Using a dehydrator to dry milk, cheese, or other dairy products is not the most common practice at home, but it certainly can be done with good results. Just keep in mind that this is not a chapter for the dehydrator novice. But once you know the right techniques, you can expand your drying projects to include these foods as well. Being able to store a little milk, cheese, or eggs for an emergency is not a bad idea, and for some recipes, dried milk, cheese, or egg powder is the easiest way to add a bit of flavor or make a sauce. The forms of dairy covered are milk, cheeses, yogurt, and eggs. Butter is not something you can safely dry at home due to its fat content.
Special Health Considerations
Just like with meat, you need to be aware of a few extra issues when thinking about doing any dairy dehydrating. For dairy, the main problem is also the fat content. Fat will go rancid after a relatively short time, which makes any dairy product a risky proposition for long-term storage.
Because of this, you should choose the lowest fat content of whatever you are drying (milk, cheese, etc). The same goes for yogurt, but the acid content helps preserve it after dehydration.
When using your own “home grown” milk, you still will want to remove as much fat as possible before doing any dehydrating. This means you should let the milk settle and then skim the heavy cream that comes to the top. After sitting overnight in the fridge, you can remove most of the cream with a large spoon or ladle. Goat’s milk is not a good option for dehydration because it has a high fat content, and that fat cannot be removed like it can with cow’s milk. The cream layer will not separate out.
Drying Yogurt
Yogurt is great dairy product that can be dried successfully. In fact, it is probably the best one to start with if you are drying dairy for the first time. It works quite a bit like doing leather. Look back at Chapter 7 for more information about leathers. Yogurt can be dried as a way of preserving it, but the more typical use is as a tasty dried snack that is eaten like dried fruit or fruit leather. You even can mix yogurt with fruit purée for another leather variety altogether.
You can use these same instructions for drying sour cream, which has the same consistency as yogurt. The only difference will be how you use it (see the end of this section for that).
Preparing yogurt to be dried
Most yogurts will dry just fine, but those with chunks of fruit in them will dry inconsistently. You either can run them through a blender to smooth out the fruit or just buy yogurt that does not have the pieces of fruit.
Prepare your dehydrator by lining the trays with wax paper (you also can line baking pans with wax paper if you are using the oven). A little nonstick spray on the paper might help you peel the dried yogurt off when it is finished.
Methods for drying yogurt
You only should use your oven or dehydrator when drying yogurt. Air drying is not acceptable, and sun drying usually is not consistent enough to be safe for the same reasons as other dairy products.
Storing dried yogurt
The simplest way to store dried yogurt is by leaving it on its wax paper base and just rolling it up. Tuck in the ends and then store these tubes in a cool, dark place. You should not need to refrigerate it.
Specific instructions for drying yogurt
Spread yogurt over the wax paper sheets thinly, no thicker than 1/8 of an inch. A rubber spatula can be helpful for this task. It will be leathery when it has finished drying, although some varieties of yogurt might be a little sticky.
Dehydrator: Set at 125 F, six to eight hours.
Oven: Set at 125 F, eight to ten hours.
Dried yogurt will not rehydrate back to its original liquid form, but it is tasty to eat as a healthy snack in the dry state. That is how most people use it.
You do not necessarily have to dry yogurt thin in a sheet. Dropping small dollops of yogurt onto your leather sheets or waxed paper can create larger pieces of dried yogurt that could then be added to cereal or trail mix. They will take longer to dry than a sheet of leather, at least another six to eight hours, though it will depend on how thick you make the drops. If adding fruit purée to your yogurt, you will have to extend the drying time by at least four more hours. When creating new mixes, always keep an eye on the drying to get the timing just right.
If you are drying sour cream, you probably will not be eating it dry as a snack. Let it dry until it is hard, and then break it up into a powder form. You then can use it as an addition to sauces or soups, but it will not rehydrate back into a smooth cream to be used on its own.
