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What Foods Can You Not Dehydrate?

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Have you ever wondered what foods you can and cannot dehydrate? Here’s a practical list
from Mom with a PREP.

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GOT IT!
Have you ever wondered if you could dehydrate something as wonderful as avocados? I
have. I love them, and they have such a short lifespan, and I want to preserve their
awesomeness…but can I actually dehydrate them? As with every food preservation safety
list, there are foods you should, foods you might not want to, and foods you shouldn’t
preserve.

We’ll talk about those methods as they pertain to dehydrating here, so you have a good
understanding of the dehydration process. And even though a food may show up on my do
not dehydrate list, it doesn’t mean that it can’t be dehydrated, but that the time, e ort, and
long-term storage options are not worth doing it if you’re looking to build a PREPared pantry.
One time shots for the fun of it are a completely di erent idea.

And before we get to the list, I’m sure we’re going to hear a chorus of, “Oh, I dehydrate milk
all the time and I’m just ne!” And that’s ne for you and how you choose to provide food for
your family. But a general consensus, especially for folks new to the dehydrating method of
food preservation for long-term storage is that there are some foods you shouldn’t tackle,
and I’m sticking to my story.

If you’d like a list of foods that you can dehydrate and methods on how to do so, check out
my 101+ Recipes for Dehydrating.

Foods to NOT Dehydrate

Avocados – Sure you can, but you don’t really want to. Foods super high in fat don’t
dehydrate well at all, and they go rancid very quickly. So just eat it then and there.

Olives – Another of those “sure you can do it, but ICK!” This may be completely personal, but
I’ve tried it and I really DO NOT like it. Nor did my family! You can’t keep it for long-term
storage anyway, so just don’t do it.

Store-bought condiments – There is a technique of taking whatever you can dehydrate and
reduce it to its simplest terms to make it easier to store. I can see the appeal in dehydrating a
bottle of ketchup, powdering the leather, and having ready-to-serve ketchup available at the
drop of a hat in one large container as opposed to 15 bottles sitting on your shelf. I admit the
desire to run out and do that now! However, you really need to look at what is IN the store-
bought condiments that will make them not so great to have (sugar, chemicals, fats from oils)
that might make them risky to store on the shelf. So these are just good to stay away from.
But I’m curious…have any of you tried dehydrating mayo?

Juices, water, soda – You wouldn’t believe how often “can you dehydrate water” comes up
in a google search, or how many times the dehydrated water in a can meme shows up on
Facebook groups and forums. But generally, liquid drinks are best canned or jellied for food
preservation. Besides being really messy, even if you had a great tray container, the amount
of time and e ort in dehydrating even the most reduced down to its minimum orange juice is
best done if made into jams, jellies, fruit leathers, frozen or canned.

Non-lean meats – They take a long time because fat doesn’t like to be dehydrated, and they
can’t be stored for more than a week or two.
Butter – Butter is largely fat. And with fat comes a whole mess of issues with dehydrating.
While some people do dehydrate butter on their own, the safest and fastest method for the
home PREPared pantry is to invest in commercially preserved powdered butter. Or learn to
use beans as a fat replacement in your baking and cooking.

Cheese – Yes, you can dehydrate cheese. BUT, and there’s a big but about it. It’s a high-fat
content food, that tends to go rancid much more quickly, and shouldn’t be used for long-
term storage. Better to buy commercially dried cheese to make sure you’re safe.

Milk – I’m just going to type – read above about dehydrating milk. While you’ll see tutorials
out there about doing it, unless you’re doing it with 1% or non-fat milk (which at that point,
there is little to no nutritional value in it any longer, anyway between the ultra-pasteurization
and removal of the good fats) why bother. Here’s a powdered whole milk option for you.

Foods You Should Not Dehydrate*

*This food list comes with a BIG caveat. Don’t try this at home unless you have studied the
proper procedure and storage techniques for these foods. Most of the foods here can be
dehydrated but are not recommended for long-term storage.

Meats – Yes, you can take lean meats and make beef jerky from them. But home dehydrated
jerky is tricky to make safely does not store for long-term, and there are better options like
canning and smoking. The key is to use VERY lean meats. Fats go rancid quickly and tend not
to dehydrate well, so remove all fat from lean cuts of meat before attempting.

Eggs – In general, eggs dehydrate well when you create a slurry. They can be re-hydrated
for scrambled eggs, but not to replace in most baking/cooking needs. And forget trying to
create a sunny-side-up egg or omelet from your home dehydrated eggs. A better option is
to purchase commercially dehydrated eggs and store them.

Nuts – You can dehydrate nuts and store them, but the fat content still makes them a short-
term shelf item. You can store nuts long-term for food storage, but simply soaking them to
help with their nutritional content, drying them, and then sticking them on the shelf for a few
years isn’t going to work. There’s a process to follow after the fact.

Fruit Leathers – Fruit leathers are not for long-term storage. And you should never make
them using regular white sugar as it can crystallize in the process.

