Garden Way's Guide to Food Drying: How to Dehydrate, Store and Use Vegtables, Fruits and Herbs

I read the other review before purchasing this book and let me tell you the other review unstated how awesome this book is!!! It's quick, simple and to the point, not like other books that are filled with insane amounts of stories or unnecessary details... This is fast becoming my favorite book for all things dehydration and drying!!!

This book is a comprehensive introduction to food drying. It includes reviews of commercially-built dehydrators, plans for making an electric dehydrator, directions for drying virtually every kind of food that can be dried, and recipes for using dried foods. The reviews are a bit dated by now, since all of the dehydrators described are of the old-fashioned box-type (like large microwave ovens). An interesting feature is that the design for the do-it-yourself dehydrator is also reviewed, both by the builder and by the user, and both say it less than ideal. One glaring omission is a plan for making a solar drye--the only reason I did not give the book 5 stars. The directions for drying various foods are organized into types of foods, including fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy products, grains, herbs, and flowers. Each entry in this section includes information on how to select and prepare for the food for drying, as well as specific instructions for each type of dryer (electric dehydrator, sun, or oven). Also included are instructions for using the dried food, noting which items are tasty as snacks as is, and which are best re-hydrated before eating. Instructions are included for meats and milk, with notes that it's not really recommended to try drying these items at home unless there is no other choice. But it is still interesting to find out how one could dry foods like milk if it were truly necessary. For virtually every type of dried food, at least two recipes are included for how to use that dried food, including such items as dried banana nut bread, or dried green beans in mustard sauce. If you've got a food dryer and don't know what to do with it, this book will answer just about all of your questions.