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When you own a food dehydrator you open your kitchen up to a whole new menu of delicious food recipes including beef jerky, fruit leather roll-ups and sweet potato chips. Easy to use and needing very little maintenance or supervision many people enjoy using dehydrators to have great tasting snacks available without having to spend hours of prep time or cooking. You can find excellent recipe books online and in libraries that are full of tasty ways to dry food or you can act like many chefs and create as you go. The more you use a dehydrator the better you get at it. But for starters here are a few simple recipes to help get you going when it comes to enjoying dried food.

If you're a meat lover there are plenty of ways to prepare beef jerky using a variety of meat including beef, venison, turkey, pork, chicken, salmon and rabbit. Making jerky is very easy and provides you with a tasty treat that will last. First, trim as much fat off the choice of meat as possible. Fatty oils will go rancid and make the jerky taste bad. Slice the meat thinly since larger pieces will take longer to dry and in some cases may have pockets that don't dry as well. Choose a marinade for your meat. Some ideas include soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, barbecue sauce and wine. Add some seasonings to enhance the flavor such as salt, pepper and garlic powder. Marinate meats overnight and 2-4 hours for fish and turkey. Drain the meat and use paper towels to pat it dry. Place the meat strips in your food dehydrator and set the temperature. Most meats are dried at 155 degrees Fahrenheit but check the instructions on your particular machine.

If fruit tickles your fancy you can prepare delicious fruit leather roll ups at home using popular fruits such as strawberries, bananas, apples, oranges and blueberries. You can use fruit individually or puree a mixture in a blender by adding some water or juice. After blending well pour the puree onto a fruit roll sheet that is often included with top brand name food dehydrators. Run the unit for 4 to 8 hours depending on the fruit. An easy rule to follow is 'dry until it's dry'. Lay out the dried fruit on plastic wrap or wax paper and roll it neatly. Enjoy or store the roll ups in plastic bag or container.

modular food dehydrator