Why Blanch Vegetables
Before Dehydrating?

Why blanch vegetables before dehydrating?

We do this important step for certain vegetables before dehydrating them for a few good reasons:

Blanching Broccoli in a pan of boiling water before dehydratingCourtesy of Canva - Registered User
Image by Zichrini from Pixabay

Why Blanch Vegetables Before Dehydrating?
Here are Three Good Reasons

Why Blanch Vegetables Before Dehydrating? Here are Three Good Reasons

One: It’s important that we deter the food-spoiling process caused by enzymes being present in the vegetables. Blanching helps to stop the enzymatic process, which can cause the food to spoil. Additionally, blanching helps to preserve the flavor, and nutrients of the vegetables. 

Two: It aids in the actual food dehydrating process. I’ll go more into that shortly on this page.

Three: Blanching makes it easier to peel and remove the skin from the vegetables.

TOP Frequently Asked Questions:

Blanching blueberries?

Yes, you need to blanch blueberries (and most berries) so that their skins get tiny cracks. This allows for the dehydrating process to do its job properly and helps prevent case hardening (the crusting of the exterior which leaves the interior moist, which is an no-no).

Why blanch food?

There are a few key reasons for blanching many fruits, or vegetables prior to dehydrating them:

  1. Inactivates Enzymes - Blanching helps halt the action of enzymes that could continue changing colors, textures, flavors or cause undesirable ripening during drying. This preserves quality better.
  2. Cleans the Surface - The hot water loosens dirt and debris to give produce a thorough surface clean before dehydrating. This includes wax residues.
  3. Precooks Slightly - Softening fibers through brief hot water exposure allows moisture to exit cells much easier subsequently when dehydrating. Food dries faster.
  4. Improves Appearance - For vibrant foods like carrots, blanching locks in brighter pigments before drying causes dulling oxidation reactions during slow exposure to air.

So in short—blanching extends the shelf life of dehydrated products by ensuring high quality flavors, textures, safety and appearances result as water content gets removed during the full dehydration process.


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Treat yourself today with my free eBook. Learn how to dry the top six herbs and make herb-infused oils and vinegars!

Click the book cover and that will take you to my secure download page and full deets.

It's my gift to you as a way of saying "thanks for stopping by!"


Blanching Keeps Vegetable Colors Vibrant

baby carrots on a wooden table

Another reason we blanch vegetables before dehydrating is that blanching helps keep the beautiful color of your vegetables.

Your zucchini and broccoli will remain bright green! Your carrots will remain a vivid orange!

You get the picture.

Blanching also helps retain flavor.




Blanching vegetables in boiling waterCourtesy of Canva - Registered User

What IS Blanching?

Blanching simply means dipping foods into small amounts of boiling water for a short time.

Remember, we're not cooking the food here—so a "short time" really only means less than a minute!

Blanching Cracks Skins!
That's Why We Blanch Vegetables Before Dehydrating...

For vegetables that have relatively thick skins (that we want to keep/eat), blanching creates tiny cracks in the skins.

These tiny surface cracks help dehydration to occur
at a much deeper penetration level that’s more
than just surface-skin deep.

Blanching Cracks Skins!  That's Why We Blanch Vegetables Before Dehydrating...

For vegetables that have relatively thick skins (that we want to keep/eat), blanching creates tiny cracks in the skins.

These tiny surface cracks help dehydration to occur at a much deeper penetration level that’s more than just surface-skin deep.

Make Sure Vegetables are Dried to the Core...

For proper long-term storage, you must make sure the food you dehydrate has been “dried to the core,” if you will.

Why? You don’t want to end up with moist centers! A moist center will create a breeding ground for mold. And sometimes moist centers are simply NOT visible in large pieces of vegetables with thick skins.

Of course, we can ease that problem by cutting our vegetables into similar-sized strips before dehydrating.

Don't Forget: After Dehydrating Use Oxygen Absorbers

You've spent time drying your foods, so don't forget to add your oxygen absorber inside your food vacuum sealer bags before drawing out the air and sealin' it up!

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Make sure to add an oxygen absorber to your dehydrated food packages, prior to vacuum-sealing. Oxygen absorbers do what their name implies: they absorb oxygen. This, in turn, helps inhibit mold growth, which is an essential factor for long-term food storage!

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If you’re just starting out on your food-dehydrating journey, make sure you get our free eBook, “Six Simple Steps.” It takes you through the six necessary steps to dehydrate food safely at home.

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Thanks for stopping by to read "Why blanch vegetables before dehydrating." Blanching is an important step for many vegetables AND fruits such as berries.

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Susan Gast, founder of Easy Food Dehydrating

Hi, I'm Susan Gast, founder of Easy Food Dehydrating. My passion for dehydrating food began in 2010 while seeking crafty uses for abundant tomatoes. I've since devoted myself to elevating the art of removing moisture from fruits, vegetables, meats, and so much more!
JOIN ME as we unlock the magic of food preservation through dehydration together!
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