CHAPTER XIV

HOW TO DRY VEGETABLES

Vegetable drying is a little more complicated than fruit drying, just as vegetable canning is more complicated than fruit canning. Blanching is an important part of the operation. It makes vegetable drying satisfactory as well as easy and simple, just as it makes vegetable canning possible.

However, there is one difference between blanching vegetables for canning and blanching them for drying. After repeated experiments it has been found that for drying purposes it is best to blanch all vegetables in steam rather than in boiling water. In vegetable canning we blanch almost all vegetables in boiling water, usually steaming only the members of the "green" family.

So remember that for drying all vegetables are blanched in steam. To do this steaming you can use your ordinary household steamer, such as you use for steaming brown breads and suet puddings, or you can simply place a colander over boiling water in a kettle. Do not allow the colander to touch the water. If you are fortunate enough to possess a pressure cooker, steam the vegetables for drying in it.

Blanching is necessary for many reasons. It removes the strong flavors, objectionable to many people. Beans, cabbage, turnips and onions have too strong a flavor if dried without blanching. Furthermore, it starts the color to flowing, just as it does in canning. It removes the sticky coating round vegetables. Most vegetables have a protective covering to prevent evaporation. The removal of this covering by blanching facilitates drying. Blanching also relaxes the tissues, drives out the air and improves the capillary attraction, and as a result the drying is done in a much shorter period. Products dry less rapidly when the texture is firm and the tissue contains air.

Blanching checks the ripening processes. The ripening process is destroyed by heating and this is to be desired for drying purposes.

Blanching kills the cells and thus prevents the hay-like flavor so often noticed in unblanched products. It prevents changes after drying, which otherwise will occur unless the water content is reduced to about five per cent.

Thorough blanching makes the product absolutely sanitary; no insect eggs exist after blanching and cold-dipping.

There is one precaution that must be followed: Do not blanch too long. Blanching too long seems to break down the cell structure, so that the product cannot be restored to its original color, shape or size. Follow the blanching time-table for drying just as carefully as you follow the blanching time-table for canning.

After the blanching comes the cold-dip. For the benefit of new canning and drying enthusiasts, let me explain that by "cold-dip" we mean plunging the product immediately into a pan of very cold water or holding it under the cold-water faucet until the product is thoroughly cooled. Do not let the product stand in cold water, as it would then lose more food value and absorb too much water.

You can cold-dip the product without removing it from the colander, strainer or steamer in which it is steamed. Plunge the vessel containing the product into the cold water.

The cold-dipping checks the cooking, sets the coloring matter which was started to flowing in the blanching process, and it makes the product much easier to handle.

Let us now see just exactly what we must do when we want to dry sweet corn, more of which is dried than of any other vegetable. All other vegetables are dried in the same way as is corn, the only difference being in the length of the blanching and drying period.

All vegetables are prepared for drying just as they are prepared for table use. When drying corn select ears that are young and tender, and if possible freshly gathered. Products for drying should be in the same perfect condition as you have them for table use. If wilted and old it is not worth while drying them.

Remove the husks and the silk, and steam—on the cob—for fifteen minutes. This sets the milk, besides doing many other things which blanching by steam always does. After the steaming, cold-dip the corn, and then cut it from the cob, using a very sharp and flexible knife. Cut the grains fine, but only halfway down to the cob; scrape out the remainder of the grains, being careful not to scrape off any of the chaff next to the cob.

When field corn is used, the good, plump cooking stage is the proper degree of ripeness for satisfactory drying.

The corn should be thoroughly drained as this facilitates drying. You can easily remove all surface moisture by placing the corn between two towels and patting them.

It is now ready for drying. The corn may be dried in the sun, but if so, it is advisable first to dry it in the oven for ten or fifteen minutes and then finish the drying in the sun. Never attempt sun drying in moist weather. The corn may be dried by artificial heat, either on top of the stove or in the oven, using either plates, oven-racks properly covered, or any commercial dryer.

Work quickly after the blanching and cold-dipping and get the corn heated as quickly as possible in order to prevent souring. You get "flat-sour" often when canning if you do not work quickly enough, and you will get sour vegetables in drying if you work too slowly.

Where artificial heat is used begin at a lower temperature and gradually increase it. As the corn is drying, stir it from time to time and readjust the trays if necessary.

After the drying comes the test to determine whether or not the corn is sufficiently dry. Vegetables at this point differ from fruits. Fruits are dried only until leathery, whereas vegetables are dried until they are bone-dry. They must crackle and snap.

