New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-08-12
By EDITH ALLEN

Drying Fruits and Vegetables.
uTHAvE great respect for the person
who can make good dried products"
remarked woman the other day; "the
process looks so easy and the directions sound
50 simple, but after trying to do 1t l IND
that it is an art to get perfect product"
Driving fruits and vegetables for food pur-
poses means taking the water from the food
and leaving it otherwise practically un-
changed, so that wher water is added again
will come back nearly to the same form,
taste. color and texture that 1t had before
icing dried. Though there may be some
change in the quality of the food, due to loss
Of volatile favors, it should still be palatabIe
and attractive, or the drying is not success.
Driving cannot be done in a closed oven or
dryer. The moisture must escape. The dryer
must be constructed that there Will be
free circulation Of air through 1t to take up
and carry off the moisture.
Heat is the other prime factor in driving
Of the moisture. Food can be dried most
rapidly when there is a good circulation OF
heated air.
Too slow drying tends TO make vegetables
thange in way that is similar to ripenlng
On the vines. When this happens they will
not soften on soaking and cooking. Reasona-
BY rapid work is essential to obtain good re-
suits.
Most drying should be completed in two to
twelve hours, though it does not injure fruits
II the drying takes longer.
There is danger Of fruits souring or mould
ing if dried slowly, so it is best to try to dry
the fruits in one days time.
The temperatures at which fruits and veg
etables dry best have not been fully deter
mined. Experiments so far indicate that ap-
pies dry best at about $50 degrees f., whiie
this is too hot a temperature for cabbage and
onions, which dry best, without browning, at
40 degrees f. Most vegetables should be
dried between 100 and 100 degrees F.; most
fruits dry best between 40 and 100 degrees r
When the moist food is first put into the
dryer the temperature will fall, because tne
great amount Of evaporation which taxes
place at first cools the dryer. A dryer that
was at go degrees F. dropped 10 ITO degrees
when string beans were first put into It, AS
The beans dried the temperature in the dryer
bAoHudlly rose, ana WOulu HaHO ASNN''~N
20 degrees F. when the beans were dry had
ne heat not been lowered.
This fact has caused confusion in state
nents about drying, for higher temperatures
must be used at the beginning Of the drying
Process 70 allow for this fall, but the food
Material dries best il heated at a rather low
emperature, such as 10 TO 120 degrees r.,
AZ first
As Soon az the food has dried enough so
nat the temperature has risen in the dryer
the degree needed (120 10 100 degrees, de-
PENDING On the product), the heat must be
Nwered or the dryer adjusted so that 1t will
St 20 above the highest temperature needed.
Dc net let drying fruits and vegetables
'foSn, az this Injuries their favor.
The more even the thickness or size OF the
pieces Of drying fruits and vegetables the
more evenly they will dry. When the pieces
s,s Uneven IN size the small ones get too dry,
ME the large ones are not dry enough. II
asfs h 100 much difference in size, that which
100 mall viii become 70 hardened that II
IA not soak up again or will brown, while
hrser pieces are still undried.