Food Dehydrators: The Topic

[andiesenji]

I have been drying food for some time now and have a question.

When I dry fruit or vegetable slices they always tend to wrinkle and not stay perfectly flat. First I used an oven for drying (thought the oven was the cause of the wrinkling) and now an Excalibur dehydrator, but I still can't get them entirely flat.

Any suggestions?

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With some fruits, peaches for instance, I pull the tray out when they are about half done and using scissors clip two or three places around the perimeter where it is beginning to curl, in particular if I am going to be going on to glacé the fruit. Otherwise I just leave them. Some plums will actually roll into a cylinder but as long as they dry completely - I uncurl them to check - I find they store easily.

I also dry long strips of zucchini and to keep them flat I place a wire cooling rack on top and this will keep them from curling. I haven't tried this with other fruits and veg but it should work on them also.

[Jan Stoel]

I thought some weight on top should help, but haven't tried it yet.

To be more specific with my question it is in regards to thin (long) strips of fruit and veg. I tried some slim slices of beetroot and apple, but they shrivelled.

I had a strip of dried rhubarb in a restaurant once and it was completely flat and straight, it looked awesome. I can't seem to get the same result.

[Dave the Cook]

Anything new on the dehydrator front? I'm in the market for one.

[dfense]

I just bought a Stöckli Dörrex and I am very happy with it. The metal grates prevent sticking and are great for drying herbs. I do not know about availability in the states though...

Manufacturer Link

English info

Regards,

[andiesenji]

Unless you need the greater capacity of a commercial unit, the Excalibur is still, in my opinion, the best you can buy.

I have two of the 2900s which have had a lot of use for many years.

The 2900 has a 5-year warranty.

The 3000 series have a 26-hour timer and a 10-year warranty.

Excalibur Dehydrators

and they are made in the U.S.A.

I started out twenty years ago with the 5-tray model which was larger than the other brands but soon found I needed the larger 9 tray and later added another.

It is versatile in that you can remove the trays completely and use it for proofing dough and other tasks for which a temp lower than your oven is desired.

I have one out in the garden shed used mostly for drying herbs because they can scatter easily once dried and the clean up is easier.

Edited January 8, 2011 by andiesenji (log)

[MollyB]

I have an Excalibur dehydrator (which is great), and I have recently started making fruit leathers. I've done it with plastic wrap on the standard sheets, but this isn't ideal, as the fan can blow the edges up and over the surface of the fruit.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what to use, apart from the manufacturer's $10/each Paraflexx non-stick sheets designed specifically for fruit leathers? I don't especially want to spend $50 to buy these sheets for occasional use.

Or does anyone have these outrageously expensive sheets and think they are worth it?

-Molly

[Emily_R]

Hi Molly --

I make fruit leather every summer on an Excalibur, and use parchment paper cut to size to line the trays. I take the fruit puree all the way to within about 3/4 of an inch of the edge of each sheet, and then cut them up into three roll-ups when they're done drying. I then just roll them up with the parchment paper still on them, and peel it off when I'm ready to eat!

Emily

[andiesenji]

Just get some double stick tape - the kind with the foam center is rated for higher heat than the plain - and use that to stick down the back edge of the parchment where closest to the fan. You may need to use a piece on each side, if the layer of fruit is very thin.

Very simple solution, and it works just fine. You can usually peel the parchment off the tape "anchors" and attach a clean sheet, unless you are going to reuse the same one.

Edited January 21, 2011 by andiesenji (log)

[Shirley03]

I also use the Excalibur dehydrator and it is far superior to the cheaper round option I first started with. I found drying is much more even and there are no hotspots. I also think the colours of the food are more vibrant in the Excalibur.

I have quite a collection of dried fruit and I enjoy making my own granola which I vary slightly every day. I soak oat groats overnight then dry them in the dehydrator, then I flake them and store. In a morning its a simple task to grab some oats and chuck in whatever dried fruit and chopped nuts I fancy. Topped off with a dollop of homemade yogurt, I've really never found a breakfast to touch this delicious treat.

In the Excalibur at the moment I have lots of tomatoes drying. I like to make homemade pizza and it can be time consuming to mash and reduce down tomatoes for the sauce, also the dried basil never really kept its flavour very well so I came up with the idea of liquidising some organic cherry toms that I picked up cheaply as they were very ripe. I added quite a few basil leaves and poured the lot onto a parchment sheet on the dehydrator.. much like you do when making leathers, then I dried it until crisp and ground it up to make a powder. It really brings out the basil which is preserved well and makes a fantastic base for the pizza sauce. A few dried toms on top and its pizza perfection!

[bonkboo]

Got a 20% off BBB coupon that I was thinking about using on a food dehydrator (wish Anova was available there!). Are there quality differences? Anyone here use them regularly? Are they necessary for dehydrating stuff easily? Any input appreciated.

[Martin Fisher]

What dehydrator do you have in mind?

[bonkboo]

What dehydrator do you have in mind?

I'm not sure. BBB has a Nesco, a couple of Omegas, and some Excaliburs. Nesco is about half any of the price of others.

