Do you have a dehydrator?

[Liz CA]

If so, do you consider it essential?

What brand(s) are the good & affordable (!) ones?

I heard people are making jerky in it and I am also interested in soaking legumes and drying them in a dehydrator.

[OrganicAnn]

we have a dehydrator. We use it to dry tomatoes and other garden excess. It is one of those round ones. My sister used to make jerky with hers.

[LauraGB]

We have a dehydrator. I use it to dry mushrooms occasionally. Mostly I use it to dry sweet potatoes for the dog - she loves those :D. I wouldn't call ours a loss because I really do plan to dry crop abundance. But, mainly, I bought it for the dog.

[Remudamom]

I've got a big square one. It's great for helping bread rise and making reindeer kisses.

[HRAAB]

I have two dehydrators:an American Harvester and an Excalibur. I'm not sure that they're essential for everyone, but we grow a large garden and have a fairly good sized orchard, so for us I consider them essential. I use the Excalibur for raising bread, also. I'm thinking about trying yogurt in it. Of the two, I like the Excalibur the best. It's bigger, the square trays hold more and the drying time is quicker, but it was much more expensive.

[Peela]

I bought one a few months ago- it was on my want list for years. I do use it and love having it. It is an Excalibur- not cheap, but apparently "the best" from my research.

We live in a sunny place and I did have dh make me a solar dehydrator first. it worked well, but was probably more like oven temperature at times. It was just a set of bookshelves layed on their back with glass on top and some airholes with mesh over them. You could also just put food on trays out in the sun, and cover them with something to keep the bugs off.

I also used to have a small round dehydrator years ago, which was quite inexpensive. It didnt hold much though and I felt that it used a lot of power for drying so little. I think the Excalibur is quite economical that way- you can dry a lot at once. I bought the 9 drawer one too. In retrospect, the 5 drawer woudl have probably been enough, however when I get into the mood to dry stuff, its good to be able to do several lots of things. I can also do sweets (I make dehydrated cookies) and savouries at the same time- the flavour doesnt spread.

[HRAAB]

I can also do sweets (I make dehydrated cookies) and savouries at the same time- the flavour doesnt spread.

 

What are dehydrated cookies and savouries???? I'm always looking for other things to use my dehydrator for.

[OrganicAnn]

I am curious about making bread rise with a dehydrator. Do you do this to reduce the time required to make dough rise? Or because of weather. Tell me more.

[HeidiKC]

We have a dehydrator. I use it to dry mushrooms occasionally. Mostly I use it to dry sweet potatoes for the dog - she loves those :D. I wouldn't call ours a loss because I really do plan to dry crop abundance. But, mainly, I bought it for the dog.

 

This is hilarious! And our dogs also loved sweet potatoes. I would save the cooked peels for treats for training the dogs. My doggie friends thought I was nuts, but it was one of their favorite treats! Weird.

[LauraGB]

This is hilarious! And our dogs also loved sweet potatoes. I would save the cooked peels for treats for training the dogs. My doggie friends thought I was nuts, but it was one of their favorite treats! Weird.

 

Sweet potato jerky is one of her favorite things! I used to buy it for her, but it was about $1 per ounce, so $6 per bag (and it only had 3 or 4 slices in it). So, I bought the dehydrator and made our own. I do believe the machine has paid for itself.

[Remudamom]

I am curious about making bread rise with a dehydrator. Do you do this to reduce the time required to make dough rise? Or because of weather. Tell me more.

 

Just speeds things up a bit. I'm always impatient for fresh bread.

[stormy weather]

My oven is a convection oven and I use it to dehydrate. It has a special setting that is 140(I think) degrees and the door gets propped open for the moisture to escape. It works much better than any dehydrator I have ever used. I can also get alot more into it than a dehydrator.

[FaithManor]

I have a round dehydrator from Harbor Freight and I used that for all of my smaller amounts. My parents have a very large one, looks like a convection type oven with many racks, which I used when I have large amount to do.

 

We dehydrate grape tomatoes, red peppers, green peppers, celery, apple slices, and blueberries. This year I am going to try cherries and potatoes as well. I'm going to shred the potatoes and dry them for hashbrowns plus cube some for soups. I hope it will work. We haven't really gotten the humidity/temperature levels right in our unfinished basement so we've been unsuccessful root cellar experimenters.

 

I do like dehydrating because I can store the food in canning jars, a lot of produce fits into a little space, and it saves space in the freezer and reduces the amount of canning I have to do.

 

Faith

[KS_]

If so, do you consider it essential?

What brand(s) are the good & affordable (!) ones?

I heard people are making jerky in it and I am also interested in soaking legumes and drying them in a dehydrator.

 

I bought the round American Harvest from Walmart about 12 years ago and use it a several times a year. Dh found another one at a garage sale, so now I have double the trays (I use all the trays on one base), which is nice. I don't remember how much it was, but it had to be fairly inexpensive or we wouldn't have been able to buy it at that time.

[oldskool]

I don't have one, but my mom uses hers a lot. She mainly uses it to dehydrate apples in the fall. My kids just love to eat the apples for snacks.

Lesley

[momof4boys]

I have an American Harvester, and have use the Ronco brand ones as well. The American Harvester is definately a top of the line one, and I highly reccomend one with a fan (AH has one). I have dried everything from zucchini, summer squash, beans, carrots, herbs, apples to fruit leather. I love it!

[Natalija]

We just bought a dehydrator,mostly to try to make those dehydrated yam chews for the dogs. We were ordering them but they are so expensive!

 

Can someone please give me any hints or tips? DO you peel them or prepare them in anyway, aside from washing and slicing?

 

How thick should the slices be and for how long do you leave them in the dehydrator?

 

Thanks!!:001_smile:

Natalija

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I have one sitting in the garage sale pile. I haven't used it in three years. I used it to make jerky from deer and antelope (ooooh, I loved it so.) when we lived in CO.

[LauraGB]

We just bought a dehydrator,mostly to try to make those dehydrated yam chews for the dogs. We were ordering them but they are so expensive!

 

Can someone please give me any hints or tips? DO you peel them or prepare them in anyway, aside from washing and slicing?

 

How thick should the slices be and for how long do you leave them in the dehydrator?

 

Thanks!!:001_smile:

Natalija

 

I just scrub them, slice them lengthwise, 1/4" thick and put them in the dehydrator on the fruits/vegetables setting (135 degrees). It takes about 6 hours, more or less. Toward the end I check on them because some of them get done sooner than others, depending on their overall size. I like them to be done a little dryer than jerky or she just eats them instead of gnawing on them for little while first. :)

[Natalija]

Thanks, Laura!