Foods That Need Special Care to Dehydrate

Leafy Greens – While I don’t follow what I’m about to say here, many consider
steaming/blanching dark leafy greens before dehydrating to be more bene cial to get all of
the nutrients from the greens.

Apples, Bananas, and Pears – it’s a great practice to spray a little lemon juice on these
before dehydrating to make sure they retain their color before coming fully dehydrated.

Mushrooms – If you care about having light colored mushrooms as your nal product,
make sure your mushrooms are dry before dehydrating them. I rinse my mushrooms in
water to remove residual growing medium from them, and they tend to be dark upon
dehydrating, but we’re okay with that because most of our dehydrated mushrooms end up
within a dish or as a mushroom powder, so we don’t care that the nal product isn’t a lighter
color.

Blueberries – While many might poke holes in all of the blueberries on their trays, Angela @
Foodstorageandsurvival.com has a better method to dehydrate blueberries without poking
every. Single. Blueberry.

Low-acid fruits and vegetables – Some common knowledge says that these foods should
be steamed or blanched before dehydrating. Because honestly…do you want a raw,
dehydrated beet? I think not.

Everything Else.
This list is huge and is completely up to your comfort and taste level. I’ve not met many
things that I wouldn’t dehydrate.

Check this post for all of the ways to dehydrate over 101+ things!

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Comments

Mary says
FEBRUARY 1, 2015 AT 11:59 AM
If I have extra greens I usually wash them then let them air dry on a rack for a few days
then put in a jar. I use them in soup or to add color to potatoes. Cooking rst would be a
mess, never heard of cooking rst. I use them up within a year.

Reply

TAMARA says
FEBRUARY 1, 2015 AT 12:50 PM

THANK-YOU FOR ALL THIS USEFUL INFORMATION. I AM PLANNING TO TRY MY HAND A

T DEHYDRATING SOME FOOD THIS YEAR. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. GOD BLESS YO
AND YOUR FAMILY.

Reply

M says
MARCH 16, 2018 AT 11:22 PM

Why CAPS?

Reply

CTY says
FEBRUARY 2, 2015 AT 1:47 AM

Great post! So glad you are back. Dehydrated water, right. Here’s a thought for you about
powdered items.
Yakov Smirno was a Russian Comic who emigrated to the US. He related that soon after
he arrived he was walking in the supermarket and he saw milk powder. You take the
powder, add water and PRESTO! you have milk.

Then he saw Orange Juice powder. You take the powder, add water and PRESTO! you
have Orange Juice.
Then he saw baby powder. He was moved to exclaim “WHAT A COUNTRY!!!”

Reply

Jane Baldwin says

FEBRUARY 3, 2015 AT 6:28 AM

Funny!!!

Reply

mickie says
FEBRUARY 2, 2015 AT 8:08 AM

GLAD YOU ARE BACK!

Reply

Jane Baldwin says

FEBRUARY 3, 2015 AT 6:27 AM

Thanks so much!

Reply

maggi g says
FEBRUARY 2, 2015 AT 7:37 PM

I enjoy all your posts, thank you. I got a stainless dehydrator last month and have just
started using it. i bought kale and dehydrated it then turn it into a powder for my morning
smoothie. I absolutely love kale. some I keep for salad and just eat it raw it is so good.
after I powder the kale I just put it in a canning jar with an oxygen absorber to keep it fresh.
Reply

Jane Baldwin says

FEBRUARY 3, 2015 AT 6:28 AM

That’s one of my biggest jobs in my dehydrator! We got through the stu like mad!
Read my article here:
https://momwithaprep.com/how-to-make-kale-powder/

Reply

charles says
FEBRUARY 3, 2015 AT 6:10 AM

Wonderful post, altho I do not dehydrate any of these item’s I am a strong believer in
dehydrating as much as possible as a good form of food storage so all we can learn,
experiment with and do is a plus, good job, “C”

Reply

Owen says
FEBRUARY 3, 2015 AT 4:32 PM

While a Boy Scout leader, I felt that part of my job was to expose the boys to many things
that were not common. As I enjoy cooking, I ended up drying lots of things as
experiments.
Chicken (cooked) jerky, does not re-hydrate well.
Meatless soups tend to dry well and are easily reconstituted – I would dry 2 cups of
soup, and package that as one serving, that worked well.
Bean soups – some worked, some didn’t, might be how cooked the beans were.
Split pea soup worked the best.
Salsa, dries ne, but trying to rehydrate is not worth it, so, as mentioned, avoid the
condiments.
I never tried Mayo, but you can’t even freeze that.
I love my jerky – very lean meat.
Watermelon – tastes great, but a nice slice ends up as a thin lm.

Try it, if it doesn’t work, you have learned something (You learn if it does work too)

Have fun!

