Home dehydrating, safety first
Jerky, dried food, and milk powder, done safely.
Dehydrated Cow turns USDA and National Center for Home Food Preservation guidance into plain steps: the right temperature for every tray, the jerky step most recipes skip, and how to store what you dry.
Three numbers to remember
160°F
Heat jerky first
Bring meat strips to 160°F inside (165°F for poultry) before or after drying.
140°F
Dry fruit and vegetables
Steady heat and airflow. Turning it up hardens the outside and traps moisture.
4–10
Days to condition fruit
Shake jarred dried fruit daily to even out moisture before storing.
The guides
Jerky safety: the 160°F step most recipes skip
Why a dehydrator alone may not make jerky safe, how to heat strips to 160°F (165°F for poultry), how to slice, marinate, test, and store homemade jerky.
Drying fruit and vegetables at home: temperatures, prep, and storage
How to dry fruit and vegetables safely in a dehydrator or oven, with pretreatments, blanching, dryness tests, conditioning, and storage times.
Nonfat dry milk: storing, mixing, and cooking with powdered milk
How to store nonfat dry milk, reconstitute it, tell when it has gone off, use it in cooking and baking, and why milk is not dried in a home dehydrator.
Weigh it, then trust the texture
Most fresh produce is 75 to 95% water. The yield calculator estimates how much a batch will weigh when dry, and how close a batch is to done if you weigh it partway through.
Estimate a batch