Dehydration is a centuries-old food reservation process. It involves the use of dry air to remove all the moisture content of any fruit or vegetable. The removal of moisture content ensures that no microorganisms can grow and infest the food. Dehydrated foods have a shelf life of 6 months to 1 year. During the harsh winter seasons or in remorseful areas, dehydration proves to be an effective food preservation method. Sweet potatoes are one of the best starchy foods, so you can easily dehydrate sweet potatoes in a food dehydrator.
This is even good for younger babies who have just started to wean. It is one of the best sources of many nutrients such as fiber, Vitamin A, potassium, and starch. This is why preserving sweet potatoes by dehydration method proves to be beneficial. A lot of recipes can be reared with dehydrated sweet potatoes.
Different methods to dehydrate sweet potatoes in a food dehydrator
There are different methods of dehydrating sweet potatoes. You can prepare chis, bark, niblets, or soup powder for quick and convenient use. However, you will need some basic preparation to make them ready for dehydration.
Preparation
The basic and most common preparation method to dehydrate potatoes is the Strip method. It is as follows.
Strip Method
The sweet potatoes dehydrated this way are used as an alternative to the potato chips. For this, you need to follow these steps.
- Wash the sweet potatoes thoroughly. Lace them on a clean, dry towel or paper towel.
- Use a sharp slice to slice the potatoes thinly. The slice should be 0.16 to 0.3 cm thick. You can also use a mandolin to cut even slices.
- Soak the sweet potatoes in cold water for a while. This will remove all the starch from it. Starch prevents moisture loss, so for dehydration, it is important to remove starch.
- Dry the slices again with a paper towel before lacing them onto the food dehydrator rack.
- You can brush the slices with light oil to make the slices crispier.
If you do not want to use the strip method, you can also bake sweet potatoes before placing them in a dehydrator. Raw ones can also be dehydrated, but they would not give the bright orange color. They are also not easily digestible.
Baking the sweet potatoes
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line the baking pan or tray with a baking sheet. Grease it slightly. place medium-sized sweet potatoes and poke some holes on top of them—Bake for fifty minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool down. Remove the skins.
Preparing dehydrated niblets
Small chunks or niblets of sweet potatoes prove to be a healthy snack. They are also used in many backpacking recipes or vegetable medleys. Here is how you make them.
Slice the baked sweet potatoes crosswise. If they are too soft, you can place them in a freezer for a while for ease in cutting. The average thickness should be half an inch. Chop these slices into small cubes retaining the thickness.
Spread these small cubes on a dehydrating tray. Set the temperature at 135 degrees Fahrenheit. Dehydrate for 1 hour. It is recommended to use a high-quality food dehydrator that can maintain the temperature and prevent burning or scalding.
preparing dehydrated sweet potato chips
Sweet potato chips are a healthy munch-on snack for the entire family. They are a little bit chewy, so you can choose to dehydrate them slightly before using them.
To make dehydrated sweet potato chips, bake the potatoes as mentioned above. Remove the skin and cut crosswise into thin chis. The thickness should be ⅛ to ¼ inch. Place them on the food dehydrator tray. place only as a single layer. Dehydrate at 135 degrees Fahrenheit for ten hours. Store in an airtight container.
Sweet potato bark
Sweet potato bark is one of the most versatile dehydrated foods. It can be turned into mashed sweet potatoes, porridge, pudding, pecan sauce, sous, etc. it can serve as a quick option whenever you are in a rush or have unexpected guests.
How to prepare sweet potato bark
For the sweet potato bark, you require
- Sweet potatoes one large or two medium-sized
- Apple juice ½ cup
- Maple syrup 1 tbsp
- Cinnamon powder 1 tsp
Method
Peel and cut sweet potatoes into small pieces. Boil them until soft and then mash. You can also use baked sweet potatoes and bake them as mentioned above.
In the mashed potatoes, add apple juice, maple syrup, and cinnamon powder. You can also use nutmeg instead of cinnamon. Ut all this mixture into a blender to get a creamy consistency., you can add more juice and water if the mixture gets too thick.
To dehydrate, spread this mixture thinly on the dehydrator tray. Layer it with a non-stick sheet at first. Aim to get a reared thickness of ⅛ inch. Dehydrate at a temperature of 135 degrees Fahrenheit for ten hours.
After 7 hours into the dehydrator, turn the sides of the bark while removing the non-stick sheet. This will ensure even dehydration.
prepared sweet potato bark will appear like a sheet that may or may not have cracks in it. If you want to use the bark for backpacking, you can dehydrate for a shorter time. This will make it more like fruit leather.
Sweet potato bark can be turned into mashed potatoes or a delightful porridge after some dehydration.
Conclusion
Sweet potatoes are one of the most nutritious vegetables. It is beneficial to young children as well as elderly people. Sweet potatoes are excellent sources of quick energy and important minerals such as potassium.
Dehydrated sweet potatoes can be used by frequent travelers, adventurers such as mountaineers, or campers for a quick energy source. Sweet potatoes can be dehydrated in a number of forms such as small chunks, sou powders, fruit leathers, bark, etc. they rove to be beneficial, especially during long winters when having access to fresh food becomes tedious task.
We hope our blog will help you correctly dehydrating your supplies of sweet potatoes. You can incorporate these into many recipes and enjoy its flavor.