Reply

June says
FEBRUARY 4, 2015 AT 6:49 AM

THANK YOU! I’m thrilled that you are going back to basics. I stopped reading many prep /
survivalist blogs because of all the doom and gloom when all I wanted was a way to be
prepared for what really could happen to my family. Since we live in a rural area in the
North East and winters are about 6 months and electric is i y at best. I like to know I can
do everything possible for my family to keep them warm, fed and safe. So I read tips on
food storage, improving my garden, solar power and what not. I’m not saying something
bad can happen to the world, I just don’t want to think about every minute of the day is all.
So thanks again for getting back to us and leaving the zombies for someone else to deal
with . Oh and I’m building a solar dehydrator to help me with my food storage, this is
new for me but I’m sooo excited to give this a go – wish me luck!

Reply

Jane Baldwin says

FEBRUARY 4, 2015 AT 7:01 AM

Awesome! Please share it when you’re done – I’d love to see it!

Reply

Becky says
FEBRUARY 16, 2015 AT 9:30 PM
So happy to see you back. You were very much missed. Happy to hear you are going
back to basics. Looking forward to see you around.

Reply

Donna says
JUNE 11, 2015 AT 9:33 PM

Great ideas. Wonderful site. I recently made mayonnaise with a friend’s daughter. The end
product was okay.

Mayonaise is basically a raw egg (or yolk) mixed with a neurtal tasting oil, or at least that’s
how it used to be made. Other avorings such as mustard powder, lemon juice, or
vinegar can be added. I don’t think it would dehydrate well. It would ralatively easy to
make.. Only problem is the raw egg issue.

Reply

Jane says
JUNE 15, 2015 AT 7:20 AM

Mayo is one I don’t recommend dehydrating because of the oil, but I was sure
curious if anyone had tried it.

Reply

Felicia Troutman says

JULY 16, 2015 AT 5:29 AM

The only reason meats have a short shelf life in my house is ’cause my husband loves
jerky too much. I made 4 1/2 pounds ( nished amount) last December and there was
none left by the end of February.

And shelf life can be extended with proper storage. A vacuum sealing system is
wonderful for that.

Reply

Linda says
AUGUST 19, 2015 AT 11:22 AM

I prefer to use freeze-dried blueberries for mu ns, pancakes or anything I don’t want to
turn purple. For making smoothies and pie lling, dehydrated blueberries are ne. I buy
bags of frozen blueberries and dehydrate them on those plastic sheets in my Excalibur.

Reply

Naomi says
MAY 25, 2016 AT 7:07 PM

Thank you! Wonderful insights here from the blog and all the comments!

Reply

Tatiana Vermeir says

MARCH 7, 2018 AT 2:03 PM

Is it impossible to store dehydrated vegetables with a touch (5%) of olive oil? It seems the
Kale chips producers succeed in doing this though,

Reply
 Ashley says
JULY 1, 2018 AT 10:55 PM

If you make jerky from scratch at home, you can store it for much longer (almost
inde nitely) if you pack it in salt in an airtight container. A mason jar or vacuum bag works
great for this- just make sure there is a thick layer of salt around every piece.

Reply

Jonathan Ferris says

JULY 25, 2018 AT 1:50 PM

Thanks for this useful information. When you say that dehydrated fatty foods (cheese in
particular) can’t be used for long term storage, how long would it take to go rancid? More
than a week?
thanks,
Jonathan

Reply

tibbs says
NOVEMBER 1, 2018 AT 2:05 PM

My statements here are my own opinions and of 40 years of dehydrating experience. Do

not always believe everything posted on the net , even ifbit appears to from a very
authoritive source. Many people think that if it’s on the net, it’s gotta be true. Far from the
truth. I did nd some aws in this tutorial on what NOT to dehydrate at home. Firstly,
educate yourself in all aspects of food preparation for dehydration. Get a couple of three
really good technical books strictly related to the subject. I have learned many things thru
trial and error, nothing life threatening tho. Just some things better not to repeat. Many
foods will darken in color and look unappetising, that is normal. Commercially dried foods
are treated with in various steps to prevent discoloring to make the more appealing.
Regarding shelf life, storage environment/conditions greatly impact sheft life. Storing
dried foods in the fridge extense it’s life, freezing much longer.nalways store dried foods in
dark cool places , better yet …freeze them Nd package in small amounts for more
 convienant usage. Remember, moisture is the enemy of dried foods during storage.
Please, please educate yourself and as stated in the turtorial, think of the safety of your
family, friends and yourself when allowing them to consume your home prepared
dehydrated foods. Thank you for your time.

Reply

Tsu Dho Nimh says

FEBRUARY 8, 2019 AT 4:18 PM

Commercial dehydrators of milk and eggs usually spray a ne spray of the liquid into a
stream of hot air. That’s why you see round milk pellets – each pellet is a droplet. And
before the milk or eggs is fried, it is ash pasteurized.

Dried potatoes (and sometimes milk and eggs) are often made with a rotating heated
drum. It dips into the slurry of fresh potatoes and dries them as it rotates to a knife that
scrapes o the akes.

For other products, they often use a vacuum dryer to suck the water and the air out,
usually with low temperatures.

Freeze-drying has a long history. The Peruvians freeze-dried potatoes, and the Japanese
made freeze-dried tofu.

http://www.mitoku.com/products/driedtofu/making_driedtofu.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu%C3%B1o

Reply

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