Putting Food By - Janet Greene [181]
Open-air/sun. Check the skins of whole fruit. Sulfur-soak whole fruit 15 minutes, or sulfur-fume for 2 hours. Sulfur-soak slices and halves 10 minutes, or sulfur-fume for 1 hour. Test dry. Pasteurize, Cool and store. Solar dryer: about 70 percent of open-air/sun time.
Dry test. Pliable, leathery. A handful will spring apart after squeezing.
DRYING VEGETABLES AND HERBS
Vegetables are partly precooked by blanching before being dried, and this step is NOT optional: it helps to stop enzymatic action that leads to spoilage.
Except for corn dried on the cob, all vegetables are pasteurized if their processing heat has not been high enough, or prolonged enough, to destroy spoilage organisms. Pasteurizing is particularly important for sun-dried vegetables.
Vegetables are cut smaller than fruits are, in order to shorten the drying process—for the faster the drying, the better the product. The approximate total drying times in an indoor dryer are not given below, but they range from 4 to 12 hours for most vegetables, depending on the texture and size of the pieces.
Beans—Green/Snap/String/Wax (Leather Britches)
String if necessary. Split pods of larger varieties lengthwise, so they dry faster. Steam for 15 to 20 minutes.
Indoor Dryer. If using a dehydrator, start whole at 120 F/49 C and increase to 150 F/66 C after the first hour; reduce to 130 F/54 C when nearly dry. For split beans, start at 130 F/54 C, increase to 150 F/66 C after first hour, and decrease to 130 F/54 C when nearly dry. In a stove oven or handmade indoor dryer, aim to maintain a temperature of 140 F/60 C throughout. Test. Condition; pasteurize. Cool and store.
Open-air/sun. Prepare as for the indoor dryer. Test dry. Pasteurize certainly. Cool and store. Solar dryer: about 70 percent of open-air sun time.
Room-drying. Do not split. String through the upper ⅓ with clean string, keeping the beans about ½ inch apart. Hang in warm, dry, well-aired room. Test. Pasteurize certainly. Cool and store. (Old-timers would drape strings near the ceiling over the wood cookstove; they gave the name “leather britches” to these dried beans—probably because they take so long to cook tender.)
Dry test. Brittle.
Beans, Lima (and Shell)
Allow to become full-grown—beyond the stage you would when picking them for the table, or for freezing or canning—but before the pods are dry. Shell. Put in very shallow layers in the steaming basket and steam for 10 minutes. Spread thinly on trays.
Indoor dryer. If using a dehydrator, start at 140 F/60 C, gradually increase to 160 F/71 C after the first hour; reduce to 130 F/54 C when nearly dry. In a stove oven or handmade indoor dryer, aim to maintain a temperature of 140 F/60 C throughout. Test dry. Condition; pasteurize. Cool and store.
Open-air/sun. Not as satisfactory for such a dense, low-acid vegetable as processing indoors. However, follow preparation as for an indoor dryer. Test dry. Condition if necessary; pasteurize certainly. Cool and store. Solar dryer: about 70 percent of open-air/sun time.
Dry test. Hard, brittle; break clean when broken.
Beets
Choose small beets, leave ½ inch of the tops lest they bleed; steam until cooked through—30 to 45 minutes. Cool; trim roots and crowns, peel. Slice crossways only ⅛ inch thick, OR shred on a vegetable grate or using a food processor fitted with a shredding disc: shredded dries more quickly but the cooking use is more limited.
Indoor dryer. If using a dehydrator, put slices in a 120 F/49 C and increase to 150 F/66 C after first hour; reduce to 130 F/54 C when nearly