Rational combi ovens, such as the iCombi Pro model, are equipped with specific functionalities to perform various cooking processes, including dehydration. This allows users to dry fruits, vegetables, meats, and other products at controlled low temperatures.
While the exact temperature, time, and airflow settings required for dehydration vary depending on the specific food item and desired outcome, the process within a Rational oven utilizes dedicated program options.
The Dehydration Process & Program Management
To dehydrate in a Rational oven, you would typically:
- Access the specific cooking mode or program for dehydration (often found within special functions or manual modes).
- Make the necessary selections for your dehydration cycle. These selections dictate the environment inside the oven and are critical for successful drying. Key parameters usually include:
- Temperature: Dehydration occurs at relatively low temperatures (e.g., 40°C to 70°C / 104°F to 158°F) to remove moisture without cooking the food.
- Time: Dehydration often takes several hours, sometimes even overnight.
- Humidity Control: The oven's ability to manage humidity helps in efficiently drawing moisture out of the food.
- Air Speed: Proper air circulation is vital for carrying moisture away from the food surface.
- Load your prepared food onto appropriate trays or racks, ensuring adequate space for air circulation between pieces.
- Start the dehydration program.
Saving Your Dehydration Settings as a Program
A significant feature, as highlighted in the provided reference, is the ability to save your customized dehydration configurations for future use. According to the reference:
- Once your selections have been made for the dehydration parameters (temperature, time, etc.), you have the option to save these exact settings.
- You can use the save button on the oven's interface.
- This feature allows you to name your product or recipe (for example, "Dried Banana Chips" or "Beef Jerky Base").
- By saving, you create a reusable recipe or program.
- This saved recipe is then added to your program list within the oven, making it easy to recall and run the same dehydration cycle consistently for subsequent batches without needing to re-enter all the settings manually.
Benefits of Using a Rational Oven for Dehydration
- Precise Control: Offers accurate control over temperature, time, and potentially humidity/air speed, leading to consistent results.
- Capacity: Allows for dehydrating larger quantities compared to domestic dehydrators.
- Programmable: The ability to save programs streamlines workflow and ensures repeatability.
In summary, dehydrating in a Rational oven involves setting specific drying parameters within the oven's program options. A key practical aspect is the ability to save these customized settings as a named program, using the save button, for convenient access and consistent results in the future, as demonstrated in the reference.
