How To Dry Foods: Everything You Need To Know To Preserve The Freshness Of Your Food While Extending Its Shelf Life

A big part of combating industrial agriculture is taking control of sourcing and preparing one's own food in as many ways as possible. While shopping at local farmers' markets shares is an excellent way to get fresh ingredients of high quality, fewer people nowadays are skilled at preserving that seasonal food for the historically 'scarce' months of the year.

Preserving knowledge has largely disappeared in the past two generations, simply because we live in times of seeming abundance and can't be bothered with preserving foods that we could easily buy. It's a skill worth re-learning, however, as the food industry becomes increasingly questionable and less trustworthy. There are enough recalls and warnings issued by the FDA each year to make anyone concerned about buying food from supermarkets.

Preserving food yourself ensures that you know exactly what's in it -- and what's not. There are various ways to preserve food (you can read about that here) but this post will look specifically at drying, an often-overlooked and very simple way to save food for future consumption.

Drying is effective because it removes the moisture that bacteria need to reproduce. Without moisture, food is safe from spoilage because mold and bacteria cannot grow. Dried food can usually be stored at room temperature. This book gives the following suggestions for easy drying.