This test is sometimes used to see if the product is sufficiently dry: Put some of it in a covered glass jar with a crisp soda cracker and keep them there for a few hours. If the cracker loses its crispness and becomes soft and damp there is still too much moisture in the product and it should be dried a little longer to obtain the degree of dryness required.

After the corn is bone-dry it should, like all other vegetables and fruits, be conditioned. This means to pour them from one bag or box to another, once a day for three or four days. This enables you to notice any moisture that may be left in the dried food. Foods that show any traces of moisture should be returned to the drying tray for a short time.

Notice Lima beans particularly, as they require a longer conditioning period than most vegetables.

After the conditioning, in order to kill all insects and destroy all eggs, it is advisable to place the vegetables on trays and heat them in an oven for half an hour at a temperature of 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Store directly from the oven.

Dried vegetables are stored just as are dried fruits—in cans, cracked jars that cannot be used for canning, fiber containers, cheesecloth, paper bags or paraffin containers.

In storing your dried products keep in mind these things: Protection from moisture, insects, rats, mice, dust and light. If you observe all these things it is unnecessary to have air-tight containers.

All varieties of string beans can be dried, but only those fit for table use should be used. Old, stringy, tough beans will remain the same kind of beans when dried. There are two ways of preparing string, wax or snap beans for drying:

1. Wash; remove stem, tip and string. Cut or break into pieces one-half to one inch long; blanch three to ten minutes, according to age and freshness, in steam; cold-dip. Place on trays or dryer. If you have a vegetable slicer it can be used for slicing the beans.

2. Prepare as above, then blanch the whole beans. After cold-dipping, thread them on coarse, strong thread, making long "necklaces" of them; hang them above the stove or out of doors until dry.

Lima beans should be shelled from the pod and then blanched two to five minutes if young and tender. If larger and more mature blanch five to ten minutes.

Okra is blanched for three minutes. If the pods are young and small, dry them whole. Older pods should be cut into quarter-inch slices. Small tender pods are sometimes strung on stout thread and hung up to dry.

Peppers may be dried by splitting on one side, removing the seed, drying in the air, and finishing the drying in the dryer at 130 degrees Fahrenheit. A more satisfactory method is to place peppers in a biscuit pan in the oven and heat until the skins blister; or to steam them until the skin softens, peel, split in half, take out seed, and dry at 110 to 130 degrees. In drying thick-fleshed peppers like the pimento, do not increase heat too quickly, but dry slowly and evenly.

Small varieties of red peppers may be spread in the sun until wilted and the drying finished in the dryer, or they may be dried entirely in the sun.

Peppers often are dried whole. If large they can be strung on thread; if small the whole plant can be hung up to dry.

Shell full-grown peas and blanch three to five minutes; cold-dip and then spread in a single layer on trays to dry.

When drying the very tender young sugar peas, use the pod also. Wash and cut in quarter-inch pieces. Blanch six minutes, cold-dip and remove surplus moisture before drying. When drying beets always select young, quickly grown, tender beets. Steam twenty to thirty minutes, or until the skin cracks. Dip in cold water, peel and slice into one-eighth to one-quarter inch slices. Then dry.

Carrots having a large, woody core should not be dried. Blanch six minutes; cold-dip. Carrots are often sliced lengthwise into pieces about one-eighth inch thick. Parsnips, kohl-rabi, celeriac and salsify are prepared in the same way as are carrots.

Onions should be held under water while peeling and slicing to avoid smarting of the eyes. They should be sliced into one-eighth to one-quarter inch slices. Blanch five minutes, cold-dip, remove superfluous moisture and dry. Leeks are handled as are onions.

Select well-developed heads of cabbage and remove all loose outside leaves. Split the cabbage, remove the hard, woody core and slice the remainder of the head with a kraut slicer or cutter or with a large, sharp knife. Blanch five to ten minutes and cold-dip; dry.

Spinach and parsley should be carefully washed. Steam, cold-dip and dry. If the spinach is sliced the drying will be greatly facilitated. Beet tops, Swiss chard and celery are prepared like spinach.

Select sound, well-matured Irish potatoes. Wash and boil or steam until nearly done. Peel and pass through a meat grinder or a potato ricer. Collect the shred in layers on a tray and dry until brittle. If toasted slightly in an oven when dry, the flavor is improved somewhat; or boil or steam until nearly done, peel, cut into quarter-inch slices, spread on trays, and dry until brittle. Peeling may be omitted, but the product will be very much inferior in flavor. Irish potatoes cannot be satisfactorily dried unless they are first cooked; otherwise they will discolor.

