Dehydrating Summer Squash and Zucchini
Dehydrating is one of my favorite ways to preserve our garden harvest. First off, it is simple to prep the food. There are no big and time shucking projects like in canning. Typically the process is clean the vegetables, cut up the vegetables, and set in the dehydrator then turn on. It’s that simple.
Storing the dehydrated items are even better. Dehydrated foods are much less water and much less weight and space. The picture above is a half-pint mason jar that is only about half-filled with dehydrated zucchini. I used two large-sized zucchinis which dehydrated to that small amount. Isn’t that amazing? I seem to be shocked every time I dehydrate with the results.
And thirdly, dehydrated foods are a great way to prep your favorite home-cooked meals for backpacking and backcountry camping. Having dehydrated foods on hand is an easy way to pop the top and add to whatever meal you need. Check out the fantastic way I store my dehydrated food in masons in this other post.
How to dehydrate squash properly.
First
Next, you need to blanch the zucchini. Bring a medium pot of water to a large rolling boil. Drop all the squash pieces into the boiling water and let cook for 2 minutes. After two minutes, drain squash into a colander and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process. Remove as much water as possible.
Place the blanched squash onto a baking sheet or special dehydrating trays. If you are dehydrating in the oven, then set the temperature to as low as it will go (which is usually 160 degrees F) and leave the oven door cracked open. Dehydrate until all the squash is completely dry.
If you are using an electric dehydrator, then set it to 135 degrees F and dehydrate for about four hours or until all is dried completely. You may also be able to use a solar dehydrator, but I have never used one, so I don’t have any great advice for that process.