Nesco Food Dehydrator manual Precoloring dough, Baking and Drying Dough, Painting dough, Sealing

Large ornaments should be strength- ened with wire. Dough has no strength and requires support for larger orna- ments. If the dough connects in small pieces (head and neck, arms or legs), insert toothpicks or wires between parts to keep the portions from separating over time.

Make impressions on dough with a variety of instruments. Impressions hold up best with a stiffer dough. All kinds of instruments can be used to make impressions to give texture and design to ornaments.

Push dough through a garlic press or grater to make hair and other decorative effects. Cake decorating tubes with large nozzles can be used for making designs. Add extra water to soften dough to a good consistency.

Add a hanging device to the top or back of an ornament, before baking and dry- ing, if it is to be hung.

Use Christmas ornament hooks, bent wire, circles from pop-top drink cans, or paper clips. Push hanging device into dough at top center, close to the back of the piece.

Remember, the final dough shape is the shape which will be baked. If there are loose pieces or undesirable marks in the dough, they will exist in the finished product.

Precoloring dough

Before baking, raw dough can be precolored by adding drops of paste food coloring, watercolors, inks, and fabric dyes. Powdered colors should be mixed with the flour and salt before adding water.

Liquid shoe polish or leather dye can also be brushed on lightly during the first 15 minutes of baking.

Baking and Drying Dough

Dough should be baked for 2 hours at 300°F (150°C) in your oven. Then transfer to your dehydrator. Dry at the highest temperature setting for an addi- tional 4 to 12 hours until completely dry (until you become more experi- enced with drying dough-art in your NESCO® American Harvest® dehydra- tor, it is wise to place a piece of dough, the same size as the largest /thickest piece of your ornament, to use as a test piece. To test for dryness, break apart the test piece. It is done when it is com- pletely dry inside).

Remove ornaments when totally dry and cool prior to applying paint.

Painting dough

Acrylic paints are the most popular and easily applied. They are available in jars, spray cans, and tubes. They mix easily and dry quickly. If you are adding different colored layers over one another, use a coat of sealer between them to prevent them from running

or smearing.

When painting is complete, dry in your dehydrator at the highest temperature setting for 1 to 2 hours until thoroughly dry.

Sealing

It is extremely important to seal salt dough ornaments to prevent moisture from reentering and causing mold and disintegration.

There is a wide variety of final coatings which can be used, but they should be

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