The talk of self-sufficiency has me wondering

[lizziegrace]

how many of you have a dehydrator and do you really find it indispensable? I've been looking at a NESCO model and of course there's the cheap Ronco model with lousy ratings.

I want to dry local fruit, tomatoes from my garden, make fruit rollups and any other things you can suggest??? (I'm not into jerky...)

Please post your experiences, suggestions and advice.

[Denninmi]

1. I do, I do.

Love it. I dry all kinds of things in season. Mine is from Sausage Makers in Buffalo, NY. I paid about $225 for it around 2006. I see the price for this model (stainless steel cabinet and 10 shelves) is now about $350-ish. What I like about it is durability -- all stainless, adjustable heat level from very low (about 80 degrees) to very hot (160), and capacity -- it holds a LOT with 10 shelves.

I too have never made jerky in my life (heck, I've only tasted it once or twice, "Not a fan, ahuuu, ahuuu' as Elaine Benes said about the lima bean soup made by the Soup Nazi in that particular Seinfeld episode.

I do, however, dry all kinds of fruits, veggies, and herbs. It's quite a nice way to preserve things. Some of my favorites include tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, and various hot peppers on the veggie side, and peaches, strawberries, apples, pears, and persimmons on the fruit side.

There are various things you can do with the dried product -- many of the vegetables are good to grind into powder and use to augment other foods in ways you might not think of, such as adding to meatball or meatloaf mixtures, into bread and pasta doughs, or into soups, stews, and sauces. Some are ok just out of hand as snacks -- I like cucumber slices, sweet pepper chips, and sweet onions this way, actually, and of course, dried tomatoes are yummy. I grow a LOT of onions, generally planting around 3000 a year, and I dry most of those, which yields many bags of dried onion slices, chips, and powder, which I share with family.

Any of the dried fruits pretty much are nature's candy, which should go without saying. My personal favorite, though, are my dried peaches -- think of the sweetest, juiciest tree ripened peach, and then think of all that flavor concentrated into a small package. Yum, yum, yum.

I did have to replace the fan last summer, which cost about $22 plus I think another $5 for postage, IIRC. But, it has had many, many hours of use, so I'm not complaining one bit about that, I think it earned its place in small motor heaven after all of the work it's done.

[supernova]

2. I picked one up last fall

at the Habitat Restore. it's one of those multi-deck plastic models.

I envisioned doing veggies and some fruit with it, like tomatoes and fresh figs. Perhaps peaches and apples too.

I haven't used it yet though.

For sheer cheap dehydrated food DIY, though, you can't beat Alton Brown. :rofl: In fact, this segment is very good tutorial on dehydrators in general.

Good Eats S09E03P02 - Urban Preservation II - The Jerky
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfI0NKl-Kq0

edit: still looking for a YT about drying herbs.

[WhiteTara]

11. very low heat and watch it carefully

is my way to dry herbs...although my favorite way is to lay them out in baskets and let them air dry. I fluff them and turn them until dry and then remove the stems and store them in jars.

[pengillian101]

3. I have the Ronco.

It worked ok for making jerky. But now lives in the basement because I have very limited storage in the kitchen and I no longer do stairs.

I do recall, though, that one rack was broken upon opening. What the heck - it was cheap. I didn't mind.

[Lucinda]

4. Bill likes it...We have a fairly inexpensive model and he uses it to dry a lot of

stuff for backpacking. And to make jerky. You can dry ingredients to make your own soups and stews, and almost anything you can think of. I don't like them for anything with a dairy base, but a LOT of other main course meals can be dried.

I primarily like dehydrators for fruit roll-up stuff, which is delicious. As are dried tomatoes. Really concentrates the flavors.

[Sentath]

18. Dried apple chips with cinnamon

maybe throw a couple chips of ginger root in the bowl while they're being peeled and a couple scrapes of nutmeg on each tray...

[Mojorabbit]

5. I have an excalibur

http://www.excaliburdehydrator.com/
and really love it.

