Any recommendations when buying a dehydrator?

[rafiki]

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[cat in black]

I don't know the answers to any of those questions, but I have had my Excalibur for 10 years and it is wonderful.

[Mabeline]

:iagree: It is wonderful. I even take out all the trays and incubate my yogurt in there. They only extras i would want is the flat sheets for making dried fruit leather. I'm not sure they come with it or are extra. The only other thing to think about is it's size. It is kinda big. It is well worth the counter space, I love my Excalibur.:D

[mhg]

from my research excaliber's best

[cat in black]

I did buy the fruit leather sheets. They were extra, but not that expensive and well worth the price. I think the book I use is The Dehydrator Cookbook by Mary Bell. It's out of print, but maybe you could find one on half.com or bookfinder.com

[HRAAB]

I LOVE my Excalibur. Mine doesn't have a timer and auto. shutoff, but that's not really a probably for me. It runs most of Sept. and Oct. with fruits and vegetables to dry. The rest of the year I use it to raise bread dough.

 

eta: Mine came with a cookbook - Preserve it Naturally: The Complete Guide to Food Dehydration. I also have How to Dry Foods by Deanna DeLong. Oh, and homemade beef jerky is delicious.

Edited August 1, 2010 by Ishki

[Jules]

I, too, love my Excalibur. I did some research on them and other brands before buying and I believe you can't go wrong with the Excalibur. Mine came with two of the fruit leather sheets and I went ahead and bought 5 extra. We love using it for this and make lots of homemade "fruit roll ups".

[Beetkvass]

I've had my Excalibur for 11 years and love it. I recommend the fruit leather sheets as well. It's also what we make our yoghurt in. With 6 kids I can make a ton of yoghurt in it using quart jars. Love it!

[Mabeline]

Oh, and homemade beef jerky is delicious.

 

 

Oooh, we love beef jerky here. Do have a recipe that you wouldn't mind sharing? Thanks!:D

[HRAAB]

Oooh, we love beef jerky here. Do have a recipe that you wouldn't mind sharing? Thanks!:D

 

I use flank steak and partially freeze it so it's easier to slice - about a 1/4" thick. We like teriyaki best. I don't usually measure but it's about 1/2 t. salt, fresh ground black pepper, 1 to 2 cloves garlic crushed, 1/2 t. ground ginger, 2 to 3 T. brown sugar, 1/4 c. soy sauce. I marinate the meat overnight. Your dehydrator's instruction book should have the correct temp. and time for jerky. I do keep it in the refrigerator after done, however, it never lasts very long.