Food Dehydrator

[gromit]

Does anybody have one? Is it worth the money?

 

[disregard]

My friend has one and makes the most delicious dehydrated pineapples and cinnamon apples. That's all I've tried, but it is truly heavenly.

 

[gromit]

My friend has one and makes the most delicious dehydrated pineapples and cinnamon apples. That's all I've tried, but it is truly heavenly.

Yeah I am interested in it for dried fruit and fruit leather as a snack and also for making up camping food. I feel like I could make some delicious curry or dal or something like that and dehydrate it and then bring it backpacking. I think they are pretty expensive though.

 

[CzeCze]

Yeah I am interested in it for dried fruit and fruit leather as a snack and also for making up camping food. I feel like I could make some delicious curry or dal or something like that and dehydrate it and then bring it backpacking. I think they are pretty expensive though.

Only get it if you are hardcore vegan or into healthy eating. My raw vegan friend needs it basically for kale chips and such because she consumes such a large quantity and percentage of veggies and raw food. They have a hardcore multilayer version.

Personally, I would never use it as I don't like dried fruits or veggies or even beef jerky.

I do use a pretty expensive Blendtec blender because I drink an average of 3-4 smoothies (bunch of kale, whole carrot, whole apple, whole banana) for breakfast a week and force feed them to others.

 

[gromit]

Only get it if you are hardcore vegan or into healthy eating. My raw vegan friend needs it basically for kale chips and such because she consumes such a large quantity and percentage of veggies and raw food. They have a hardcore multilayer version.

Personally, I would never use it as I don't like dried fruits or veggies or even beef jerky.

I do use a pretty expensive Blendtec blender because I drink an average of 3-4 smoothies (bunch of kale, whole carrot, whole apple, whole banana) for breakfast a week and force feed them to others.

Sounds brutal.

 

[CzeCze]

Sounds brutal.

My dog freaking RUNS from me when I jokingly bring the blender full of green juice towards him. It cracks my parents up.

 

[Aquarelle]

I have one and I use it to make homemade jerky with less sodium than anything store bought. LOVE it!! I would totally say it's worth the money. I haven't tried it on fruit yet, but that's on my To Do list

 

[gromit]

I have one and I use it to make homemade jerky with less sodium than anything store bought. LOVE it!! I would totally say it's worth the money. I haven't tried it on fruit yet, but that's on my To Do list

How much did it cost and what brand do you have and where did you get it?

 

[Qlip]

I don't like to keep many special purpose appliances.. but homemade jerky would be worth considering. That stuff is priced like gold and tastes like it.

 

[mmhmm]

Does anybody have one? Is it worth the money?

oh yes. i love mine. i have an excalibur 9-tray http://www.amazon.com/Excalibur-2900-9-Tray-Food-Dehydrator/dp/B000Q7GUJ2

and i use it to make 'chips' , thinly sliced veggies (kale is great),
spray with bragg's aminos and pop them in. soo yummy.

and i used it to make a lot of 'raw' cookies : oatmeal, power bars

 

[1487610420]

This instantly reminded me of this scene from [YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9U2ekOVL5Q"]Back to the Future II[/YOUTUBE]

 

[gromit]

oh yes. i love mine. i have an excalibur 9-tray http://www.amazon.com/Excalibur-2900-9-Tray-Food-Dehydrator/dp/B000Q7GUJ2

and i use it to make 'chips' , thinly sliced veggies (kale is great),
spray with bragg's aminos and pop them in. soo yummy.

and i used it to make a lot of 'raw' cookies : oatmeal, power bars

Holy shitkins that is hardcore. I am a little bit in love with all the drawers, looks like a nice capacity. I'm afraid it might be out of my unemployed, student budget at this point. Have you ever dehydrated anything more... um... soupy I guess? Like cooked food? I ran into some people backpacking who said they cooked up food ahead of time and dried it themselves to heat and add water to while on the trail, but maybe it is a different style entirely.

ps hi mmhmm

 

[Aquarelle]

How much did it cost and what brand do you have and where did you get it?

