3 Reasons to Dehydrate Food

A dehydrator preserves food without sacrificing any of its nutritional value. (Nesco/)

Food dehydrators are food-preserving powerhouses that should be in every kitchen. These stand-alone devices are simple to use, and take up little space on a countertop or in a pantry. Not only that, but they can turn healthy snacks into fun snacks to eat—why let kids chow down on a bag of potato chips when they can feast on banana or apple chips instead? Here are a few other reasons why you need a food dehydrator.

Dehydrated Foods Make Excellent Snacks

There’s no better way to hunt ducks than by snacking on bite-sized pieces of some birds you harvested earlier in the week. (Nesco/)

Keep yourself fed in the duck blind or tree stand with your own home-made snacks. Nothing says waterfowl season like a big bite of goose jerky, but you can add variety to your snacking routine by bringing along some dried apple or peach slices. Add some nuts to the dried blackberries you collected earlier in the fall and have the energy you need to chase that buck over the next hill.

Enjoy Your Harvest Year-Round

Preserve your fruits so you can enjoy them any month of the year. (Cosori/)

Instead of binging on fresh tomatoes or green beans until you are sick of them, you can throw them in the dehydrator and enjoy the fruits of your labor year-round. Dehydrating foods is a lot less time consuming than canning, and requires a lot less equipment. And dehydrated foods don't lose their nutritional value. Instead, they retain their vitamins and minerals.

Not Just for Meat

A good dehydrator can make wild-game jerky with just a few simple settings so you're free to make the most of your day. (Excalibur/)

Everyone loves jerky, and a dehydrator is a simple way to make some. Just prepare your meat using your favorite seasoning, throw it in the dehydrator, and go shoot your bow for a few hours while the machine does all the work. But dehydrators are much more versatile than that: You can dehydrate nearly every seed, vegetable, or mast crop you find in the wild or cultivate in your garden.