dehydrators, wish I had never heard of them

[Snadger]

I've been eating a bought granola with dried strawberries & raspberries in it. Also mixing in some fresh raspberries.
The dried ones taste like cardboard, the fresh ones like raspberries. They are alive, vital, fresh - the dried ones could be made from polystyrene, tinted pink for all I know.
I don't think dehydrated food and I have a future together.

Since I turned my tomato crop into black lumps of liquorice looking rubber stuff...….I tend to agree!

[dennyjim]

Just bought a cheap round one for our herbs. Love it too!!

[veggiechicken]

I have a Lakeland one - from Freecycle last year
Apparently it had had 2 previous owners who both thought it took for ever to dry food. I haven't tried it yet as I didn't want to risk my precious tomatoes in it, if it didn't work properly.
Maybe this year I'll be brave!

Still in the cupboard - still not brave enough to try it.

After cluttering up the cupboard since 2015, I'm trying it today..................full of cherry tomatoes.
Its rather noisy and has had to be banished to another room out of earshot.

Are they all noisy?

[Bren In Pots]

Its rather noisy and has had to be banished to another room out of earshot.

Are they all noisy?

Mines a round one bought for £5 from the charity shop not had it long only used it 3 times for apples, its noisy but the sound of the fridge drowns it out.
I'm going to try fruit leathers next anyone got tips.

[SarrissUK]

haha VC you crack me up!! Four years in a cupboard! No wonder it's noisy LOL

[veggiechicken]

I'd be the same - 4 years without chatting!!

The "thing" is still dehydrating! Whenever I turn it off to rotate the trays, top to bottom, it won't start again. Seems it needs to have a rest between each burst of activity before the fan will start again.
I can relate to that too.

[Small pumpkin]

Mine is on the go at the moment. Oddly enough full of chillies . Yes it’s quite noisy. Looking forward to have a utility room I can banish it to

[veggiechicken]

I gave up on mine this morning, as the fan didn't want to run, so I've packed lots of zip lock poly seed bags with semi-dry toms and will store them in the freezer.
The flavour is really intense - not sure I'd need many at a time for a meal.

[Bren In Pots]

Are you thinking of buying another one VC ? I rather like the taste of my dehydrated apples and it frees up freezer space.

[veggiechicken]

Not sure, Bren.
Mine's been unscrewed and sprayed with WD40 and it seems to be running OK now but I don't want to start something, knowing that it needs to keep running for many hours!
I'm messaged Lakeland to find out whether cutting out fan's was a problem (its discontinued so they may not know).

I did have a gogle yesterday at 2nd hand Excaliburs (about £150) and saw a catering place locally that sells Buffalo 10 tray ones for £100 +VAT..
Not sure I would get enough use from them - and it takes up a lot of space. Couldn't bung it in the back of a cupboard like the little one I have.

[Bren In Pots]

Not sure I would get enough use from them - and it takes up a lot of space. Couldn't bung it in the back of a cupboard like the little one I have.

I know what you mean VC I only bought mine to dehydrate apples, those on our tree are Worcester pearmain they're a lovely apple but will only store for a week or two at the most. So I think I've had my £5 worth of use mine cost.

[Small pumpkin]

Not sure, Bren.
Mine's been unscrewed and sprayed with WD40 and it seems to be running OK now but I don't want to start something, knowing that it needs to keep running for many hours!
I'm messaged Lakeland to find out whether cutting out fan's was a problem (its discontinued so they may not know).

I did have a gogle yesterday at 2nd hand Excaliburs (about £150) and saw a catering place locally that sells Buffalo 10 tray ones for £100 +VAT..
Not sure I would get enough use from them - and it takes up a lot of space. Couldn't bung it in the back of a cupboard like the little one I have.

I’ve got an Andrew James and I’ve been looking at up grading to a second hand Excalibur. After some research they do seem to be the way to go.
Still not managed to get one yet.

[Right Shed Fred]

I know this is an old thread, but hey, I only just found it. I have an old round style dehydrator with a fan at the bottom, and I love it. Was originally bought for drying apples, but I've dried all sorts on it now. Dehydrated pineapple and melon is an absolute family favourite (admittedly, I'm not growing these myself...).
The metal trays are useful for drying things without heat too - like herbs etc.
I'm straight off to google courgette crisps in the dehydrator - I'd never thought of that.

[Bren In Pots]

I did fruit leathers in mine the other week to use up a bag of frozen blackberries left from last year. This years blackberries will soon be ready so I’ll be making some more maybe adding apple next time.

[Nicos]

I keep being tempted to buy one.....