Any experiences with food dehydrators?

I'm thinking about buying one to have for the snacks, fruit roll ups etc. And also thinking about doing up some cup of soup type things etc. for regular use but I was also thinking that this would be good for making up different things for hurricane/snow storms/power outages etc. With the foodsaver I have I think I could make up packs of food that would be easy to transport in an evacuation pack also.

Anyone have one and what are your experiences and what would you look for in buying a new one.

There is not much difference between the various dehydrator makers, heck you can even make your own do it yourself
I use mine primarily to make jerky and of course dried fruits and vegetables.
If you do go into buying on, most come with a mini cookbook that have some decent recipes but of course if you do a quick google, you can find more
I love mine (i made it) and my son loves the fruit rollups!

did you make one like the one on that site -- pretty cool. I have been looking at a dehydrator group to get ideas and have looked online for different books available too -- there is more than I ever thought out there.

I will ponder it a bit more -- and try to make a spot for one then most likely I will be getting one -- I am leaning pretty far in that direction.

Hey, justme, I have one of the original Roncos is about 10 years old.

I love the beef jerky it does a great job on that.

But with the fruit roll ups unless you buy the appropriate wax paper to use is very sticky and messy.

The fruits depending the amount of juice content and the sugar content they can be very sticky too.

I love the chunk pineapples.

It is great for drying your own herbs and make potpourri.

I imagine that is many variety in the market than the old Ronco I have.

marg.

Hi Marg -- thanks -- I was looking at ones that have the sheet that you put on specifically for the fruit rollups mainly to avoid that sticky mess -- That is one thing I think I would use quite a bit. Knowing what is in them is a big draw for me - plus they still have the nutrition of the original fruit in them along with the fiber. We love jerky so that would be one of the things I would try first I bet.

With all the new stuff coming out on the avian flu I am even more leaning towards getting one (if I lean much more I will fall over ) so I can have lots of stuff on hand without taking up tons of room in the pantry or freezer. I am looking at the Excalibur dehydrator because it has great reviews and also because is is US made. (Not a knock to any of our friends from other areas but because I feel we should all support companies in our countries when possible)

I have a dehydrator and the foodsaver..

I use the foodsaver more often..

As far as the dehydrator goes, Great jerky, great dried tomatoes (almost like sundried)..Rotate your trays more often than recommended, if you're using the stackable round trays..Because the heat is dissipated somewhat, and the top trays miss out on all that warmth..
When I first got it I was dehydrating all kinds of stuff..My wife accused me of eyeballing one of our cats!..
Baloney, don't dehydrate baloney....

Oh, one thing I forgot..It will probably take a few tries before you get slices of fruits and veggies, just the right thickness..It's surprising how much water things contain, and how much they shrink..sometimes to a point of crispiness..


[edit on 15-9-2005 by spacedoubt]

Spacedoubt - thanks -- that is why I am looking at the Excalibur system -- it has square trays and the heat and fan are in the back so nothing drips on them and you don't have to rotate (they say at all I figure that means as much as others)

I also like that you can use it to make bread rise and make yogurt also. With my colder drafty house that has been a pain for me in the past.

just curious -- what happens to baloney?

Baloney gets dark red, and there is so much fat, that it first seeps out, then drips off..Then the salt and preservatives, crystalize on the surface..It looks really nasty..
but I had to try, you know?

I probably would have tried it myself thanks for the heads up..... One thing I haven't tried yet that is on my list of things to try is getting a hunk of bologna from the deli and poking some holes in the skin and smoking it --- they say it is fantastic. I figure I won't use too big a hunk just in case though

We love our foodsaver and use it all the time (in fact we leave it on the counter for easy access). We use our smoker a lot also so I guess it follows that the dehydrator would be used also. But NO bologna

Well I got the Excalibur dehydrator and plan on using it tons in the 30 days I can decide if I want to keep it or not. Have done pineapple chunks and fruit cocktail and peach slices -- all were good --in fact DH liked them too since it wasn't as sweet as the stuff you get in the store.

Did tomato slices and now have to join Tomato Chip Anonymous -- I love them - I sprinkled with a bit of onion powder and garlic powder when I first sliced them.

Did a leather of salsa and spaghetti sauce -- will try something with them this week. Did some celery that would have gone to waste and will powder that up. I am thinking of mixing the salsa with some sour cream to see if I can come up with a dip out of it. And the spaghetti sauce was going to end up in the trash if I didn't use it in the next couple of days so it wasn't a waste no matter what.

Did a bunch of lemons so I have lemon slices and also made lemon powder that I used in a dish last night and it added just a nice brightness to it.

And I did elk jerky that turned out pretty good -- next time I don't think I will put the liquid smoke in the marinade though.

So I have been pretty busy with it and so far am enjoying the results.

you don't even really need a food dehydrator. You need to have your product sliced very very thin and have you oven on a very low setting, say 150-175 degrees and watch it. Don't take you eyes off it, or as the saying goes....Best in Iraq, golden black. Oh don't for get to marinade you meats after its been sliced.