Dried vegetables and fruits provide convenient and delicious
additions to family meals. They can be used alone, in combination with other foods, or served for an accent to add flavor.
Most uses require that the food be rehydrated, usually referred to as refreshing.
Refreshing is done by soaking or cooking (or a combination of both) the dried food in water until
the desired volume is restored. The amount of water and the length of time needed to refresh 1 cup of dried food can be found
in chart below. If properly pretreated with steam or water blanching before
drying, vegetables need a minimum of refreshing. Vegetables such as spinach, kale, cabbage, chard or tomatoes are refreshed
by covering with hot water and simmering to desired tenderness. Root, stem and seed vegetables are soaked 1/2 to 1-1/2 hours
in enough cold water to keep them immersed. After soaking, they are simmered until tender, and excess water is allowed to
evaporate. If dried vegetables are added to boiling water, it takes less time for refreshing
Refreshing dried food.
Amount of water to
Product add to 1 cup
dried food Minimum soaking time
(hours)
Beans, green snap
2-1/2
1
Beets
2-3/4
1-1/2
Carrots
2-1/4
1
Cabbage
3
1
Corn
2-1/4
1/2
Okra
3
1/2
Onions
2
3/4
Peas, green 2-1/2
1/2
Squash
1-3/4
1
Spinach
1
1/2
Sweet potatoes 1-1/2
1/2
Turnip greens & other greens 1
3/4
Apples
1-1/2
1/2
Pears
1-3/4
1
Peaches
2
1-1/4
Note: For vegetables, use boiling water; for
fruits, use water at room temperature.
