How to Use a Dehydrated Food Recipe
Michalis 'BIG Mike' Kotzakolios


Defined Tag: Dehydrated Food Recipe.

Using a dehydrated food recipe is a tempting lure. After all, because dried food stays good so much longer than fresh, it's easy to stock up for them. But there are certain things you need to remember when using a dehydrated food recipe, or when using dehydrated food in any recipe. Keep these tips in mind, and you'll have a much better chance of turning out a perfect dish that tastes fresh, every time.

Rule number one: dehydrated food is like regular food, but with the water taken out. All foods are made up of a certain percentage of water. When we dehydrate foods, we are simply removing the water, so that the same amount of flavor and the same properties get packed into a much smaller package. This means that you'll need less dried food than you would to make the same recipe using fresh or frozen or canned foods. When using a dehydrated food recipe, things are much easier, because the recipe will have already allowed for the difference in the two. If, however, you wish to use dried foods in a recipe that calls for fresh, you'll have to make the adjustments yourself.

Rule number two: this one is related to rule number one. The second rule is that foods lose about one third to one half of their bulk when they're dried, depending on the kind of food. Something like meat may lose only a third; leaves, such as herbs, will lose up to half. This means that for meat, you would use a third less, or to taste, and for herbs or other dried leaves, use only half. Again, put less than you think you'll need; you can always put more in, but you can't take it out.

Rule number three: use less salt. Whenever following a dehydrated food recipe, never, *ever* add salt while cooking, and always taste it before salting it once it's on the table. The reason? Dehydrated foods slurp up salt along with water, and you end up using more and tasting less.

Of course, these are only a few of the things to keep in mind when working from a dehydrated food recipe. But these three are the most important, and if you keep them in mind when you're cooking, it's hard to go wrong.

BIG Mike is a well known author, developer and Adsense expert as well as the owner of Niche Maniacs - a unique Adsense Marketing System designed to build long-term passive income streams from Adsense, Amazon, YPN, Chitika and other PPC services.