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The Kitchen Table

Anyone have a food dehydrator?

9 years ago

My son would like to have one for his mushrooms, and other stuff. I saw one that was 1000 watts, and others are lower don't know a thing about them. Wondering if a lower wattage would be ok .

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Comments (8)

User
9 years ago
I have one, but don't know what the watts are. Any would be fine, it just may take longer to dehydrate. Mine is a American Harvest snack master. Works great!
kathyg_in_mi
9 years ago
We had one years ago, it was fun to dry fruit for the kids.
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Good points. I think that in the summer time, you can just spread your herbs thinly, outside in the shade. OR, make bunches and hang them upside-down(in the shade, of course). Ifyou have a place like barn, shack with good ventilation, you can dry your herbs there as well. People have been dryin vegetables/herbs for centurie before electricity. Even if you want to use an electric dehydrator, jusy put it outside, in the shade and just run the fan, NOT HEATING is necessary when it is, 80F, 90F.. outside. Actually, you can make your own dehydrator by just installing a small bathroom type exhust fan(or buy smaller one from places like GRANGERS). Now that I have read this link, I will try to make one soon. THEN there are herbs/vegetables that will loose most of their aroma and flavor no matter how you dry them; like BASILS, CILANTROS (some other). For these herbs freezing is better.
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I have had the 5 shelf Excalibur for over 20 years. I tried one of those round types when I picked up a brand new one, still in box at the SalVal for 5.00. To compare the 2 is like comparing apples to oranges. It depends on what you will be using the dehydrator for. I use the Excalibur for drying crafts as well as foods, so I need one that has the features the Excalibur offers. Such as yesterday, I made soap and dried the bars in the dehydrator. With the Excalibur you can use all the trays , some trays or remove them all for taller applications like raising bread or making yogurt and you cannot do that in round models, or at least the one I picked up cheap. If a part gets broken I can order replacements and the cheaper ones don't have a 10 year warranty. I saw on the Excalibur site the Economy 4 tray is one sale and lower priced than the Nesco Pro right now. I found that in the round types ones the food trays lower dried faster and you were constantly moving tray for even drying, you don't need to do that in the Excalibur. Dehydrated green beans with ham and potatoes is awesome. Dried strawberries are intense, and I always make a big batch of dried soup veggies , as those mixes are so pricy to buy. Both manufacturers have recipes/ideas on their websites, maybe those can help you decide.
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I've used different methods for drying - some foods are better suited to one over the other. Most herbs are easy, and for me, I dry them in a sunny window, to which I have 2 window screens tied - butterfly fashion - together - and with good sun exposure can expect to be done in 2 days. This includes dried onion/garlic scapes, thyme, mints, etc. I also put harvested onions and garlic there for a few days to start them - then hang inside or braided together, and placed in a dry area - near the ceiling for longer storage. This year, we had a lot of foggy/smoggy summer weather, so invested in my Excaliber - works great. I did a lot of cherry type tomatoes and felt they were dried sufficiently to go in a sealed jar in the pantry. No signs of mold. The dehydrator also worked great for helping to get a good rise from my sourdough breads. The toughest things so far to dry - are peppers. They want to curl over and create perfect tight areas for mold to harbor. This last batch I sliced long thin strips - as I just want to grind them for powder anyway. It seems to be working much better and faster. Have also used the dehydrator to facilitate peeling and drying nuts. When they are dried, hulled, and shelled, I freeze them in baggies - then place inside a freezer half pint container. They can be toasted and ground right from the freezer that way - tasting fresh as can be. I dried some pineapple - then baggied and put in freezer containers also - this prevents ice crystals from forming, especially if only a few are removed from time to time. Just my 2 c's. Bejay
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Mrs TLC - I have to tell you that my Excalibur doesn't dry foods as evenly as advertized. Food and trays still need to be moved around while drying. My old American Harvester, now called Nesco, worked quite well for me. I consider it a good buy for the money. L_in_FL - I did buy a jerky gun but I haven't use it yet. I wish that I watched the jerky videos more carefully before buying the gun because I didn't realize that the ground meat has to be mixed with chemicals so it can turn into a paste. That didn't appeal to me. I need to do more research on that. If anyone has experience with a jerky gun, I would like to know also. You don't need a jerky gun to make jerky. It's only for ground meat. I want to learn how to make ground turkey jerky because it is healthier than beef. Years ago when I made beef jerky I would ask the butcher at Publix to slice the meat for me. That is really important so you get the slices the right thickness. I have seen some videos on making jerky with sliced chicken breasts. I want to give that a try. Christine
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nicole___
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I just checked, mine are both American Harvest Snackmasters. I purchased them both from a thrift store($7ea) and got two so I had more trays(9). When I have 7 trays in use, stacked on 1 dehydrator, beef jerky takes 9-10 hours(depends on how thin I slice it). I just set it on a timer in the garage and in the morning it's done.

I agree with JoAnn. Works GREAT!

edited to say: This is exactly what mine look like. They have a dial to control the temp and a fan.

http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-American-FD-50-Snackmaster-Dehydrator/dp/B00004W4V4
cynic
9 years ago
As said the different wattage might make a difference in drying time but these are slow anyway. Sometimes a slower drying is better. Some units have adjustment on the power. Some have fans. Some don't. The fan is advantageous in that you don't have to rotate trays as much. I had an American Harvest. Worked fine but once crippled up I can't do that kind of stuff much anymore so I gave it away. You can dehydrate in an oven too for that matter. You might start with a cheapie and if you get into it, buy a better (or second) unit. Remember that many things need to be blanched before dehydrating. Potatoes, for instance, will turn black if you don'[t blanch them. Won't really affect them but it's not very aesthetically appealing.

Follow safe food handling techniques and you can have fun and get benefit from a dehydrator.
adellabedella_usa
9 years ago
I have two American Harvest Snackmasters. The first is probably 25-30 years old. I bought a second one a few years back of the same variety so the trays would be interchangeable. I also bought extra trays. If I'm drying apples or something, I like to have a lot of trays going at one time. If I have something else with a strong odor, I don't like to make them at the same time in the same dehydrator so it works out.
susanwv
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for the replies,. I ordered the American Harvester.. Think it will be fun and interesting. Also got the "cookbook" too
sheilajoyce_gw
9 years ago
Warning to be careful if you decide to do watermelon. What a stinky mess I ended up with.
vicsgirl
9 years ago
You can dehydrate food in your own oven. It works really well in my gas oven: Put the temp on "low", around 150 degrees. Spread some paper towels on a sheet pan, then top with the vegetables/fruit you wish to dehydrate. Place pan in center of oven. It will take at least an hour. When dried to your liking, cool and store. I use this method to make my own sun-dried tomatoes.

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