Dehydrating If For No Other Reason!

News Flash…

Home Canned Foods

contain only 20% to 40% of the nutrients

God put into it. 

The high temperatures and extended time under presser destroys 60% to 80% of nutrients in canned foods.

 

U.S.D.A. Research Services Division

Yes, that's right.... according to U.S.D.A:

• 3% to 5% nutritional loss for dehydrating foods
• 40% to 60% nutritional loss for freezing foods
• 60% to 80% nutritional loss for canning foods 

My friend and fellow dehydrating enthusiast Susie Southerland, shared this bit of data with me. You can find the full details at the following link:

• http://survivalacres.com/information/nutrition.html 

If you are preserving foods for your family and there is no other reason for choosing one method over another, this is the single best reason to choose dehydrating over than canning. 

Yes, sometimes dehydrated foods are not as convenient or as familiar as opening a jar of canned food, but why waste your time and resources on something that looses more than 50% of it’s nutrients? 

Although the calories stay about the same, canning turns it into empty calories. 

Nutritionally:

• There is no change in the fiber content.
• No minerals are lost in the drying process. Some may be lost in soaking, but there is no data on it.
• If foods are blanched, there is very little loss of vitamin A
• Only moderate losses of B vitamins occur during drying.
• Vitamin C loss varies widely depending on treatment. Speed in drying and absence of sunlight are advantages in maintaining vitamin C 

Linda’s Note:     In the past, I have talked about blanching foods before dehydrating.  My stance has been that it is not necessary to blanch, although many dehydrating books recommend it.  Technically, except for starchy foods like potatoes, there is no need to blanch in order to actually preserve the food.

 

• However, I now recognize that there is some merit to blanching certain veggies in order to maintain vitamin C.
• In light of this new knowledge, I also recognize that although solar dehydrating works well, there could be some loss of vitamin C by using this method of dehydrating. Nevertheless, if this is the method you use, please go ahead and do solar dehydrating. I’m not sure how extensive that loss is, but it is still far superior to either canning or freezing.

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