Preserve your food through drying techniques

Drying food is an activity that takes time, but saves storage space. Choose the drying method that is best for you for preserving your food.

1. Place the product to be dried on a rack or grill — plates and trays are not suitable because they do not allow good air circulation.
2. Leave the oven door slightly ajar so that the moisture can escape. Enlist the help of a wooden spoon.
3. Lay a sheet of parchment paper on the grill. In this way, the metal will not be damaged by the acidity of the fruit.
4. The lower the temperature, the less the vitamins disappear. Dry fruits and vegetables at 60 °C maximum and herbs at 35 °C maximum, in order to preserve the essential oils.
5. Turnthe products once during the process, and then turn the oven rack in the other direction.
6. Mushrooms are dry when they are wrinkled and when their texture is similar to that of leather.

1. Dry products outdoors during the dry, hot months.
2. Arrange them on plates, or, even better, on gauze stretched over a wooden frame.
3. Cover with pieces of muslin.
4. The air must circulate freely around the products.
5. Outdoors, drying takes about two or three days. In the attic, it can take up to two weeks.
6. Make sure that the product is dry, by breaking it in two. In the absence of juice, the drying is completed.

• Dried products take up little space but need a dry storage area, with less than 60 per cent moisture in the air.
• To slow nutrient degradation, keep the items cool and protected from light, in tightly closed containers.
• They do not fear freezing.
• Check regularly that they are free of mold.

Whether in the oven or outdoors, drying your foods and fine herbs is a great way to preserve them longer. It is also very convenient since you will always have them on hand.

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