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: