Sun-Dried Produce

Not surprisingly, the original dehydrator was the sun! And you’ll still see fruit, vegetables or herbs spread out on cloths or wooden trays in a sunny courtyard or barn roof when you are on holiday in hotter climes. In Portugal, Spain or even Madagascar, you might come upon rows of flattened fish laid out to dry, a traditional practice as popular as salting or smoking.

Drying food in hot countries is virtually effortless. In cooler, more humid areas, it can be more challenging. If you are not careful, food can go mouldy on the drying tray, so techniques have to be different. Reindeer meat in Scandinavia, for example, is pickled in salt water before being dried in the spring sunshine when the air temperature is below zero, while in Iceland, shark meat is also dried in sub-zero temperatures. But commercial dehydrators don’t need sunlight. They push hot air around the food to dry it quickly and conveniently whatever the weather.