate in the human body and eventually cause illness. Food intoxication follows the ingestion of preformed toxic substances which accumulate during the growth of certain bacterial types in foods.
Food poisoning is a major cause of gastroenteritis, resulting in a well-known set of unpleasant symptoms.
Gastroenteritis is usually caused by viruses, bacteria, or parasites; when the source of such infection is contaminated food, it is called food poisoning. Gastroenteritis may also be referred to as “gastric flu” or “stomach flu.”
So go for a food dehydrator that takes care of gastric problems in the long run. Your ultimate solution to healthy food