I have this one, got it from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-FD-75PR...TF8&qid=1344613581&sr=8-1&keywords=dehydrator

It's pretty simple, but gets the job done. A word of advice, though-- if you make jerky, DO NOT use the packets they provide! It is waaaay too salty, even saltier than the store-bought kind. I made my own mix and it was much better.

I don't like to keep many special purpose appliances.. but homemade jerky would be worth considering. That stuff is priced like gold and tastes like it.

Same here. I have limited storage space, so getting this was a big deal. Yesterday I briefly considered getting bread maker, but then I thought, well, where would I store it, and you can make bread in the oven. You can make jerky in the oven too, but I tried it and it was a big pain. So yeah, I think the dehydrator for jerky is worth it!

 

[gromit]

Cool I found this website about dehydrating meals for backpacking.

And also it looks like you can use the fruit roll/fruit leather tray for soups and sauces. Mmmm.

 

[kyuuei]

I think maybe you can find one on craigslist or freecycle or a garage sale quite cheap.. Many people buy them, then never use them. The trick to special-use appliances is having a home for it where you ACTUALLY see it and have easy access to it.. Having to set something up and pack it away again constantly is what keeps people from using appliances more than anything else.

We used to use them a lot for fruits and meats we knew we couldnt finish eating. We liked it a lot, we ended up not using ours for so long because a piece broke and we never could find the part for it.. By the time the internet came around to being useful for the average citizen, we'd already tossed it. I plan on getting another one in the near future. I like the idea of having dehydrated veggies to sprinkle into my pasta doughs and breads to add veggie content to them.

 

[kyuuei]

I have this one, got it from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-FD-75PR...TF8&qid=1344613581&sr=8-1&keywords=dehydrator

It's pretty simple, but gets the job done. A word of advice, though-- if you make jerky, DO NOT use the packets they provide! It is waaaay too salty, even saltier than the store-bought kind. I made my own mix and it was much better.



Same here. I have limited storage space, so getting this was a big deal. Yesterday I briefly considered getting bread maker, but then I thought, well, where would I store it, and you can make bread in the oven. You can make jerky in the oven too, but I tried it and it was a big pain. So yeah, I think the dehydrator for jerky is worth it!

Im absolutely convinced the secret to bread makers is to NEVER use them to bake the bread. They always come out with crust too hard and sometimes complete bricks. It just doesnt work as well as an oven, I don't know why... but everything BEFORE the baking is perfect! The only reason I can make homemade bread at all is because of this clunky machine--it is a PAIN to knead dough by hand and I usually lack time for that. Having a bread maker create the dough and then just sticking that dough in the oven? THe perfect lazy-man's combo to healthier bread.

 

[Aquarelle]

Im absolutely convinced the secret to bread makers is to NEVER use them to bake the bread. They always come out with crust too hard and sometimes complete bricks. It just doesnt work as well as an oven, I don't know why... but everything BEFORE the baking is perfect! The only reason I can make homemade bread at all is because of this clunky machine--it is a PAIN to knead dough by hand and I usually lack time for that. Having a bread maker create the dough and then just sticking that dough in the oven? THe perfect lazy-man's combo to healthier bread.

I use my Ninja for that.

 

[ceecee]

Im absolutely convinced the secret to bread makers is to NEVER use them to bake the bread. They always come out with crust too hard and sometimes complete bricks. It just doesnt work as well as an oven, I don't know why... but everything BEFORE the baking is perfect! The only reason I can make homemade bread at all is because of this clunky machine--it is a PAIN to knead dough by hand and I usually lack time for that. Having a bread maker create the dough and then just sticking that dough in the oven? THe perfect lazy-man's combo to healthier bread.

Get a Kitchen Aid, they come with a dough hook. No more kneading. Or try this.

http://www.frugallivingnw.com/frugal-homemaking/amazing-no-knead-bread-step-by-step-recipe/

I had a bread machine for about 3 days. I gave it to my mom. I also have a dehydrator. I make dried fruits like cinnamon apples, peaches, cherries, beef jerky..etc. It's a very handy device and not expensive.