This book can be a little overwhelming! It covers so much :)

It's great for me, a beginner with her first dehydrator! I love the variety of how to's and instructions along with safety tips and more. It's a lot of information, but I know I'll be referencing the book for years to come. Thank you for such a comprehensive look with good details and variety!

It’s always nice to put a little food away for the winter; sometimes our gardens produce way more than we can use. Complete Dehydrator Cookbook: How to Dehydrate Fruit, Vegetables, Meat & More by Carole Cancler is not only timely, but an excellent primer to help all of us dehydrate that produce for use when fresh isn’t available.

This cookbook is excellent in that it lists most vegetables and fruits that we deal with, and not only tells us how to dehydrate them, but also how to dry them and make them into aromatic powders. Drying herbs is also covered, and there are recipes to use the dried herbs in such as salad dressings. Also featured are leathers with dozens of fruits and vegetables, as well as instructions for good results.

Possibly the most impressive chapter in this cookbook is the one on drying meat and fish. There are recipes for classic recipes, but also for unique, innovative types of jerky that most of us wouldn’t think of, but that Cancler has perfected. The cookbook is worth purchasing for this chapter alone.

Another plus with this cookbook is that the author emphasizes the importance of safety and has instructions for safely dehydrating meat and fish, which could easily go bad if prepared improperly. There are also good troubleshooting tips on storing, and on what to do when dried food goes bad or gets bugs.

Once there are dehydrated foods in the pantry, using them is the whole idea. The recipes included are excellent and range from Classic Western Ground Beef Chili to Hungarian Goulash, to Thai Style Red Curry with Chicken. Once the dishes are prepared, there are instructions for drying them so that they only need to be rehydrated to serve. The instructions are easy to follow and turn out well. Unfortunately, there aren’t many photographs; while nobody cares what the dehydrated fruits, vegetables, and leathers look like, it would have been nice to have photos of the recipes.

All told, this is an excellent book for everyone who dehydrates, beginning and experienced.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

As a dehydrator I was very impressed with the research and expertise that was put into this book.. There are so many different ideas to try that it want to try dehydrating everything I have at home. The book is a great addition to my cookbook library. A must for anyone interested in this way do preserving food.

Carole Cancler introduces the reader to the world of dehydrating foods. For anyone who's been wanting to know more or thinking of investing in a dehydrator, these recipes make convince you to take the plunge.

I do own a dehydrator, so this book was not only extreme help to me, but also an inspiration. A lot of info, recipes and tips. My work just got simplified by this book!

This is awesome! All you need to know about dehydration with easy to follow directions. I was a bit intimidated by the process before this book helped me realize I don't need to be!

Clear, comprehensive, lots of options.

I don’t mind the organization of this and I can be picky about how these types of books get set up.

I haven’t made anything from the book yet so I cant say for sure how great it is. Everything looked good though!

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to the publisher for an ARC and peek of this dehydrator guide, these are my thoughts and opinions. So this is my first dehydrator book....ever. What did I think? Well, this is a ton more complicated than I thought. I thought much of this stuff would be easy but honestly some of these things might make you extremely sick, so storing this stuff might be a little tricky.

What did I like? The author gives you a wealth of information so while this might be a handy guide, you might get more information than you need. It’s an overall usage on fruits, nuts, flowers, to making meals in the dehydrator. Literally everything, so while handy it’s not concentrated on any one thing.

Would I buy or recommend? If your interested in getting the most out of your dehydrator then this book is for you. It covers all the basics. Even the storage. So a virtual encyclopedia of information on dehydrating.

Thoughts for the author? Thanks so much for a peek at your book!

Can't wait to try this with my own garden harvest!!
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2020
I am really looking forward to trying these dehydrator recipes with our own garden harvest this year! Very well explained and concise instructions, lovely photos and numerous tips for success! Thank you to the publisher for an ARC via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Fact-heavy text

I have received a stack of cookbooks from Rockridge Press in the past couple of months. I put them on my kitchen table and read them one by one over breakfast and lunch. Then I move them to my office where they have been sitting on my desk for review. The stack has gotten too tall and I have resolved to write the reviews this week. Here we go.

***
Carole Cancler is a trained food scientist with a degree in nutrition. Along the line she has learned to write in a clear, direct style. In this book Ms Cancler presents an entire course on home food dehydration. I don't think that I have ever seen better.

Food dehydration is the most ancient food preservation technology and even today it is practiced around the world. Modern technology, in particular the electric food dehydrator, allows us to control the moisture and temperature at which products are dried, resulting in a better, more uniform results. Ms Cancler provides detailed information on how to dry many classes of food including vegetables, fruit, and herbs. She spends a whole lot of time on meat and fish jerky, paying special attention to the discussion of safe preparation and storage.

Ms Cancler is as concerned about food poisoning, especially botulism, as I am. She uses strong and clear language when it comes to staying safe, and advocates keeping a record book to document each drying batch so that you can replicate good practices and avoid what failed.

When we want to eat our dried foods, Ms Cancler is there with recipes. Chapter 5 is a section on rehydrating dried products into soups and stews, and ways to use powdered dried products as flavorings and thickeners. Chapter 6 presents recipes for foods that are "cooked" by drying. The chapter begins with flavored nuts, fruit leathers and bars, and then passes on to foods I had not considered before: Raw foods "cooked" in the dehydrator. These include raw breads, wraps, tortillas and crackers. Brilliant concept that originated, I imagine, in the raw diet community.

The book's aesthetic is also very good. The rosettes of dried vegetables are lovely, and remind me of beautiful English crewel work embroidery .

I think this book would be an excellent investment for your library, and a good gift for friends who garden.

If you are thinking of getting & using a food dehydrator, this books a good introduction. You'll get basic information about drying all kinds of items along with some, but not too many recipes.

It's a great introduction.