Handy Tips

A FEW HANDY TIPS -

* Luke warm water rehydrates food quicker than cold.

* Use equal volumes of dry food & water to rehydrate – e.g. 1 cup dry food (approx 100g) = 1 cup of water

* Salt & sugar added to water during the initial period of rehydration will inhibit the process! It is best to add them when food is nearly cooked.

A FEW HANDY TIPS FOR DEHYDRATING ROLLUPS

Experiment – nothing can go wrong!
For fruit rollups, if you do have a ‘failure’, cut leather into small pieces, cover with boiling water, leave for 30 minutes & make into sugarless chutney, jam or sauce!

Puree too thin?
To fix this problem, simply combine the mixture with other thicker purees.

Puree too thick?
To make your puree thinner, simply add fruit juice or water to it, or combine with thinner purees.

Is your rollup brittle around the edges & still sticky in the middle?
In this case, the puree hasn’t been spread evenly across the tray.

Looking for a delicious treat for your children?
Use your rollups that are not so sticky & cut them into shapes by tracing around biscuit cutters with a sharp-pointed knife. Kids will love them!

A FEW HANDY TIPS FOR DEHYDRATING VEGETABLES.

An important thing to remember when drying vegetables is what you put in is what you get out!
This is why we recommend you always use high-quality, ripe vegetables.

Drying times can be affected by humidity, altitude, moisture content & thickness of the slices.
Cut your produce at a consistent size so that they will dry at the same rate – around 5mm is the ideal thickness.

All vegetables can be dried together except Garlic, Onion & Capsicum.
Garlic, Onion & Capsicum can be dried together but due to their strong smell & flavour will affect other vegies!

When dry, most vegetables will need to be quite crisp.
To check if it’s dry simply tear a cooled piece in half & check to see if any moisture comes out by giving it a little squeeze.

Always allow your vegetables to cool before packing it into an airtight container or ziplock bags.
It should then be stored in cool, dry & dark conditions (the bottom of a cupboard is perfect) or frozen.

For an instant flavour boost use your blender/food processor to chop your dried vegies into flakes or fine powders.
They’re great in soups, sauces, salads, stir-fries, seasonings & more!

Vegie powder is also a great flavouring alternative if you’re looking to cut down your salt intake.
For instance, celery powder is super on a baked potato & will perk up an omelette nicely too!