How to Dehydrate Yogurt

 Dehydrated yogurt is a mess-free, travel-worthy snack option but few backpackers know that. Whether you are backpacking or not, you will love this, yummy, healthy snack. If you love experimenting with dehydrating different types of foods, we encourage you to try this. In this post, we will teach you how to dehydrate yogurt.

Why dehydrate yogurt?

There are some amazing advantages of preparing dehydrated yogurt rolls. If you are making some backcountry meal plans, you can include dehydrated yogurt in the list of foods. Yogurt is one of the few ingredients that make very good backpacking meals.

If you combine cereals, powders and freeze-dried fruits with dehydrated yogurt, you will get tasty and healthy morning meal. A great hiking snack can be prepared from dehydrated yogurt drops.

This meal can make busy parents less stressed, thanks to its long shelf life. Dehydrated yogurt lasts a few months in the freezer.

Important things to consider

Before we talk about the ingredients needed to make dehydrated yogurt rolls, let’s talk about the main tool—a food dehydrator. There are different types of food dehydrators on the market, and you have to choose suitable one. Make sure it has a varied temperature range.

You can add some sauce sheets to your list of items. Waxed paper will make the process of making dehydrated yogurt rolls easier for you.

If these yogurt rolls are for work or school, you have to make higher fat content yogurt. But consider low-fat yogurt if you are backpacking for a few days. Keep in mind that yogurt with high sugar content takes longer to dry.

Here is another thing to consider when choosing yogurt: choose yogurt with pectin and avoid yogurt with gelatin. Pectin dries quickly while gelatin does not dry completely. You are free to choose plain, fruit-flavored or vanilla-flavored yogurt.

Choosing a food dehydrator

A food dehydrator is a multi-tasking tool because it can be used to dehydrate many types of food items. It can greatly help you dehydrate yogurt. But how do you know that you are choosing a good food dehydrator? What should you look for in a food dehydrator?

First, you have to choose a food dehydrator that retains the nutritional content of your food. It should be cost-effective and convenient. Make sure that the stacking trays are large enough.

A high-quality food dehydrator has an even airflow system. A dehydrator with an adjustable thermostat allows you to maintain temperatures. Last but not the least; do not purchase a food dehydrator that you are not going to use. Choose one that fits your needs.

How is yogurt dehydrated?

You can dehydrate plain yogurt or you can add some mix-ins. In either way, it will work just find. Whether you use homemade or purchased yogurt, you have to spread it thinly on parchment paper.

Determine how much yogurt you are going to dehydrate. Per tray, one cup of yogurt is enough. It should be spread evenly on your waxed paper. The recommended thickness is between 1/8 and ¼ inch.

The thermostat should be set to the correct temperature. Note that a dehydrator’s thermostat does not mean the air inside. Then what does it refer to? It refers to the temperature of food. When you need to dehydrate yogurt, you must know this little known fact.

When the internal temperature exceeds 118°F, the nutritional properties begin to deteriorate. PH levels are altered, most types of vitamins are destroyed, and enzymes are killed.

When using your dehydrator, make sure the temperature is set at 125F. Keep heating the yogurt for about 6 hours. All dehydrators are not the same. So you have to check the tool after every 4 hours.

Remember, the yogurt rolls you are going to make should be completely dry. Let’s discuss a few more things about the temperature of the dehydrator. To kill bacteria and enzymes, you have to set the temperature at 150 degrees Fahrenheit.

But the temperature setting at such a high level has a drawback. You will not get the probiotic benefits.  Depending on your needs, the range of temperature can be 100F-145F. If you do not need to get it done in a very short time, shoot for 110F.

When you notice that the dehydrated yogurt is dry, it is ready. If it still feels sticky, keep heating. Further heating will change both the color and the flavor of your yogurt.

Room temperature is fine for storing your yogurt rolls. But with the passing of days, you may notice a sour smell. You do not need a lot of space to store dehydrated yogurt.

How does it taste?

When yogurt is dehydrated, it becomes pretty tangy. We strongly recommend adding sweetener, because yogurt, once dehydrated, tastes sour. Without any sweetener, this sourness will be evident.

A better solution can be seasoning your yogurt with maple syrup, raw honey or stevia drops. You will like the flavor.

A few words on dried yogurt bites

Commercial bites are also known as yogurt melts yogurt puffs and yogurt melts. The basis idea is to dehydrate dots of yogurt. If you do some research on the internet, you will find that frozen bites are cheaper. But the fact is, they are not always cheaper.

The good news is, you can easily make yogurt bites at home. The following passages will describe exactly how you can make them. If you follow the instructions step by step, hopefully you will be able to make some yogurt bites that you can enjoy with your friends and family.

Making yogurt powder

You may want to make yogurt powder for various reasons. One reason is that powdered yogurt is easier to store. Once your yogurt is dehydrated, you can easily grind it into find powder. A coffee grinder can be used to do it.

Keep the dried yogurt bark into a bag and add some water to the bag. Close the bag, knead it gently and you will get a smooth, creamy consistency. Now you can enjoy it with granola, berries and freeze-dried fruits.

You will notice a difference in fresh yogurt and dehydrated yogurt. When yogurt is dehydrated, it has a gritty consistency and a sour taste. But you can solve these issues by adding some fruits, berries and granola to your yogurt.

Dehydrated yogurt drops

As we have mentioned earlier, you have the freedom to choose yogurt. Before you dehydrate yogurt, you can use plain yogurt or flavored yogurt. The dehydrator tray should be lined with parchment paper or non-stick sheet. Keep the yogurt mixture in a zip lock bag and tightly close the bag.

Cut a tiny portion at the corner of the bag and make small dots onto your dehydrator tray. Keep heating them until they are crispy.

We have discussed the right way to dehydrate yogurt, mentioned the tools you need to do it. If you are serious and have some time, you can make some delicious snacks for your family.