[lizziegrace]

10. If I hit the lottery

that one's on my list. :-)

[trud]

6. how to you store dehydrated stuff?

Can you just put it in a jar, or does the jar have to be sterilized, etc.?

thanks.

[Denninmi]

7. Not sterile, just very dry.

As long as you dry the food product down to the appropriate moisture level, it can be stored at room temperature as long as it is kept very tightly sealed and very dry. Moisture and vermin are the enemies of dried food, so those are the things you need to avoid.

[trud]

15. Thanks, Denninmi n/t

[GoCubsGo]

8. Mine is by American Harvest (NESCO)

Not exactly high-end, but it was given to me, so I will not complain. Besides, it does a good job. I usually use mine to dry fruit that I get when Aldi has deals I can't pass up, like the 99 cent pineapples, and the blueberries or strawberries for 69 cents a pint/quart. When you buy your dehydrator, the instructions will give you times and temperatures for anything it can dry. That should give you some ideas. In addition to the others' suggestions, you can dry peas, celery, kale, carrots and sweet corn kernels. Also, you can powder your food after you dried it. Tomatoes are really good for that. So are herbs and garlic. You can also dry citrus peel, if you use lots of it. I've seen plenty of recipes that call for lemon zest, but not lemon juice. And, vice versa--great time to save the zest.


Here's a Google book for ideas on what to dehydrate: http://books.google.com/books?id=aSBfsPQP_MQC&pg=PA33&lpg=PA33&dq=apple+varieties+best+for+drying&source=bl&ots=NHU_1iyHEm&sig=CmvZ4f7GcgJeWzrMMyLuhkhD15M&hl=en&ei=NNHxSomqN4Go8Aaxz_CACQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CCEQ6AEwCTgK#v=onepage&q=apple%20varieties%20best%20for%20drying&f=false

I just dehydrated some strawberries that I got on a really, really good sale. Fresh, they were rather tasteless. Drying concentrated the sweetness. Much tastier.

[lizziegrace]

9. I was looking at a NESCO on Amazon

It had much better reviews than the Ronco and the price is right.

I love dried berries in steel cut oatmeal, dried apples, pineapple and pears for snacks. And after the bumper crop of tomatoes I had last year, canning them wore me out!

Thanks for the link and the advice.

[WhiteTara]

12. my dehydrator is a NESCO

it works well. If I were rich, I get stainless steel racks, but alas, I have plastic racks. Nice thing about it, you can add racks. Mine came with five. I mostly use it for fruit and tomatoes. This year, my garden will be able to produce much more than it did and I'll dry some raspberries and blueberries. I'm going to try grapes this year and will try to dry some for raisins.

But, I found out how to freeze tomatoes and that may take over the drying part, except for some to eat as a snack.

I find them rather noisy so I place mine outside so I don't have to listen to it.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

13. There is a Recall on a NESCO product ...

according to an article in 2/6/11 Hartford Courant. Defective capacitor in Model FD1020 American Harvest Gardenmaster Food Dehydrator. Can cause overheating with smoke and fire hazard

www.nesco.com or 800-726-4457. They will give you a replacement part

[lizziegrace]

14. Good to know!

Thanks!

:)

[Monique1]

16. It has been a while sine I had young children but

can children under 3 or 4 eat these dried foods without choking?

[Retrograde]

17. For tomatoes

smaller varieties like Principe Borghese work best: it helps to cut them in half and remove the seeds first.

I'm lucky enough to live in an area with a Mediterranean climate, which means I can do sun-drying outside. (Humidity's less than 10% in the summer) It's a lot of work, though, since the stuff has to be brought in for the night to protect it from critters and the morning fog. I found by accident that I have a spot on my kitchen counter that gets morning sun: the window concentrates it so that it's hot to the touch. I've made sun-dried cherries there. Smaller peppers usually dry well just by hanging the plant with the fruits still on it in an airy space.

My last attempt at drying mushrooms was a failure, although the first went well. Wrong time of year, I suppose. I've thought about dehydrators, but don't have the space for one.