Chapter 8: Small-scale Dryers and Home Food Dehydrators

Most small-scale food processors and those who use home food dehydrators work with small batches of material. This provides them with a substantially different frame of reference than larger industries where massive quantities of fruits and vegetables are dried using continuous conveyor belt dryers and similar equipment. Chapter 8 deals with the use of cabinet dryers for batch drying and examines their important design attributes. Establishing uniform air flow patterns, as well as assessing dryer performance are incorporated into this chapter. The design, construction, and evaluation of two prototype dryers are presented. For those who are using popular, commercially available home food dehydrators, there is a comprehensive discussion from selecting a suitable unit through to how to use it effectively and efficiently. Osmotic dehydration is also featured in this chapter as an alternate means of removing moisture from various materials including mango slices.