My first instinct says yes on the grill pan and no on the dehydrator.

It's so easy to dehydrate stuff in the oven, and I've seen dehydrators for super cheap at thrift stores. The grill pan doesn't offer any functional advantage over a skillet, I don't think, but you still might use it a lot. You have to make sure the ridges are deep. I bought a cheap one and regretted it, because it didn't leave grill marks on the food.

Does your stove work? I thought I remember from another thread that it is not reliable.... if you can count on the stove working, I would think the grill pan would get more use.

Good luck!

Alexa

I have a dehydrator, but not a grill pan. My vote would be to get the old cast iron skillet from your mother, the only reason I can see for the ridges is to make marks anyway.

The dehydrator gets used for apples, hot peppers and zucchin candy. I did dehydrate tomatoes and make tomato powder and was kind of "eh" about it. I've dried garlic and ground it and added to salt for my own garlic salt, and I've done the same with morels for morel salt but I don't think it's worth getting a dehydrator just for that.

I dehydrated strawberries and thought it was a waste of good fruit, but I think I'm going to try to do some onions this year and see how those go.

So, my vote would be to save all of your money and get the big pan from your Mom! You can always come here when you're in Michigan and dehydrate stuff, LOL.

Annie

I'm thinking it will cost too much to dehydrate in the oven. The electric coils on the stove are wonky, they surge and sometimes don't even go on. I have already replaced the electric connections on them. I may need new coils. At any rate, cast iron's heat holding capacity would be a plus in that kind of situation, IF I could get the darn coils to heat up properly.

I was thinking the same thing on the griddle, what purpose for the ridges? Obviously to drain away fat, but how fat does fish or chicken get?? BF uses his cast iron pan to cook on his grill, lol! I could always get the big pan and see how it goes.

I'd be interested to hear of anyone else's dehydrating experiences.

lpink, I agree with Annie get the cast iron pan from your mother. It was your grandma's after all, three generations using the same skillet! I like stuff like that.

I love my cast iron pans, the first one I got from my MIL, it is well seasoned and used often. And I like the fact that my husband grew up eating food cooked in that pan and is still eating food cooked in that pan.

Di

My vote is for a dehydrator, and it doesn't have to be big OR fancy. Check prices on a NESCO American Harvest. They are often found at Wal-Mart and Ace Hardware stores and you can easily expand their capacity by purchasing extra trays.

The temperatures of most home ovens don't go as low as is needed and can actually "cook" the food you are drying, rather than dehydrating it. This results in the outside being hard and the inside moisture can't expel properly through this hard crust. When you store improperly dried foods they will mold and will be wasted food. Not all foods dry at the same temperature. It's important you dry meat at a much higher temperature than say herbs like chives.

-You will also use less utilities using a dehydrator. They take very little electricity; and because they have a fan in them, you will get more even results. The fan is almost as necessary in good dehydrating as the temperature.

-When I find great bargains on frozen vegetables, but don't have the room for storing them in my freezer, I dehydrate them and put them in dry storage.

-Overripe and discounted fruit is quickly made into fruit leather (aka roll-ups). These are not only great as a snack food, but can be used as the base for fruit sauces.

-Sweet potatoes are cooked, mashed, and dehydrated on the fruit leather sheets. When crispy, they are pulverized in the blender into sweet potato powder. By adding the powder to hot water you get "instant" mashed sweet potatoes.

-Apple season is upon us and I find all the free-for-the-picking apples possible. Apple slices are a great snack food, but I also use dehydrated apple slices for making applesauce and apple pie filling. Dehydrated apple cubes are added to quick breads and homemade granola.

-A dehydrator is a good way to avoid wasted food. Instead of vegetables languishing in the crisper drawer, dehydrate it. Those discounted containers of mushrooms are quickly dehydrated.

-It is amazing how many dehydrated tomatoes you can store in a quart jar. Make your own tomato powder and you can use it for making tomato sauce or tomato paste.

-We use zucchini slices instead of potato chips. Dried cucumbers are also good used with a dip or crumbled on the top of a salad.

-After the holidays, when cranberries are at nearly give-away prices, I dehydrate as many bags as I can find.

-Small cubes of COOKED lean meat can be dehydrated and are great added to homemade soup mixes, tossed in soup or casseroles, etc.

-If you soak nuts overnight in lightly salted water (they will be just starting to sprout), then dehydrate them until they are crispy-dry. Nuts processed this way are easier to digest and will keep longer in dry storage than fresh nuts. I purchase the bulk of the nuts I use when they go on sale after the holidays and prepare them this way for storage.

-If you get a dehydrator, I'd also suggest purchasing a cutting mandoline for cutting slices quickly and evenly. It makes quick work of many foods you dehydrate.

-The other thing I'd suggest is a good book on the subject:

*How To Dry Foods - by Deanna DeLong
*Mary Bell's Complete Dehydrator Cookbook - by Mary Bell
*Making & Using Dried Foods - by Phyllis Hobson

I no longer do home canning, but concentrate on dehydrating and dehydro-freezing for food preservation.

Check your local library for books about dehydrating. You will also find great information at the link below.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: National Center for Home Food Preservation - how to dry

Not sure about the dehydrator. Mine is still on the space over the basement stairs where it's been for about 15 years.. I keep meaning to drag it out.

I vote get the cast iron pan but get the cast iron grill pan too. I love my grill pan and use it often. Has nothing to do with getting grill marks for me, I just like the way it cooks burgers and boneless chicken in particular. We eat a fair amount of chicken breasts and I really like the way they come out on the grill pan. I always make extra so we can have them in a salad another night or I make it into chicken salad, which I love to have with my constant soup for breakfast or lunch. Mine does have nice deep grooves.

I haven't used the grill pan I bought months ago, but I do have a gas and charcoal grill outside.

As far as both I'd say if in doubt, don't, especially if finances are limited.

I have a grill pan that came with my Ingenio set. I've used it only a few times and only because my other pans were in use. I don't get too excited about fancy grill marks on food, I want the taste and for me, a good sear is better than a few stripes on the food. A good sear needs a flat pan. As far as draining grease, well it doesn't really, it'll still bubble up and stuff and it's not as easy to clean as a normal pan either. I did use it a time or two for roasting but a rack works better.

I also have an American Harvest dehydrator, received as a gift and have never used it. I thought about it for making jerky, drying fruit and the like but just have never even tried it. Kitchen space is limited though I suppose I could put it anywhere.

Until you get to the point you know you need it I'd pass on it if I were you. Maybe you could find someone who'd loan them to you to try out and see how a test run would go.

I'm going to take Grainlady's advice and get a dehydrator (thanks for all that info) - but not at Walmart. I love dehydrated vegetables - I get lots of them at the Japanese market, and they are fantastic in soups.

I already have two grill pans, and so I think you should get those as well. One has widely spaced ridges, and I use that for fish/meat, and the other has narrow ridges, and I use that for vegetables. I've had them for a while, but they only cost $10-$12 each and they look like they will last a lifetime.

Lars