Frequently people new to dehydrating will experience a few challenges along the way to becoming great at it. One of the most common is the idea of size. Soups, sandwiches, pizza toppings, and frozen dinners have all taught us to expect large pieces of veggies. Dehydrating demands a different way of thinking though. When a large slice of bell pepper is dehydrated it will be near impossible to reconstitute, and will maintain a hardened core. Large cubes of tomatoes are notorious for becoming rubbery. Pineapple if left too large will experience “case hardening” where the outer layer hardens and inner portions harbor moisture.
The key to veggies that will reconstitute quickly and evenly, is small pieces. Carrots make great candidates for shredding on a cheese grater. Bell peppers work exceptionally well when diced with an onion chopper. Tomatoes are the greatest of all veggies to be dehydrated in slices, then powdered in a coffee or spice grinder.
The reconstitution process of adding water back into your meal is the most pivotal part of good texture and flavor distribution throughout the meal. Whether a Code Red Foods meal, or one of your own, the smaller the pieces the greater the results. Think small for big results.
This is a the first part of a batch of fresh celery before it is loaded on the drying racks.
As seen here the diced celery pieces are uniformly small, and will dehydrate and reconstitute faster as a result. They sit side by side with uncooked black beans in the lid of a normal mouth caning jar, both provided for size representation.
This is a test batch of sweet pepper medley after its been dehydrated. Again a mason jar lid gives a beacon point for size representation. This pepper medley will be incorporated in a southwestern style meal which is currently in the testing stages.
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