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How To Dehydrate Ginger-Introduction
Ginger is mainly used in various dishes to enhance the flavors. That’s not all – it has numerous other uses as well.Sush as relieving an upset stomach, making medicine, and making tea. Etc.However, fresh ginger has a shorter shelf life and hardly survives above 3 weeks to one month.So we need to convert ginger into dried form even powder form which can elongate its shelf life up to several months and even a year.
Tools You’ll Require To Dehydrate Ginger
- A Knife: To peel and cut ginger
- A Ginger washer and peeler: To wash and peel the ginger
- A Ginger Cutter:Cut ginger into pieces
- A Ginger Dehydrator: Dehydrate the ginger slices
- A Ginger Powder Grinding Machine: Grind the ginger slices into powder
- Jars and Powder filling machine: Finally, you’ll need air-tight jars to store the dried ginger for long-term use.
How to Dehydrate Ginger: Steps to Convert It into Dried Form
Before we get to the steps, do one thing – inquire about the freshness of your ginger. You can do so by snapping off a small part of the ginger. If you see a moist, spongy texture, then your ginger is fresh and will dehydrate well. However, if it reveals stringy fibers, it might not be suitable for drying and has already lost its freshness!
- Step#1 – Peel and Wash:
Start by peeling the ginger with a knife or using a peeler. Some people find it difficult to peel ginger. It’s actually quite simple. For me, using a peeler always works and makes it super easy. Simply start from the ginger’s neck and go all the way down to its bottom in a vertical movement. This will remove the covering easily.
- Step#2 – Slice into Thin Pieces:
Once you’ve washed and peeled it off, cut it into thin slices of 2 inches long using a knife. Thinned slices are easier to dehydrate. You can use a cheese grater as well.For commercial and industry use, you can use a ginger slicer to Improve efficiency and capacity.
- Step#3 – Dehydrate the Ginger:
Prepare your dehydrator and place the ginger slices in it. Make sure to leave enough space between each slice for proper air circulation. This will help ensure that all slices are evenly dehydrated.
The temperature should be at 105 °F. It’s the ideal temperature for drying ginger and will help preserve its flavor and nutrients. The ginger will dry off in 2-4 hours.
Tip: Rotate the trays after 2 hours to ensure even drying. This will prevent the slices from burning.
- Step#4 – Grind into Powder Form:
Once the ginger has completely dried off, remove it from the dehydrator and allow it to cool at room temperature. When it does, transfer the dehydrated ginger into the ginger powder grinding machine and start the grinding process. Keep grinding until you achieve a fine powdered form.
- Step#5 – Store in Air-tight Jars:
Clean the jars and transfer the ginger powder into air-tight jars. Store them in a cool, dry place – away from sunlight. This will help preserve its flavor and nutrients for long-term use. Sure, if you want to pack the ginger powder into bags,you can use a powder filling machine to finish the job.
Is Sun-Drying Ginger a Wise Idea?
Some people may suggest sun-drying ginger as another method to dehydrate ginger. It sure is the natural way to do so, but I don’t recommend it. Here are the reasons why:
Reason 1 – Sun-drying ginger is a time-consuming process. Expect 2-4 weeks before your ginger is completely dried. Then comes the weather factor as well. If you live in a region that receives less sunlight – that’s another problem. And that’s not even the end of your problems; there’s the chance of contamination too. Your ginger will be prone to Insects and bacteria.
Reason 2 – You won’t get evenly-dried ginger. Sun-drying often leaves some parts of the ginger to be overly dried while some remain moist. Thus resulting in less flavorful ginger.
My take is when you use a dehydrator, it provides better control over the temperature and air circulation. Therefore, the end product will be an evenly dried ginger with its flavor retained.
On top of that, a dehydrator saves you time and effort. You won’t need to monitor the ginger for days; it will also keep it bay from contamination caused by insects and bacteria.
Contact To Know More About How To Dehydrate Ginger
So you see, that’s how easy it is to dehydrate ginger and preserve it for months without breaking a sweat. Invest in a high-quality ginger dehydrator and powder machine to get the best results.
