Hi Ed - your time and temp are going to vary from fruit to fruit. Same goes for veggies. What specific things are we talking about?

The brand of dehydrator will also affect the time of processing required. Which one are you using?

As to the vacuum seal - I can't give you an exact number as I use a Food Saver and it is automatic. But frozen will store the longest, fridge next longest, and on shelf the least. Length of storage time is also directly correlated to type of vegetable/fruit, size of pieces, and degree of dryness.

So we need more info please.

Meanwhile the link below is a great place to start reading and getting general instructions for individual things.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP - How to Dry Fruits and Vegetables

Dave,
I have a background in vacuum forming & heat transfer, I will be "building" our own systems. Thanks for the link!
I will be mostly drying Roma tomatoes, strawberries, & my son wants to make beef jerky.
Thanks again
Ed

Things can take many differences in the time when they are totally dry. Heat needs to be used, to quickly remove moisture to reduce spoiling and prevent flavor and color loss, but not to much to burn/cook the product. What will you be using as vacuum storage containers? I have diaphram pumps capable of 28 inches, and bigger dual piston pumps with 32 inches. A 6 inch moisture trap is in the lin to catch anoy possible moistue that can get pulled inot the pump. DO NOT USE OIL TYP VACUUM PUMPS! They give off nasty vapors unless the pump is a great distance from the item. If using Food Saver canisters, like the ones that are smokey clear, white twist knob on top for venting and pumping. The lids are concave, and around the center ring, the plastic can crack under high vacuum. I know, as I saw my big gallon one start to show bubbles going in while the liquid inside was touching the lid. I removed the contents, cleaned the canister and lid, and pulled a stronger vacuum while applying some liquid crazy glue to the cracks, then thicker coat of crazy glue in gel form. After that, the area was coated with an accelerator to harden the glue. Its now 1/2 inch thick in that area and was the weakest point. Obviolsy this issue would not occur if you use the FS adpater that attaches to Ball canning jars. Never use the square sided cansisters from FS, as they cant hold up to even about 20 inches, and crack up the sides after a few minutes. The vacuum applied Ball lids are REALLY tight on them, moreso compared to the natural conditions in a heat canner.

1. What should the temp. be in the dehydrator? I have an 80 liter Cabela's Commercial Dehydrator, except for when I dry herbs I start the drying time at 140 for the first hour to quickly remove as much moisture as possible from the surface without cooking it. Then I turn it down to between 120-130 depending on how long I "think" it might take to dry. I usually start dehydrating in the evening and try to have it finished when I get home from work the next day, this isn't fool proof.

I can't help you on #2 because I have a food saver too.
3. How long do things "last" once sealed in jars? I just opened strawberries from 2007 and they were still dehydrated but they weren't as sweet as those from 08. I mostly store herbs in jars and if you leave the herbs whole they'll hold their flavors supposedly a year, after that they may not be as strong and you might want to increase the amount used in recipes. Usually as I start the new year I'll compost what's left or as with herbs such as lemon verbena and lavender I will slightly crush the leaves and put them in containers for potpourri. How long they last really depends on how they are stored. General rule is cool and dark.
4. Should jars be refrigerated, frozen, or at room temp? I freeze only cherries and apricots for safety sake. I don't dry them 100%. I'll vac them in bags though before freezing. In fact I still have some from 07 and they look great. Everything else is stored in the basement (cool dark place) stored in vac bags, mostly because I don't have enough jars and reuse the bags.

Hope this helps.

I would say between 110 to 130 degrees for drying. It should also have a circulating fan. I keep dill weed and other dried herbs in Ball quart jars and use the FS jar attachment to pull a vacuum on them, which seals a canning ld to the jars. Dill weed after 2 years stored that way is still bright green and has still got good taste and smell. If I take some out and put it into smaller jars in my spice rack it only lasts few months, and starts to fade its color, so its tossed.