Making yogurt in a dehydrator
Above has been a discussion on how to dry yogurt, but you actually can make your own yogurt from milk with a dehydrator. The catch for this project is that you only can use the type of dehydrator that has a cabinet with removable trays. You are going to have to put jars of milk inside, so you cannot do that with a dehydrator that is just a stack of loose trays with a lid on top. It also needs to be a machine with a thermostat so you can set it precisely.
There are two ways to make yogurt. Actually, the techniques are the same, but the ingredients differ. You will need bacteria to culture yogurt properly, and you either can buy yogurt starter for this or use finished yogurt. The starter is usually the best choice for a novice because it always will have live culture in it. Using existing yogurt is a little chancier, as you can never tell just what the bacteria population is going to be.
Start with 1 quart of milk. Whole milk will result in a creamier yogurt, but you can choose any type of milk. To get a thicker yogurt, mix in about 1/3 cup of dry milk powder. Heat milk with a double boiler until it reaches 180 F. Accuracy is important in this, so you should have a thermometer ready.
Once it reaches 180 F, take it from the heat and let it cool. A cold-water bath will cool it faster (place your container of hot milk inside a larger bowl with cold water; do not add cold water to the milk). You also could leave it at room temperature if you prefer. Once it cools to 115 F, you are ready to begin.
Stir in ¼ cup of yogurt or 2 tablespoons of commercial starter, and then pour the mixture into clean containers. You either can make one large batch in a jar or pour your mix into smaller cups for single-serve use. Now, get your dehydrator going at
115 to 120 F, and set the containers inside. Let it run for about six to eight hours or until it gets to the thickness and flavor you want. You can stir in fruit and sweetener once it is finished to customize your homemade yogurt. It will need to be stored in the fridge.
Dehydrating Milk
Of all the foods mentioned in this book so far, this is the first true liquid mentioned, which means the instructions are going to be a little different. Before trying to dry milk, you should consider other methods of preservation that may be more suitable. Milk does freeze well, although if you need a shelf-stable option, then drying might be your only choice.
Preparing milk for drying
Any milk can be used for drying, but it first must be pasteurized in order to reduce the amount of bacteria present. Nonpasteurized milk (also known as raw milk) should not be used for any dehydrating purposes. Milk purchased from a store is going to be pasteurized, so this is only an issue if you have a source of fresh milk, such as from a local farmer.
For the best results, try to use skim milk. The less fat, the better your dried milk will store. Just like with meat, the fat will quickly go rancid.
Methods for drying milk
When drying milk, you will have to limit your methods to either the oven or a dehydrator. And the stove is not really the best option, but it will do if that is what you have to work with.
Sun drying is not acceptable for drying milk because it takes too long, and there is almost no way to avoid bacterial contamination. You never should dry your milk in the sun.
Storing dried milk
Home-dried milk will not store as long as commercially dried milk, so do not plan to package and store it for a year.
Air (or more accurately, oxygen) is the problem with dried milk just as much as moisture. You can store your dried milk in jars, but storing the powder away from air is even better. Heavy plastic bags and a vacuum sealing unit are ideal for this purpose. Whatever the container, make sure to store away from moisture and sunlight.
Specific instructions for drying milk
Due to the liquid nature of milk, you will have to adjust your drying techniques somewhat. The best approach is to line your dehydrator trays (or oven baking sheets) with wax paper first. Pour just a thin layer of milk onto each tray; try to keep a depth of no more than one-eighth of an inch. If you have a dehydrator that uses slanted or otherwise not flat trays, you might not be able to dry any liquids at all. In that case, try the oven.
Dehydrator: Set at 130 F, 24 to 30 hours.
Oven: Set at 130 F, 26 to 32 hours.
Once it has dried, milk should flake away from the trays and should be ground down further in a blender to make a powder.
To use your dried milk powder, you will want to mix about 1 part milk powder to 2 parts water (so 1/3 cup of powder and 2/3 cup of water to make 1 full cup of milk). You will want to whisk it thoroughly or even run it through a blender to make sure all the powder dissolves properly. It will not reconstitute as easily as store-bought dried milk.
