By Charles Sanders
Drying of food as a means of preservation has been around for a long time. Populations in suitably dry climates all around the globe have dried meat, fish, fruit, and vegetables in times of plenty as a way to provide for the leaner months of the year. My grandmother used to tell us of when she was a child, helping to spread apple slices on the top of a tin-shed roof for drying. An aunt once described stringing fresh young bean pods on a long heavy thread and hanging them to dry, coming up with what they called leather-britches beans. Obviously, these were simple and imperfect food drying systems, but they do show ways in which food can be dried at home.