You’re a calm and collected person? That’s great for you but that’s a lie, and it will show when you open up your dehydrator after running your first 12-hour cooking cycle only to find out that almost every piece has stuck to the tray and has to be scraped off. I may be wrong – maybe you’ve gone through it and kept your composure. Kudos to you!
Nevertheless, if it has happened to you I bet you’ve grown tired of having to scrape pieces of dehydrated fruit, jerky, or whatever it may be from the trays. Now you’re looking for a solution to make your life simpler and you’ve come to the right place.
This problem can be tackled from more than one angle and we’ll make sure to find at least one method that works for you.
The introduction has led us to the question at hand (which I’ll answer more in-depth if you continue reading):
How do you keep food from sticking to dehydrator trays? There are several ways of approaching this problem;
- Turn the ingredients around after an hour
- Use parchment paper
- Use plastic mesh screens
- Use cooking spray
- You shouldn’t make the slices too thin
- Don’t set the temperature too high for the ingredients you’re drying
- Don’t leave the ingredients in the dehydrator for too long
- Prepare the food properly before putting it in the dehydrator
- Use proper accessories
- Make sure the food has dried long enough, different ingredients have different levels of moisture.
We’ll take a closer look at each method and explain when they should be applied and where they can be used most effectively. Let’s start by looking at each method separately and then we’ll talk about the accessories.
What Is a Dehydrator Tray?
The dehydrator is a device that is used to dehydrate food at low temperatures for long periods of time (several hours) to remove moisture from said food while keeping its taste and nutritional value.
When food is placed in the dehydrator, it is placed on one of the dehydrator’s trays. They come in different shapes and colors but are often either square or round. Some can be removed from the dehydrator and even bent to a certain degree to help the ingredients pop off while others are more rigid.
Trays come with holes throughout to assist with the dehydration process, the holes allow the warm air to flow through and reach the food from all angles.
Doesn’t sound too bad, does it? Well, the thing is… most people will experience the misery of scraping dehydrated pieces of food off these trays. Dehydrated food can get really sticky – but there are ways around it.
What Type of Food Sticks to Dehydrator Trays?
Anything and everything can stick to a dehydrator tray under the wrong circumstances, there’s no doubt about that. However, some foods tend to stick much easier than others – mainly because they are rich in sugars which creates a sticky goo when heated. Think strawberries, raspberries, apples, and figs.
Dried meats will also stick quite easily if they haven’t dehydrated for long enough. Anything that isn’t sliced properly can stick to the dehydrator tray with very little effort.
How Do You Keep Food From Sticking to Dehydrator Trays?
Turn the food over after 1-2 hours.
Once the ingredients have developed a crust on the upper-side, turn them around. The crusty side should not stick to the trays as easily. It should take somewhere between 1 to 2 hours for an ingredient to develop a crust. Of course, this can differ depending on the ingredient used and its size.
As you may understand, this method is quite time-consuming when dehydrating larger batches. Handpicking every single piece and turning it around can take time if you have two or three full trays of sliced fruit or berries.
I’m not saying it doesn’t work, I’m saying it isn’t as effective with larger batches.
Using Parchment Paper
Using high-quality, thick parchment paper will cause the ingredients to fall right off when they’ve dried up.
Using Plastic Mesh Screens
Using plastic mesh screens will also cause the ingredients to pop right off when they’ve finished drying. These screens are made using flexible plastic which comes in very handy in the process of dehydrating. They can be bent to make it easier for food to fall off, even sticky food will have a hard time sticking to the screen when you’re bending it.
Using Cooking Spray
Adding a thin layer of cooking spray or oil will keep food from sticking. Be sure to use a non-flavored cooking spray. Alternatively, add a small amount of oil to your fingers and rub it off on the trays. You could also moisten a paper towel with oil and wipe the dehydrator trays to create a thin layer of oil.
The only downside to this is that the shelf-life is shortened by adding even a small amount of oil. Keep this in mind if you’re planning to store foods for a long time.
Don’t Slice Food Too Thinly
Thin slices will release sugars when heated which will, in turn, cause the ingredients to stick. The more water an ingredient has, the more it will shrink in size once it has dehydrated. Ingredients with high-water content should, therefore, be sliced into bigger pieces.
What I’ve picked up from the dehydrating community is that the standard size that ingredients should be sliced is 1/4 inch or 6mm. From there, size can be adjusted depending on the amount of water the ingredient contains.
Using a mandolin is the easiest way to ensure that every slice is as thick or as thin as you desire. Preferably a mandolin with adjustable settings.
Set the Temperature According to the Results You’re After
In order to dehydrate, you’ve got the set the temperature – how high or low you are to set it depends on the ingredients you’re dehydrating. Most foods should be dehydrated at temperatures between 130-155 degrees Fahrenheit but there are exceptions to the rule.
For the sake of your experience and results, I would take the time to research what temperatures others seem to have used successfully for the foods you’re dehydrating.
Some dehydrators come without thermostats – in that case, users should turn to the user manual for guidelines regarding the use of that specific dehydrator.
Experimenting will only result in better batches over time as you learn what works best with your device. Time, size of slices, temperatures, and ingredients of your choice will all come together to create the best results. Tweaking here and there may be needed the first couple of times.
Don’t Leave Food In the Dehydrator For Too Long
As you may imagine, leaving food in the dehydrator for too long will cause the food to dry more than you had planned. I’m sure we’ve all done it once or twice (I’m way above those numbers by now).
Extreme overdrying is often caused by too high temperatures rather than actually dehydrating the foods for too long. Adjusting the temperature is numero uno in this matter.
The thing with overdried vegetables is that they don’t look all that appealing but they are still quite tasty. Besides, if you’re planning to keep them stored on a shelf, they should be dried enough to remove all of the moisture.
