You may have cranked up your food dehydrator to preserve apples and tomatoes, but less-common choices — cucumbers, for example — are also well worth drying. Eat chewy cucumber slices out of hand as a snack, or chop them and incorporate them into salads and sandwiches. Crisp cucumber chips can be lightly salted for a low-calorie alternative to potato chips, crumbled over your salads as a garnish, or powdered in your spice grinder and added to breading and seasoning mixtures for a subtle, summery note of flavor.

Thin-sliced cucumbers can be dehydrated for long-term storage. Image Credit: tycoon751/iStock/Getty Images

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Things You\’ll Need

• Sharp Knife Or Mandoline

• Plastic Storage Bags

Dehydrator Method

Step 1

Slice your cucumbers into 1/8-inch rounds, using a sharp knife or a mandoline. The more uniform your slices, the more evenly and consistently the cucumbers will dry.

Step 2

Arrange the cucumber slices on your dehydrator's tray, spacing them evenly so they don't touch. Air must be able to circulate freely around the slices, or they won't dry properly.

Step 3

Load the trays into your dehydrator. If it offers variable temperature settings, any temperature between 120 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit is acceptable. Plug in the dehydrator and turn it on.

Step 4

Dry the cucumbers for 6 to 8 hours, until they reach the consistency you wish. Reaching a crispy, chip-like texture typically takes about two hours longer than for a leathery, chewy texture. Your actual time will vary with the efficiency of your dehydrator, the thickness of your slices, the ambient temperature and humidity, and many other factors.

Step 5

Remove the dried cucumbers from your dehydrator and let them cool on a wire rack until they reach room temperature. Package them in small quantities into airtight plastic bags and store them in a cool, dark place.

Oven Method

Step 1

Cut your cucumbers into 1/8-inch slices with a mandoline or sharp knife.

Step 2

Arrange the slices evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet, taking care not to let them overlap. If they touch, they'll stick together after they're dried.

Step 3

Set your oven to the lowest temperature it can manage, ideally 150 F or less. If you're drying one sheet of cucumbers, place it in the middle of your oven, or if you're doing two sheets place them in the upper and lower thirds.

Step 4

Dry your cucumbers for 4 to 8 hours, depending how low a temperature your oven can manage. Turn the slices at least once to ensure the most even drying possible.

Step 5

Remove your dried cucumbers from the oven when they reach your desired degree of dryness and let them cool to room temperature before packaging them into airtight plastic bags for storage.

Tip

Choose perfectly ripe, firm, juicy, unblemished cucumbers for drying. Long English-style cucumbers can simply be sliced and dried, without further preparation. Waxy, warty, thick-skinned "field" cucumbers benefit from a bit of preparation. Peel the skin if it's thick and leathery, then cut the cuke in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Slice the hollowed vegetable into half-moon shapes, then proceed as directed.

If your food dehydrator circulates air vertically, it's helpful to shuffle the trays at least once or twice during the drying process to ensure even dehydration. That step isn't usually necessary with dehydrators that circulate the air horizontally.

Cucumbers are technically a fruit, like tomatoes, and like other fruits they'll benefit from "conditioning" if you've dried them to a leathery texture. Pack them loosely into a sealer jar or large bag for seven to 10 days, so their moisture content can equalize between slices. Then divide and package them for long-term storage.

How to Keep Mushrooms Fresh Image Credit: James Goodwin

How to Keep Mushrooms Fresh. Mushrooms have a reputation for spoiling quickly. However, you'll be amazed at how much longer your mushrooms last after taking some simple measures to prevent their decay.

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Step 1

How to Keep Mushrooms Fresh Image Credit: James Goodwin

Buy fresh mushrooms at a grocery store. Look for young mushrooms, which are closed as opposed to open and flat. Purchase only the amount of mushrooms that you intend to use before the expiration date. Buy mushrooms displaying the latest expiration date on the package.

Step 2

How to Keep Mushrooms Fresh Image Credit: James Goodwin

Adjust your refrigerator's temperature to between 34 and 40 degrees F. Low temperatures keep mushrooms fresh.

Step 3

How to Keep Mushrooms Fresh Image Credit: James Goodwin

Get a brown paper bag. Paper bags are better for mushroom storage than plastic bags because they do not encourage moisture accumulation. If you must store your mushrooms in a plastic bag, wrap them in a paper towel before inserting them into the bag.

Step 4

How to Keep Mushrooms Fresh Image Credit: James Goodwin

Remove the mushrooms from their store packaging. Store packaging usually contains plastic parts, which contribute to decay.

