A fairly straightforward book about dehydrating fruits, vegetables, meat and even bread and cakes.I've done a bit of dehydrating with a small commercial unit and it seemed to take an inordinate amount of power to dehydrate even small quantities of fruit. (oh......the other issue is that what starts off as a case of mangoes reduces to a very small plastic bag of the dried fruit. It's a very practical book with some good recommendations....like just use wide mouthed sealable storage jars for the dried products. They are cheaper than vacuum bags and will last well enough for all practical purposes. I also leant red that I should be pre-treating my fruits and vegetables by blanching and treating with ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) or other products such as Potassium metabisulfite. This givers a better coloured product and reduces bacteria etc that may spoil the product. Markham is pretty clear on the fact tht his dried vegetables and dried meats are probably best when used in soups and similar dishes. He has also helpfully included a lot of recipes which I will probably never try and he's includes instructions for making your own large dehydrator. (I don't think I'll be bothering). One of his throw away tips is that he will frequently take vegetables that are not going to get used from the refrigerator and run them through the dehydrator. This way he saves the fruit or vegetables and builds up a great store of dehydrated products over time. I was surprised at the length of time that he claims dehydrated product can be used (10-15 years for products vacuum packed and stored below 10 degrees C.). Though, as he says, you have to think about the cost of running a refrigerator of 10 years if you plan on doing this.
An interesting book. Does what it sets out to do. Would have been enhanced by better quality (and more) colour photos). I give it three stars. ( )