Title: The Dehydrator Bible: Includes Over 400 Recipes
Author: Jennifer MacKenzie, Jay Nutt, and Don Mercer
400 pages, 7″ x 10″
Suggested Retail: $24.95 US
ISBN: 978-0-7788-0213-6
As I have gotten older, I have placed more value on growing food for my family. I took for granted the garden my parents had when I was a kid due to disliking the time spent weeding it’s massive size.
I enjoy the experience of growing our own food and cherish preserving the harvest. One type of food preservation I haven’t done a whole lot of is dehydrating so I was looking forward to The Dehydrator Bible.
In the past I made fruit leather and dried herbs with our dehydrator. My husband enjoys experimenting with different recipes to make jerky every year. I have also dried onions, but it made all the clothing in a 20 foot radius from the dehydrator smell like onions until they were all washed. I should have read a book like this before – onions should be done in a well-ventilated area because “the drying process is quite aromatic”. Yea, tell me about it!
The Dehydrator Bible starts off explaining dehydrator basics, like the history of it, equipment needed, troubleshooting, and tips & tricks. This book has a nice big section on dehydrating fresh produce. That includes, herbs, fruit, and vegetables. A separate section explains fruit and vegetable leathers.
I did not realize that tofu, and a few types of dairy can be dried. There is a section on them as well as drying meats and also beans.
Once you have dried the goods, then what? Well, The Dehydrator Bible has a bunch of recipes featuring uses for your dehydrated ingredients.
This book will also give you ideas for your dried foods and applying them to meals when camping. The last part of this book covers other uses for the dehydrator. This includes dog and cat treats plus gifts. Many of the gift ideas are dried tea blends.
If you are hugely a visual learner, The Dehydrator Bible may not be at the top of your list with just a couple of color photographs included. Otherwise, this book will provide you with a wealth of information, regardless if you are new to this technique or seasoned at drying foods with your dehydrator.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book title to review. No other compensation was received for this post.
