BASIC DRYING EQUIPMENT (Vegetable Gardening)

Unless you decide to buy an electric dryer or dehydrator, you’ve probably already got everything necessary for home drying vegetables. In addition to an oven or a box food dryer, you’ll need:
• A scale to weigh food before and after drying.
• An oven thermometer that will read as low as 100°F for maintaining proper oven temperature.
• Sharp stainless steel knives that won’t discolor
the vegetables, for thin-slicing, paring, or cutting the food in half.
• A cutting board for chopping and slicing. Be sure to scrub the board thoroughly before and after use.
• Baking or cookie sheets for use as drying trays. Unless you’re making a box food dryer, cookie sheets without raised edges are best, since they allow hot air to circulate around all sides of the vegetables. (For microwave or convection oven drying, you’ll need a special rack.) Baking or cookie sheets used for drying should be at least one to two inches smaller all around than the inside of your oven, so air can circulate.
• A blancher for pretreatment of most vegetables. Use a ready-made blancher; or make one using a deep pot with a cover, and a colander or gasket that will fit down inside the pot. For steam blanching, you’ll need a rack or steamer basket.
• A long, flexible spatula for stirring the vegetable pieces to insure even drying.
• Airtight storage containers, with tight-fitting lids, that are also molsture/vaporproof. Use glass canning or other jars, coffee cans lined with plastic bags, freezer containers, or refrigerator-ware. You can also use double plastic bags; close them tightly with string, rubber bands, or twist ties.
• An electric fan to circulate the air in front of your oven, if necessary.