Your dried milk might not be that appealing as a glass of milk to drink, but it can be used nicely in baking or other cooking purposes. When baking with dried milk powder, you can add the powder into the dry ingredients and add the corresponding extra water to the liquid. You do not need to actually remake your milk before adding to the recipe. You can find recipes that use dried milk at the end of this chapter.
Dehydrating Cheese
After thinking about drying milk, you will be happy to know that cheese generally works out quite a bit better. Most varieties of cheese can be dried, but the easiest are hard cheeses (such as Cheddar). However, if you need to, you also can dry cottage cheese, though the applications for it are a little more limited.
Preparing cheese for drying
The best approach for drying hard cheese is to grate it first. Larger pieces will not dry thoroughly. Because the oils will come out of the cheese when it starts to heat up, you will need to line your trays with paper towels. More should be on hand because you will need to replace them a few times while your cheese is drying.
You can use most types of hard cheese, but getting older varieties can work better. They have more flavor and naturally less moisture to begin with.
For cottage cheese, choose a low-fat variety. It will keep better, and there will be a lower chance of it going bad in storage.
Methods for drying cheese
Again, you should stick to either the oven or dehydrator for drying cheese. Air drying might work if you have a warm enough area with good ventilation, but it is a little too risky to be recommended here.
With other drying practices, you can sometimes raise the temperature if you want to speed things up. If you try that with cheese, you need to be careful that you do not raise the heat enough to cause your cheese to melt. That will make a huge mess, particularly if it is inside your dehydrator.
If your oven will not lower enough to keep the cheese from melting, you can still try it. Just use wax paper on your trays. The cheese will melt and then dry from there.
Storing dried cheese
Once your shredded cheese is hard and brittle, you can either store it in that form or run it through the food processor to make your own cheese power. Because dried cheese does not rehydrate well, it makes more sense to store it as a powder. Cottage cheese really will not powderize; so, you can store it in small broken-up pieces.
Kept in an airtight container, your dried hard cheese (powdered or in pieces) should last several months. Cottage cheese will not last as long: about two to three weeks at room temperature or a month or two in the fridge. It is not great for long-term food storage but excellent as an immediate use food item (such as for a hiking trip).
Specific instructions for drying cheese
Hard Cheese
As mentioned above, you should lay your shredded cheese out on paper towel to absorb the oil. How often you need to do this is going to depend on your own judgment. Once you see significant oily spots appearing, replace the paper.
Dehydrator: Set at 120 F, six to eight hours.
Oven: Set at 120 F, eight to ten hours.
To rehydrate: Shreds rarely rehydrate suitably, so you will want to use your cheese powder. To make a basic sauce, whisk the powder with water or milk. How much to use will depend on how thick you want your sauce. Start with at least 1 part liquid to ½ part powder.
Cottage Cheese or Ricotta
Line your trays or pans with wax paper, and spread a thin layer of cheese. When it is done, the pieces will be brittle.
Dehydrator: Set at 130 F, six to eight hours.
Oven: Set at 130 F, ten to 12 hours.
To rehydrate: On its own, dried cottage cheese will not soften up to be just like the fresh version. But you can simmer it in water (or just let it soak at room temperature) until it has rehydrated, and then mix it in with other sauces. Adding it to tomato sauce for a pasta dish works well.
Drying Eggs
Although eggs are not actually dairy products, they should be mentioned, and they fit better in this chapter than in with the meats.
Preparing eggs for drying
You should not try to dry raw eggs. Before you start any dehydrating, you should cook them first. Giving them a quick whisk and cooking them as scrambled eggs is the easiest and most efficient way of doing this. Bacteria will be killed off, and you have an easier product to work with as you dry.
When you cook them, do not add any butter or oil. This added fat would put your dried eggs more at risk for going rancid quickly.
You also can separate your eggs before cooking if you prefer to have only dried egg whites. They can be cooked or used in baking to keep the cholesterol levels down. The overall process will be the same when you dehydrate them.
Methods for drying eggs
As with the other products, this is something that should be done only with the stove or an electric dehydrator. Drying in the sun is too irregular and offers too many potential risks for contamination. In fact, you might find that this is one case where using the oven might be better than the dehydrator.
