An apparatus and method for microwave vacuum-drying of organic materials, suchas food products. The apparatus has a microwave vacuum chamber 20, a loading module36 to load containers 38 of the organic material into the vacuum chamber, a rotatablecylindrical cage 64 in the vacuum chamber for rotating the containers, a piston114 for moving the rotating containers through the vacuum chamber, and meansfor unloading the containers of dehydrated material from the vacuum chamber.The apparatus may include an equilibration chamber 150 for cooling the dehydratedmaterial under reduced pressure, and a transfer module 42 to transfer the containersfrom the vacuum chamber to the equilibration chamber. The apparatus has a microwavetransparent window 54 for transmission of radiation into the vacuum chamber,and a gas jet 58, 60, 62 for blowing a stream of gas, such as air or nitrogen, intothe vacuum chamber adjacent to the window.
