dehydrator?

July 9, 2003

Does anyone know of a good dehydrator that stays below 107 degrees?

I'd like to have some RAW dehydrated food, but mine gets way too hot.

Thanks.

Cindy

January 5, 2009

I have a dehydrator but prefer to air dry. The reason being is I

believe that heat takes away a lot of the flavor of the herbs,

veggies , fruits , etc. You can air dry anything if you have the

space. Air drying also uses no energy. I live in a dry climate so air

drying might be easier for me. I dry inside using racks or just place

herbs, etc. on clean cotton cloths on my table. If you are concerned

about flies or dust cover with cheese cloth. I have dried marinated

Tofu (Jerky) in the dehydrator and it is delicious.

Make sure whatever you dry is completely dry before storing or you

could end up with mold. Drying is fun, easy , costs nothing and is a

great way to preserve your harvest. With many herbs, just hang them

upside down in a brown paper bag, close to the ceiling,in a warm dry

place. Not in your garage where they will be exposed to automobile

exhaust or chemicals.

Deanna in Colorado

**********************************************************************

" peelerk " <peelerk wrote:

> I was going to get one about a year ago and my mother in law talked

us

> out of it. She said she never used hers and when she did why to dry

> food out she could get the same results in the oven. My mom also

had

one and she gave it away.

January 5, 2009

A Dehydrator is a great tool if you are planning on transitioning more

towards a raw diet.

During my holiday raw food challenge I used the dehydrator to make

stuff like flax crackers, sun burgers and some other interesting

things.

Still sticking with the raw lifestyle and is working pretty well for

me.

You do not need a expensive dehydrator to start.

In fact if you have a gas oven you could just set stuff in the oven

with just the pilot lit.

Also Freecycle is another way to obtain a dehydrator.

January 7, 2009

Has anyone used- or currently uses- a dehydrator?

~ ~ ~

i have 2 dehydrators, i had tried several and never really liked them until

a couple of years ago. now i have 2, one with a fan and one without. i'm

fond of the one with a fan as it dries anything faster.

i live in western PA where maybe we are just wetter than the rest of the

country. but i have never been able to oven dry much hanging herbs takes so

long for me but i still prefer herbs hung to dry. but vegetables. that's a

whole different story. a handful of dried cabbage added to a soup, well it's

just wonderful.

i would suggest that you start looking at yard sales and the like, i have a

no name brand and a mr coffee brand, that's the one with the fan. both work.

the only thing i didn't like was when i was drying onions, the front part

of my house where the kitchen was and the front deck smelled of onions. it

lasted for days but was all right in the end. i have never had that happen

before. also i suggest that anyone interested in getting a dryer go to their

local library and read a couple of books on what to do with the veges when you

have them dry. it isn't going to do anyone any good to have dried anything

if you don't, can't or won't use the end product.

just my opinion. i love my dryer and am glad i can take care of any extra

veges i have, grow, or have given to me. i share with my neighbors in the

summer but my friends and i share our produce all year.

hm - she who now is wearing socks during the winter as it's just so darn

cold this year.

**************New year...new news. Be the first to know what is making

headlines. (http://www.aol.com/?ncid=emlcntaolcom00000026)

January 8, 2009

We have a dehydrator. Have not used it in a few years. We have only

used it for fruit or jerky (when we were carnivors...LOL). Never

thought to use it for veggies. I think I am gonna go have to dust the

ol' girl off and get to using her. Now that we will be using more

veggies. Can take advantage of veggies at the farmers market in bulk.

I will still make sure to get to reading at the library. Have not

used it in years. Want to make sure we are using the veggies soon

enough and correctly. Thanks for bringing this up.

Make new vegetarians smile with wonderful idea

The Keperling Bunch

Cheri, Warren, Penny & Desiree'

, StarMote wrote:

>

> Has anyone used- or currently uses- a dehydrator?

> ~ ~ ~

>

> i have 2 dehydrators, i had tried several and never really liked

them until

> a couple of years ago. now i have 2, one with a fan and one

without. i'm

> fond of the one with a fan as it dries anything faster.

>

> i live in western PA where maybe we are just wetter than the rest

of the

> country. but i have never been able to oven dry much hanging herbs

takes so

> long for me but i still prefer herbs hung to dry. but

vegetables. that's a

> whole different story. a handful of dried cabbage added to a

soup, well it's

> just wonderful.

>

> i would suggest that you start looking at yard sales and the like,

i have a

> no name brand and a mr coffee brand, that's the one with the fan.

both work.

> the only thing i didn't like was when i was drying onions, the

front part

> of my house where the kitchen was and the front deck smelled of

onions. it

> lasted for days but was all right in the end. i have never had

that happen

> before. also i suggest that anyone interested in getting a dryer

go to their

> local library and read a couple of books on what to do with the

veges when you

> have them dry. it isn't going to do anyone any good to have dried

anything

> if you don't, can't or won't use the end product.

>

> just my opinion. i love my dryer and am glad i can take care of

any extra

> veges i have, grow, or have given to me. i share with my

neighbors in the

> summer but my friends and i share our produce all year.

>

> hm - she who now is wearing socks during the winter as it's just so

darn

> cold this year.

> **************New year...new news. Be the first to know what is

making

> headlines. (http://www.aol.com/?ncid=emlcntaolcom00000026)

>

January 9, 2009

I use my dehydrator at least once a week.

Making flax crackers is probably the easiest thing to make with these.

Some things I have made that were successful are raw sun burgers and

raw potato cakes.

Have been on a predominately on a raw vegan diet for the past 2 months.

If you just search for dehydrator recipe's you will find allot.

Could post the flax cracker recipe if anyone is interested.

January 9, 2009

I use my small (Ronco) very often, it is too small for our needs (lots

of ripe figs and peaches, tomatoes in the summer). We actually plan

on making a solar one for this next summer that will be a lot larger.

Since our climate is dry and warm we should be able to use it more

than half a year and save on electricity. This has to be the most

energy efficient way to preserve food, no electricity or gas used, and

no refrigeration needed on the final product. My interest is more on

food preservation than raw foods, results are the same though.

As far as what I have dried: tomatoes, peppers, green beans, greens

(kale), figs, peaches, nectarines, carrots, bananas, apples, onions,

zucchini, celery, mushrooms, peas. Probably forgetting a few...

This year I did not have enough tomatoes but when I do I dry some of

them and then pulverize them for an instant tomato paste/sauce, just

add water and salt to taste. Works great for backpacking.

When we make the new one we will have some screens small enough

(tightly woven) so we can dry our own cooked beans for instant refried

beans and soups to use backpacking.

I use a lot of the dried veggies for backpacking but i am thinking

about putting a mix together to have as a veggie soup, just add

boiling water and cover, then take that to work for a warm easy

pick-me-up. They used to sell some instant veggie soups at Trader

Joes but they do not have them anymore. I still need to figure an

instant soup seasoning mix that is tasty but healthy. I posted an

instant -burger- recipe here that uses a lot of dehydrated veggies

(and tvp). It is quite tasty (even if you are not backpacking).

Also, I plan to make my own nut/fruit bars using the garden dried

fruits. I have made some in the past, i use dates for both binding

and sweetening, and add different nuts/cereals, I vacuum pack them for

long storage.

, " Jamie J. Ferman "

<jjferman wrote:

>

> Has anyone used- or currently uses- a dehydrator? I have read about

them in several raw food books and am considering getting one but

wondering whether they are really that useful. Or if the recipes

actually taste decent-- any feedback is appreciated.

>

January 10, 2009

Please post your flax seed crackers, I'd be interested, thanks.