But all ingredients aren’t dehydrated to be stored on the shelf, some are dehydrated to be enjoyed the same evening or the next day. In that case, one may want to keep them from getting too crispy and stale.
If such ingredients have over-dried and stuck to the tray, try placing a damp towel over the batch. The moisture from the towel should be absorbed into the food which will cause them to regain some “life” but also make it easier to remove them from the tray.
Tip: If you happen to overdry something into the crispiest of crisps, make a tasty powder out of it. This powder can then be put on anything you like to give it taste. This works very well with peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, and much, much more.
Put the Trays in the Refrigerator
You can try placing the trays in the refrigerator until the newly dehydrated food has cooled down and then try to remove the pieces using your fingers or a wooden spatula. Be careful though, placing a warm tray in your refrigerator may spoil other foods that are stored as the temperature will fluctuate.
Spray Water on the Dehydrated Pieces
With the help of a spray bottle, spray water on the dehydrator trays to give the dried pieces a little bit of moisture. This may cause them to pop up much easier. Again, you don’t want to moisturize anything that you plan to store for a long period of time.
How To Remove Food That’s Stuck To the Dehydrator Trays?
Let’s say you’ve ready through this post, applied the methods we’ve discussed and still end up with pieces of food sticking to your dehydrator trays, what should you do to get rid of them?
Getting rid of the residue right away is the right choice as it may have an impact on taste and also the dehydration process for the next batch – not worth it. The residue will even affect the smell of the next batch so the trays must be cleaned properly to avoid that lingering smell.
Keep in mind that cleaning a dehydrator can be quite tough, especially if food residue has been building up over time. Here’s what you should do:
- Soak the trays in warm water and soap. Fill your sink with warm water and soap and let the trays sit in the water overnight.
- Using a scrubbing brush or toothbrush, scrub the food residue from the trays.
- Place the trays under running water to flush out the remaining food residue.
- Make sure to let the trays dry until they are completely dry before placing them in the dehydrator again as moisture may promote bacterial growth.
If this method doesn’t work for you, you should move on to the next section where I’ll talk about the methods used when “just a little” isn’t nearly enough.
- Epsom Salt: A non-toxic household cleaner that can be very effective. When warm water and soap doesn’t do the work, turn to Epsom Salt. It’s not a very complicated method either. Replicate the steps above but instead of using soap, use Epsom salt.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: Using a spray bottle filled with apple cider vinegar, moisten the trays and let them soak for 15 minutes before washing them. If the first time wasn’t effective enough, go at it again. Repeat until you are satisfied.
- Borax: Sodium Borate is also used for tougher cleaning and is a fully viable candidate for the task of cleaning dehydrator trays. Repeat the Epsom procedure but with Borax instead of Epsom Salt.
- Baking Soda: Baking soda is awesome! It can be used for so much more than I initially thought – cleaning food residue from dehydrator trays included. Fill the sink with hot water, add both dish soap and baking soda to the water. Scrub the trays using a bristle brush or toothbrush – when finished, rinse the trays under hot water.
How To Keep Jerky From Sticking to Dehydrator Tray
It doesn’t matter if you’re an avid jerky-enthusiast, an adventurer, or anything else for that matter; you don’t want to scrape jerky of dehydrator trays. The process of making jerky is long as it is, it shouldn’t have to be done twice because the first batch stuck to the tray.
Meats used for jerky can include a little bit of sugar and, as we know by now, sugar makes stuff stick when it’s heated. You can try counteracting this effect by simply spraying the trays with non-flavored cooking spray prior to placing the jerky strips on them or placing them on high-quality parchment paper.
Sugar in the foods isn’t the only reason why jerky may stick, it can be any of the reasons we’ve already talked about in this article. The size of the strips, the time the strips are kept in the dehydrator, the temperature, and levels of moisture. Check to see that you’ve adjusted all of these to optimize your chances of getting a perfect batch.
Use Accessories
I’ve got a couple of accessories to accompany my dehydrator. While I would’ve been able to manage without them, I must say they’ve been very helpful.
I’ll place them in order of importance, listing the most important accessory first and the least important one last to give you an idea of how much I use them. With that said, all of the accessories on the list are being used on a regular basis.
What’s this got to do with food sticking to our trays?
I understand where that question is coming from, I do, but trust me when I say this; while these tools are primarily used for other functions than the ability to keep food from sticking, they are still very useful in that regard too.
Mandolin: Without a doubt the best and most useful tool when it comes to dehydrating. Having every slice equally thin is going to ensure that the entire batch is evenly dried. Skilled chefs can probably replicate the mandolin using a knife but less skilled chefs may end up with a variety of sizes and once the cycle is complete, some pieces may be gooey and stuck to the tray while others have dried up perfectly.
Dehydrator Sheets: Second place goes to these little sheets used to prevent food from sticking and falling through the dehydrator tray’s cracks. They’re small and when it comes to function, they’re definitely worth the buck. When finished dehydrating, simply remove the ingredients and wash the sheets using warm water and soap.
Vacuum Sealer: This little device was given to me as a gift for my birthday and it turned out to be more useful than I initially thought. Being able to vac-seal dehydrated food has just been awesome. It extends the shelf-life of most things by quite a lot and it’s a nice way of storing your batches of dehydrated food in portion bags.
Jar-Sealer Accessories: This is the last item on the list and it comes in very handy even if you’ve already got the vacuum sealer. The jar-sealer is a better option if you’re prone to “snacking” (meaning you frequent your own kitchen hoping to find something accessible to snack on as soon as you’re bored) because it can be opened and sealed unlike vacuum-sealed bags. The jar-sealer works better for some ingredients that would otherwise pierce the vac-bags.