| {{B}}
Dried Foods{{/B}} Centuries ago, man discovered that removing moisture{{U}} (51) {{/U}}food helped to preserve it, and that the easiest way to do this was to expose the food to the sun and wind. In this{{U}} (52) {{/U}} the North American Indians produce dried meat and make it into cakes, the Scandinavians make{{U}} (53) {{/U}}fish and the Arabs make dried dates. All foods contain{{U}} (54) {{/U}}, cabbage and other leaf vegetables contain as much as 93% water, potatoes and other root vegetables 80%, lean meat 75%, and fish anything from 80% to 60% depending{{U}} (55) {{/U}}how fatty it is. If this water is{{U}} (56) {{/U}}, the activity of the bacteria which causes food to go bad is stopped. Now day most foods are dried mechanically. The most common{{U}} (57) {{/U}}of such drying is to put food in chambers. This is the usual method for drying such things{{U}} (58) {{/U}}vegetables, minced meat, and fish. Liquids such as milk, coffee, tea, soups and eggs may be dried{{U}} (59) {{/U}}pouring them over a heated horizontal steel cylinder or by spraying them into a chamber through{{U}} (60) {{/U}}a current of hot air passes. In the first{{U}} (61) {{/U}},the dried material is scraped off the roller as a thin film which is then broken up into small pieces, though still relatively coarse flakes. In the second process it falls to the bottom of the chamber as a fine powder. Where{{U}} (62) {{/U}}pieces of meat and vegetables are required, as in soup, the ingredients are dried separately and then mixed. Dried foods take up less room and weigh less{{U}} (63) {{/U}}the same food packed in can or frozen, and they are{{U}} (64) {{/U}}to climbers, explorers and soldiers in battle, who have little storage space. They are also popular with housewives{{U}} (65) {{/U}}it takes so little time to cook them. Usually it is just a matter of replacing the dried-out moisture with boiling water. |