Eggs should be dried at a higher temperature than most other foods in order to get the moisture fully out in a short period. If your dehydrator can reach 145 F, you can use it. If not, you should try drying in the oven this time.
You should be fine using your standard dehydrator trays for drying scrambled eggs, but some of the pieces will get small and can fall through. Line each tray with a piece of cheesecloth to help close up some of the mesh spacing.
Storing dried eggs
Once dry, you should run the pieces through a blender and store as a powder. Keep your egg powder in an airtight container and in a dark location if using a glass jar. They should store for several months without any problem, but unless you have done egg dehydrating before, you should probably try to use them sooner.
Specific instructions for drying eggs
Dehydrator: Set at 145 F, 16 to 20 hours.
Oven: Set at 145 F, 18 to 24 hours.
To rehydrate: You should be able to use your dried eggs in any way that would normally take eggs. That includes baking as well as actually cooking eggs. Dried eggs can be rehydrated with an equal volume of water, and 1 tablespoon of powder will make about one egg. Once rehydrated, they can be eaten like regular scrambled eggs. If you are using the eggs in baking, you can just add the powdered egg and water to the mix without necessarily rehydrating the egg alone first.
Recipes for Dried Dairy
Because dried dairy products are a little less common around the kitchen, here are a few basic recipes to get you started in using them.
Basic Creamy Cheese Sauce
You can make this at home or mix up the ingredients to use while hiking because everything in it is dehydrated. The mix can be made up ahead of time, so you would just need to add water when you are ready for the sauce.
• 1/3 cup cheese powder
• 3 Tbsp. dried milk powder
• 3 Tbsp. flour
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. ground pepper
• 1/8 tsp. onion powder
Stir everything together until the powders are all well blended. You can either store the mix in a tight container or make the sauce right away. You will need about 1 cup of hot water to ½ cup of cheese powder mix (this can be adjusted depending on your taste for a thicker or thinner sauce). Whisk over low heat until it has been simmering for a few minutes. When it is properly blended to the desired thickness, serve over pasta, vegetables, or whatever you wish.
Fruit Smoothie
Some dry milk powder can give you a completely new taste in a smoothie.
• 3 cups fresh fruit
• 1 cup dried milk powder
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup crushed ice
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
Combine everything in a blender, and blend until smooth. Add a little extra water if it is too thick for your liking.
Most uses for dried milk and other dairy products are associated with dry mixes or trail food mixes rather than cooking in the kitchen. You can find more of these types of recipes in Chapter 12.
Mayonnaise with Powdered Egg
Many people avoid making their own mayo because they are not comfortable with raw eggs. By using dried egg powder, you can make mayonnaise more safely at home.
• 1 rounded Tbsp. dried egg powder
• 1 Tbsp. water
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• ½ tsp. Dijon mustard
• ½ cup vegetable or olive oil (you might need more)
Combine everything except for the oil in your blender or food processor, and blend until smooth. This is where some patience comes in. You have to add the oil about one teaspoon at a time, and blend well between each addition of oil. This is a little imprecise at this point, but you will want to add enough oil to give the texture and thickness you want with mayonnaise. A half cup is usually enough, but more oil will create a thicker mix.
Swedish Pancakes
Here is one recipe that includes both dried eggs as well as dried milk. This will make a batch of fluffy pancakes, and you could add small pieces of dried fruit as well.
• 3 Tbsp. dried egg powder
• 6 Tbsp. water
• 1 cup dried milk powder
• 3 cups warm water
• 4 Tbsp. butter, melted
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 ½ cups flour
Whisk first measure of water and egg powder together until it is smooth and blended. Stir in the remaining ingredients, adding the flour last. Stir thoroughly until you have a smooth batter. Let it rest for five minutes, and then stir again before making your pancakes.
Cook about ½ cup of batter on a hot skillet or griddle, just like regular pancakes. Flip them over when the edges start to brown in order to cook both sides. Serve hot with syrup or other desired toppings.