Editing Food drying (section)

== Preparation ==
Home drying of vegetables, fruit and meat can be carried out with electrical dehydrators (household appliance) or by sun-drying or by wind.<ref>{{cite web|title=Food Dehydrator reviews|url=http://dehydratorjudge.com/|publisher=www.dehydratorjudge.com|access-date=19 April 2016}}</ref> Preservatives such as [[potassium metabisulfite]], [[butylated hydroxyanisole|BHA]], or [[butylated hydroxytoluene|BHT]] may be used, but are not required. However, dried products without these preservatives may require refrigeration or freezing to ensure safe storage for a long time.

Industrial food dehydration is often accomplished by [[freeze-drying]]. In this case, food is [[flash freezing|flash frozen]] and put into a reduced-pressure system which causes the water to [[Sublimation (chemistry)|sublimate]] directly from the solid to the gaseous phase. Although freeze-drying is more expensive than traditional dehydration techniques, it also mitigates the change in flavor, texture, and [[Nutritional rating systems|nutritional value]]. In addition, another widely used industrial method of drying of food is convective hot air drying. Industrial hot air dryers are simple and easy to design, construct and maintain. More so, it is very affordable and has been reported to retain most of the nutritional properties of food if dried using appropriate drying conditions.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Modeling the thin-layer drying of fruits and vegetables: A review |date=2016-02-04 |doi=10.1111/1541-4337.12196 |volume=15 |issue=3 |journal=Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety |pages=599–618|last1 = Onwude|first1 = Daniel I.|last2=Hashim |first2=Norhashila |last3=Janius |first3=Rimfiel B. |last4=Nawi |first4=Nazmi Mat |last5=Abdan |first5=Khalina |pmid=33401820 |url=http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/15197/1/Modeling%20the%20thin%E2%80%90layer%20drying%20of%20fruits%20and%20vegetables%20a%20review.pdf |doi-access=free }}</ref>

[[Hurdle technology]] is the combination of multiple food preservation methods. Hurdle technology uses low doses of multiple food preservation techniques in order to ensure food is not only safe but is desirable visually and texturally.