Step 5

How to Keep Mushrooms Fresh Image Credit: James Goodwin

Place the dry mushrooms into the brown paper bag.

Step 6

How to Keep Mushrooms Fresh Image Credit: James Goodwin

Put the bag of mushrooms in your refrigerator. Place the mushrooms somewhere that is largely undisturbed and away from light.

Step 7

How to Keep Mushrooms Fresh Image Credit: James Goodwin

Take only the mushrooms you intend to use from the brown paper bag and clean them. Never wash mushrooms before storing them. Washing mushrooms before storage encourages mold growth.

Things You\’ll Need

• Paper towels

• Knife

• Cutting board

• Baking sheet

• Lint-free cloth

• Large pot

• Water

• Canning jar

• Salt

Green olives are frequently stuffed with pimento.

Pimento or cherry peppers, are vibrant, red peppers that turn a deeper red the longer they mature. Pimento provides pepper flavor without overpowering the taste buds with "heat" like jalapenos. A member of the chile family, pimento is widely available at fresh markets like produce stands and grocery stores. Growing pimento in pots or in a home garden will provide you with plenty of cherry peppers for using later. Preserve your pimentos with good, safe storage techniques.

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Roasting Pimento

Step 1

Rinse the peppers with cool water. Pat them dry with paper towels.

Step 2

Cut the top off the pepper. Slice the pepper in two. Remove the seeds and fibrous portions inside.

Step 3

Preheat an oven to 175 degrees. Place the peppers on a baking sheet and bake for six to 10 hours.

Step 4

Remove the peppers and store them in glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Keep the peppers in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Broiling Pimento

Step 1

Slice large peppers in half. Remove the insides of the peppers including the seeds. Don't slice small peppers in half; leave the seeds and insides intact. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Step 2

Lay the peppers in a single layer on a baking sheet. Place in 400-degree oven for six to eight minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the peppers to cool.

Step 3

Bring 6 to 8 cups of water to a boil in a pot on the stove.

Step 4

Slice off the tops of the peppers with a sharp knife. Place a cloth on top of the pepper. Press down on the pepper and then peel off the skin. Flatten the peppers using the cloth.

Step 5

Fill a canning jar nearly full with cooked peppers. Pour the boiling water over the peppers. Sprinkle a pinch of salt in the jar. Screw the lid on tightly. Refrigerate and use peppers when you need them. Toss out the peppers after two weeks.

Tip

Wear gloves when handling hot peppers.

Warning

Do not rub your eyes when preparing peppers.

Nature has a way of hiding its treasures, and the ruby-red gems locked inside a pomegranate are no exception. Unlike the profligate pear, the indiscriminate apple and the promiscuous plum, the noble pom, replete with its queenly crown, makes you work for your prize — the plump, succulent arils, or seeds, a bounty worthy of the extra effort they demand. You can open pomegranates with finesse or firmness, the former using a warm, underwater technique that leaves the arils waiting in the water, and the latter a more abrupt method employing a wooden spoon.

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Things You\’ll Need

• Wooden Spoon (Optional)

• Kitchen Knife

Finesse

Step 1

Fill a large bowl with warm water. Slice about 1/2 inch off the crown end of the pomegranate.

Step 2

Score the pomegranate skin 1/4 inch deepfour times from the crown end to the base end, spacing each cut an equal distance from the next.

Step 3

Hold the pomegranate cut-side down under the warm water. Separate the pomegranate into quarters along the scores you made in the skin while holding it underwater.

Step 4

Soak the pomegranate quarters in the warm water for a couple of minutes. Loosen the arils from their cavities gently.

Step 5

Discard the pomegranate shell. Pour the bowl of seeds and water through a mesh strainer. The seeds will remain in the strainer for consumption or juicing.

Firmness

Step 1

Slice the pomegranate in half vertically from crown to base. Place the pomegranate halves cut-side up on the work surface.

Step 2

Cut 4 1-inch slices spaced 1 inch apart crosswise through the seed cavity of each pomegranate half. Hold the pomegranate halves over a deep bowl.

Step 3

Pull the pomegranate halves open without separating them into pieces. Smack the back of the pomegranate with a wooden spoon to dislodge the seeds and eject them into the bowl.

Tip

Wear latex gloves and an apron as you open and seed the pomegranate, as the deeply colored juice can stain your hands and clothing. Work on an easily cleaned or impermeable work surface.