Can I dehydrate multiple different types of food at the same time?
I recently got a L'Equip food dehydrator and have had some good success playing around with it. But I'm interested to know if I can dehydrate different food stuffs at the same time. For instance, could I throw jerky on one tray, onions on another, and strawberries on a third (assuming they all wanted the same time / temp) or would my strawberries end up tasting a bit like oniony beef? What kind of things would cause this contamination?
Best Answer
They would totally end up tasting like oniony beef! In fact your whole kitchen does- that's part of the magic of making jerky.
I can't think of a way to prevent this as the whole idea of dehydrating is to pull water out of the food and blow it away into the air.
If the flavors are compatible (or milder, like fruit) I have done different things together at once. If they don't take the same amount of time, I'll just take the done items off earlier when I check it.
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Quick Answer about "Can I dehydrate multiple different types of food at the same time?"
You could probably mix similar items (e.g. different berries), but I definitely wouldn't mix anything like you suggest. The temperatures on the dehydrator are more of a guideline than a rule. You can dehydrate anything with no heater at all it just takes longer. Things can be damaged by too much heat.Can you dehydrate different foods together?
You bet. Since fruits don't have much of a permeating odor, feel free to put many different fruits together in your food dehydrator. If it's new to you, this is a great way to try a variety to see what your family likes. All fruits dehydrate at 135 degrees F.Can you dehydrate more than one herb at a time?
With a dehydrator, you can dry as many different types of herbs at one time as you have trays for. The flavors do not mingle during the drying process. Preparing the herbs for drying is similar to other methods in that you will need to gently wash the plants and pat them dry.Can I dehydrate apples and bananas together?
Essentially, the answer is no, you cannot overdry your dehydrated foods. The nuanced answer is this; You cannot overdry foods you plan on putting into storage. The drier it is, the better it will store.7 BEGINNER TIPS FOR FOOD DEHYDRATING | What I Wish I Knew Before I Started Dehydrating
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Answer 2
Aside from flavour issues, different types of food need to be dehydrated at different temperatures and for different amounts of time. The booklet that came with my dehydrator listed suggested times/temps for various foods. You could probably mix similar items (e.g. different berries), but I definitely wouldn't mix anything like you suggest.
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