What Can You Dehydrate? Chart of Times & Temperatures

Dehydrating is the least fussy way to preserve the Canadian harvest — no jars, no pressure, no botulism math. The only two things you need to get right are temperature (by food type) and dryness (test it, don’t trust the clock). This is the quick-reference chart: what you can dehydrate, how to prep it, and how long it takes.

For the full method — equipment, the science, oven drying without a machine, and storage — see the dehydrating guide. This page is the lookup table.

Dehydration times & temperatures chart

Times are for an electric dehydrator with airflow. They’re the widely published Bernardin / Health Canada ranges for home drying — a quality guide, not a safety-critical figure the way canning times are (the one true safety step is the jerky finish, noted below). Thickness, humidity, and how full the trays are all shift the time, so test for dryness rather than watching the clock.

Food	Prep	Temperature	Typical time
Apple rings or slices	5 mm; lemon-water dip	60 °C / 140 °F	6–12 h
Banana chips	5 mm; lemon-water dip	60 °C / 140 °F	6–10 h
Pear slices	5 mm; lemon-water dip	60 °C / 140 °F	8–14 h
Strawberries	halved or 5 mm sliced	55 °C / 135 °F	8–14 h
Blueberries	whole; check/crack the skins first	55 °C / 135 °F	10–18 h
Fruit leather	3 mm purée on a liner	55–60 °C / 135–140 °F	4–8 h
Tomato slices	5–8 mm	55 °C / 135 °F	8–14 h
Zucchini chips	3–5 mm	55 °C / 135 °F	6–10 h
Carrots	3 mm; blanch 2–3 min	55 °C / 135 °F	6–10 h
Green beans	whole or split; blanch 2–3 min	55 °C / 135 °F	6–12 h
Corn (off the cob)	blanch 2–3 min	55 °C / 135 °F	6–12 h
Peppers	5 mm strips	55 °C / 135 °F	6–10 h
Mushrooms	3–5 mm	50 °C / 125 °F	4–8 h
Kale (chips)	de-stem; whole leaf	50 °C / 125 °F	2–4 h
Hardy herbs (rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano)	whole sprigs	35–40 °C / 95–105 °F	1–4 h
Tender herbs (basil, parsley, mint, cilantro)	de-stem; whole leaves	35–40 °C / 95–105 °F	2–6 h
Beef or game jerky	3–5 mm strips; marinated	65–70 °C / 150–160 °F + oven step	4–8 h plus 10 min at 75 °C

Temperature cheat sheet (by food type)

If a food isn’t on the chart, match it to the closest category:

• Herbs — 35–40 °C / 95–105 °F. Low and slow protects the volatile oils that carry the flavour.
• Vegetables — 50–55 °C / 125–135 °F. Many benefit from a 2–3 minute blanch first (carrots, corn, green beans).
• Fruit & fruit leather — 55–65 °C / 135–150 °F. Higher heat for higher sugar.
• Jerky / meat — 65–70 °C / 150–160 °F, then 10 minutes at 75 °C / 165 °F in the oven. This finishing step is the one non-negotiable safety rule — Health Canada and Bernardin both call for it, even though many US blogs skip it.

What you can dehydrate

Beyond the chart, these all dry well at their category temperature:

• Fruit: apples, pears, bananas, all berries, peaches, plums, grapes (into raisins), citrus slices and zest, mango, pineapple.
• Vegetables: tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, mushrooms, corn, carrots, celery, onions, sweet potato, beets, kale and other greens.
• Herbs & aromatics: every culinary herb, plus ginger and garlic (grind into powders).
• Meat: lean beef or venison jerky (trim all visible fat first).
• Made-from-dried: grind dehydrated tomatoes, mushrooms, or peppers into powders; purée fruit into leather.

What you should NOT dehydrate

The line is fat. Fat doesn’t dry — it goes rancid in storage, and on meat it’s a food-safety risk. Skip:

• Avocado and olives — too oily; they turn rancid fast.
• Dairy — milk, cheese, butter, yogurt. Home dehydrators can’t do this safely.
• Eggs — salmonella risk without commercial equipment.
• Fatty cuts of meat — use only lean cuts for jerky, and trim every bit of visible fat.
• Nut and seed butters — the oil separates and spoils.

And never dehydrate food that’s already begun to spoil — drying concentrates it, it doesn’t rescue it.

How to tell when it’s done

Dryness beats the clock. Pull a piece, let it cool (warm food feels more pliable than it is), then check:

• Fruit: leathery and pliable, no beads of moisture when squeezed.
• Vegetables: brittle or crisp — they should snap, not bend.
• Herbs: crumble to powder between your fingers.
• Jerky: bends and cracks but doesn’t break in two.

Then condition dried fruit and vegetables: seal in a jar for a week and shake daily. If moisture beads on the glass, it wasn’t dry enough — dry it further before long-term storage. Full storage and shelf-life details are in the dehydrating guide.

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No dehydrator yet? You can start in the oven or open air, or compare machines in the Canadian dehydrator buying guide.