dehydrators

[number 1 suspect]

Hi everyone
I'm thinking about buying one of these toys for the kitchen. I was wondering if anybody has got one and if they have any experiance with them?

Bit expensive but if they work its worth it

Martin

[annie trip]

Do you mean de humidifiers?? Have used those before when condensation a problem and are very good plus you can use the water collected on your plants. re cycle,re cycle.....

[Earthbabe]

Sorry, no experience of dehydrators number 1, so can't help you there. I was thinking however of making a drying cupboard a la Nick and Johnny (Preserved) with 60 watt bulb and MDF. But that's a project for next spring I feel.(well for me anyway)

[Squirrel]

A friend of my daughter had one and it was very well used. Being from SA we used it to make Biltong and dried 'wors. Worked very well - wouldn't mind one myself for all my tomatoes!

[dexterdoglancashire]

whats one of those? dexterdog

[Lesley Jay]

It's a food dryer Dexterdog. They are huge and expensive and you lay slices of vegetables and fruit in them. Turn on for about 6 hours and you end up with dried vegetables that you can easily store until you want to use them. Then simply re-hydrate.

[dexterdoglancashire]

Oh, I see! wot's wrong with a slow oven? dexterdog

[Lesley Jay]

Don't think you would get the same dryness. The food dehydrator takes all the moisture out of the vegetables. I have one and I think it is rubbish!!

[Squirrel]

The food dehydrator takes all the moisture out of the vegetables. I have one and I think it is rubbish!!

Why? Just wondering as I want to buy one having had glowing praise from others.

[Bibliobeck]

Ihave a dehydrator and I really like it - my friend hated hers though .

I've done all kinds of fruit in mine and much prefer the taste to the shop bought processed stuff. Another plus is no added sugar and the end product (strawbs, kiwis etc) is really nice for snacking or sprinkling on cereal. I like its versitility as you can also use it for herbs and flowers.

I fully intended to try it on my tomatoes this year, but they seem to disappear as fast as I pick them

[Snadger]

So is this the British version of 'Sun Dried' cos we got no sun?!!

[JazzDuke]

Dehydrators are slower than slow oven. An oven doesn't really work accurately at lower than 100C, its not designed for it.

[number 1 suspect]

Thanks everyone. lots of replies. Will have to think about it some more. Earthbabe i like the idea of a 60watt bulb. Any more info on this one?

[MissyMoo]

I've been thinking of getting on of these myself and although there are a lot of larger pricey models out there, you can also find some resonably priced ones not too much bigger than your adverage breadmaker.

I haven't made a purchase tho as it seems relativly easy to build one yourself. There are several lots of plans on the net and if you have the 'preserved' book there are some in there too. I think in the end building one is the way I'll go cause you can make them big!!!

Now if you'll excuse me I have to get back to my plans to build a veggie watering robot that will eventually take over the world and force everyone to grow their own!!!

[Earthbabe]

Good luck with that Missy Moo! Will it have an anti-EC protocol in it?