Dry Fruits and Vegetables With Confidence

If you’ve ever loaded up a dehydrator and thought “I hope this is right” — you’re not alone.

Dehydrating looks simple. And it is — once you know the prep, the temperature, the timing, and how to actually store what you make so it doesn’t go stale, chewy, or moldy in a few months. This guide walks you through it, food by food, so you’re not guessing.

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Have You Ever Wondered If You’re Doing It Right?

Is this dry enough? Do I need to blanch this? Why does my fruit still look sticky after 10 hours?

This dehydrating book pulls the answers into one place, organized by food, so you’re not cross-referencing five different blogs with five different opinions every time you dry something new.

• Prep, pretreatment, temperature, and time for the fruits and vegetables people actually dry at home
• Storage guidance that goes past “put it in a jar” — how to actually keep dried food usable
• A dehydrator buying guide, if you don’t have one yet or are wondering if yours is doing the job
• Full quick-reference charts in the back, once you don’t need the full explanation anymore — just the numbers

Hi There!

I’m Sharon Peterson. I’ve been teaching home food preservation since 2009 — canning first, but dehydrating has earned its own permanent spot in my kitchen over the years.

This guide comes from actually doing it — including the batches that didn’t work. I’ve lost apricots to an overcast week in a solar dehydrator, fought mold on peppers after moving from dry Colorado to humid Tennessee, and decided sweet potato chips just weren’t worth the texture. You’ll get the real version, not the theory-only version.

What’s Inside

This isn’t a general appliance manual — it’s a practical, tested dehydrating book to the everyday foods you’ll actually put in your dehydrator.

• A dehydrator buying guide — cabinet vs. stackable styles, the features that actually matter (temperature control, airflow, tray material), and where to find one new or used without overspending
• Step-by-step prep and pretreatment — what needs blanching, what needs an acid dip, and what needs nothing at all
• A full guide covering fruits and vegetables, each with prep, pretreatment, exact temperature and time, and what “done” should look and feel like
• Storage that actually works — container comparisons (glass jars, mylar bags, #10 cans, freezer bags), what “conditioning” is and why it matters, and how temperature affects shelf life
• Troubleshooting — under-dried, over-dried, uneven drying, off flavors, mold, food sticking to trays, and how to fix or avoid each one
• Beyond the basics — turning dried food into powders, a veggie chip recipe, and fruit leather guidance.
• Quick reference charts in the back for blanching times, drying times, and temperatures — once you’ve read the guide once, you can skip straight here.

Choose Your Format

Dehydrating Everyday Food comes in 2 formats. E-book to print and Physical book to bring in your kitchen.

Buy the Printable PDF e-book version here — $12.97
Instant download. Print it and keep it by your dehydrator, or reference it right from your device.
Create a preserving notebook of your own to add to as you see fit.

Buy the Spiral-Bound Dehydrating Everyday Food here. — $22.99
Lays flat on the counter while you work — easy to follow along with food in hand. Shipped by Lulu.com in 3–5 business days. (Lulu handles all aspects of this sale. I chose them as my distributor for the spiral option! Love lay flat cookbooks.)

What You’ll Learn

• The Basics – What dehydrating actually does to food, and how to decide what’s worth drying (and what isn’t).
• Choosing a Method – Sun, air, oven, and electric dehydrators — pros, cons, and why an electric dehydrator is the most reliable choice for most people.
• Prepping Your Food – Cutting, blanching, and pretreating so your food dries evenly and keeps its color and flavor.
• Temperature & Timing – Real ranges for real foods, plus how to judge doneness by look and feel instead of the clock.
• Storage & Shelf Life – How to keep dried food usable for months, not weeks — including the conditioning step most beginners skip.
• Using What You’ve Made – Rehydrating, cooking with dried food, powders, chips, and leather.

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Questions Before You Buy

Can’t I just find this online for free?

You could — spread across a dozen blog posts, with different times, different temperatures, and no way to know which one’s right. This guide puts prep, timing, and storage in one place. Get Sharon’s experienced time and temperature preferences all written for consistency, so you’re not dehydrating with five browser tabs open.

I’ve never used a dehydrator before — is this over my head?

No. This is written for someone starting from zero — no prior dehydrating or preserving experience assumed. If you’ve got a dehydrator (or you’re deciding whether to get one) and a kitchen counter, that’s enough to start.

Does this cover freeze drying too?

No — I do mention it and give a comparison to dehydrating so you understand it. But freeze drying uses different equipment and is a different process. This guide focuses on dehydrator, sun, air, and oven drying.

What’s your refund policy?

The PDF is refundable if you’re not satisfied — just let me know. The spiral-bound book is printed and sold through Lulu.com, so it isn’t refundable through Simply Canning — Lulu handles all aspects of that sale.

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A Good Fit If You

• Want food storage that actually gets used in everyday cooking, not just tucked away “in case”
• Have a dehydrator (or are about to get one) and don’t want to guess your way through it
• Want one reliable resource instead of piecing it together from a dozen websites
• Want to know how Sharon does it.
• Like having something you can grab while you’re actually standing at the dehydrator

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Choose the Format That Works for You

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Dry It. Store It. Use It.

That’s the whole cycle — and once you’ve got the basics down, it just works. Start with what you have. Dry a small batch. Build your pantry one jar at a time