All root vegetables must be thoroughly cleaned, otherwise an earthy flavor may cling to them. One decayed root may seriously affect several pots of vegetable soup.

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS

1. All vegetables should be completely dried in from two to twenty-four hours.

2. Materials should be turned or stirred several times to secure a uniform product.

3. If heat is used guard against scorching. The door is left open if an oven is used; the temperature should be about 110 degrees at the beginning and usually should not exceed 130 degrees. Onions, string beans and peas will yellow at more than 140 degrees.

4. A thermometer is essential to successful drying by artificial heat.

5. It is impossible to give definite lengths of times for the completion of sun drying, as this varies not only with different products but with the weather. A sultry, rainy day is the worst for drying.

6. Vegetables should be stone dry.

7. Succulent vegetables and fruits contain from 80 to 95 per cent of water, and when dried sufficiently still retain from 15 to 20 per cent; so it is a good plan to weigh before and after drying as a check. The product should lose from two-thirds to four-fifths of its weight.

8. Work rapidly to prevent souring of vegetables.

9. Small vegetables, mature beans and peas and small onions may be dried whole. Larger vegetables should be cut up so as to expose more surface for drying.

10. The slicing, cutting and shredding should be done before blanching, with the exception of corn, which is cut from the cob after blanching.

TIME-TABLE FOR DRYING VEGETABLES

PRODUCTPREPARATIONBLANCHING BY STEAM, TIME ON MINUTESARTIFICIAL HEAT TEMPERATURE 110° TO 130° F. APPROXIMATE TIME IN HOURSFAN—NO HEAT APPROXIMATE TIME IN HOURS
ASPARAGUSWash and cut into pieces2 to 44 to 812 to 24
BEANS, GREEN STRINGWash; remove stem, tip and string3 to 102½ to 320 to 24
BEANS, WAXWash; remove stem, tip and string; cut into pieces or dry whole3 to 102 to 45 to 8
BEETSLeave skin on while steaming[1]20 to 302½ to 312 to 16
BRUSSELS SPROUTSDivide into small pieces63 to 512 to 16
CABBAGERemove all loose outside leaves; split cabbage and remove woody core; slice or shred5 to 103 to 512 to 24
CARROTSWash; slice lengthwise into pieces ⅛-inch thick62½ to 320 to 24
CAULIFLOWERClean; divide into small bunches62 to 312 to 16
CELERYWash carefully and remove leaves; slice33 to 412 to 16
CELERIACClean; pare; slice into ⅛-inch pieces62½ to 320 to 24
CORN, SWEETBlanch on cob. From 12 ears of corn you should obtain 1 pound dried corn153 to 42 days
KOHL-RABIClean; pare; slice into ⅛-inch pieces62½ to 38 to 12
LEEKSCut into ½-inch strips52½ to 38 to 12
LIMA BEANS (YOUNG)Shell2 to 53 to 3½12 to 20
LIMA BEANS (OLD)Shell5 to 103 to 3½12 to 20
MUSHROOMSWash; cut into pieces53 to 512 to 24
OKRADry young pods whole. Cut old pods in ¼-inch slices32 to 312 to 20
ONIONSRemove outside papery covering; cut off tops and roots; slice thin52½ to 312 to 18
PARSNIPSClean; pare; cut into ½-inch slices62½ to 320 to 24
PEASCan be dried whole or put through grinder3 to 53½12 to 20
PEPPERSSkin blistered in oven, steamed or sun-withered..3 to 424
POTATOES, IRISHCook and rice them..2½5 to 6
POTATOES, IRISHCook and slice them ¼-inch thick..612 to 20
POTATOES, SWEETCook and rice them..2½12 to 20
POTATOES, SWEETCook and slice them ¼-inch thick..612 to 20
PUMPKINS AND SQUASHCut into ⅓-inch strips; peel; remove seeds33 to 416
SPINACHWash thoroughly; can be sliced3312 to 18
SALSIFYWash; cut into ½-inch slices62½ to 320 to 24
SWISS CHARDWash thoroughly; can be sliced33 to 412 to 18
TOMATOESWash; slice after steaming to loosen skin2 to 32½ to 312 to 16
TURNIPSPare and slice thin52½ to 312 to 18

[1] Till skin cracks.

In a properly constructed sun drier vegetables will dry in from 3 to 12 hours under normal summer conditions. Products dried in a sun drier are superior to those dried in the open without any protection. Products dry more quickly in high altitudes than at sea level.