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During the Middle Ages, people in Europe built rooms as an extension of distilleries that were specifically designed to dehydrate food by the heat of an indoor fire. Food was strung across the room, smoked, and dried. The lack of sunlight and dry days made it impossible to dry food outside, and these specialty houses solved the problem for people living in a cool, wet climate. By the mid-1800s, a process was developed so vegetables could be dried at 105 degreesF and compressed into cakes. These dried vegetables were a welcome source of nutrition for sailors who suffered through long voyages without fresh food. During World War II, soldiers used dehydrated food as lightweight rations while serving on the battlefield. We know these today as "meals ready to eat" (MREs). After the war, housewives did not rush to add this compact, but often tasteless, food into their daily cooking routines, and dehydrated food fell out of favor. As a prepper who is also a gardener, I wish to take my pantry preparations beyond beans, rice, wheat, and powdered eggs. Dehydrating my garden bounty fills the gap left by food that can't be canned and a freezer susceptible to power outages. A clean water source and fire are the only things that stand between my family and a hot meal prepared with dehydrated ingredients. This book is not just for experienced gardeners, conscientious preppers, and expert preservers. It is for anyone who loves fresh food and wants to have a hand in how it is preserved. To accommodate the active lifestyles of today, dehydrating needs to fit easily into your daily routine, take as little time as possible, and require a minimum amount of preparation time. By combining bulk buying with batched preserving sessions, as well as an efficient dehydrator, you can be drying food to use every day.