[dcarch]

I find the Excalibur square shape trays a lot more useful. Frequently I dehydrate the entire slice of watermelon easily.

You can't do that in a Nesco because of the center ventilating shaft.

dcarch

[Paul Bacino]

I have a Nesco... Professional...food and jerky....it has 5 trays,I usually dehydrate my hot peppers in it. If I use the hotest setting 160F..it will take over night

Clearance between each tray is about 1/2 inch.

I like it..nothing special as I can see

I did 2 gallon bags go Scorpion peppers in 2 days

.

I probably could of used my Dacor oven..Convection....that has a 135f setting and done them all at once over night

I liked it for my smaller jobs..thou

Paul

[andiesenji]

I've had Excalibur dehydrators for almost 30 years. One lasted 20 years with fairly heavy use, the others are 15 years old and still working. The newer ones that have timers should be much easier to use.

They also work great as proof boxes for yeast doughs - with the shelves removed I can put a large bowl or a 6 liter Cambro container (in the 9-tray model).

They also use only a fraction of the power of an electric oven set on the lowest temp.

I dry herbs, vegetables, fruits, JERKY, and candied peel, ginger, etc. I used to prepare these in large batches so needed the extra space in the square format.

Prior to getting my first Ex. I had tried several other dehydrators and none functioned as I wished.

[Martin Fisher]

I have Nesco, LEM and a solar dehydrator.

The Nesco does an excellent job of drying but the plastic racks are a MAJOR pain-in-the-butt to clean!

The LEM and the solar dryer have stainless steel racks which is all I recommend.

[annachan]

I have an Excalibur (5-tray) and it's great for drying meat, fruits and veg. Trays are plastic, but quite easy to clean.

[keychris]

I have a 9 tray excalibur and recommend it to anyone that will listen - not just for dehydrating, but proving like Andie above and yoghurt making too

even just to dry things out properly!

oh, and melt cocoa butter and chocolate and hold it at temperature, great for that too!

[bonkboo]

Thanks for the input. I'm thinking of the Excaliber 4 tray. What kind of capacity would that provide in say dried apples?

[andiesenji]

Thanks for the input. I'm thinking of the Excaliber 4 tray. What kind of capacity would that provide in say dried apples?

The 9-tray is a much better option. I originally bought a 5-tray and found it was inadequate for my modest needs so within a few months bought a 9-tray.

It did not take long to realize that dried fruit shrinks a lot and the end product was much less than the input.

For instance, if you have large bananas, and slice them diagonally, it works out to 1 1/2 bananas per tray at most.

Apple rings, - if you have large apples, such as Fuji, and slice them thin, it is 1 apple per tray.

JERKY takes even more room. I do turkey jerky and after slicing and marinating, a single moderate sized turkey breast will fill 5 or more trays to start. As the stuff shrinks, I transfer some to fill in on the UPPER trays while starting new batches on the lower trays.

You can't jam things up close to each other, you have to leave a little space for air circulation.

I know several people who have done the same thing, buy the smaller one and soon opt for the larger.

[bonkboo]

How long do things like jerky take? I'm not going to have large available space for lengthy periods so timing may help dictate size.

Thanks

[andiesenji]

There are a lot of variables in making jerky. How dense the meat is, how wet it is when you start it and even the amount of humidity in the atmosphere.

Beef takes longer even if a dry rub is used - from 12 to 18 hours. Teriyaki beef (wet) takes 24 hours, possibly a bit longer.

Turkey about the same, although I have had some take longer because I sliced it just a bit thicker.

For several years mine occupied the top of my clothes dryer which had the advantage of being easy to clean but then I got some of the metal industrial shelving and the Ex.s fit perfectly on them.

[hannap]

I find the Excalibur square shape trays a lot more useful. Frequently I dehydrate the entire slice of watermelon easily.

You can't do that in a Nesco because of the center ventilating shaft.

dcarch

I fully agree with that.

[dcarch]

I find the Excalibur square shape trays a lot more useful. Frequently I dehydrate the entire slice of watermelon easily.

You can't do that in a Nesco because of the center ventilating shaft.

dcarch

I fully agree with that.

In addition, for the same quantity of food, the square shape takes less counter space. Also, you can put things on top of the Excalibur.*

Don't put the dehydrator in the garage or basement, bugs! Also, you save heating your house by running the dehydrator inside the house.

dcarch

*Disclaimer -I am not the owner of Excalibur. :-)

[OliverB]

I have a Nesco with a total of 13 trays that I'm very happy with. I can dry different things all at the same time without any of the flavors crossing over. I did not want to be locked into a particular tray number, I try to dry a lot of things in one setting so I can store this tower away again. Love making tomato chips for the kids, drying them until they're crunchy. Same with fruits and other veg. Jerky comes out great too, very nice machine. I think the min # of trays is 4, but it works well with the whole tower, just takes a bit longer. Also got some inserts to make fruit leather. Cleaning isn't that bad, things come of pretty clean and then I soak the trays for a moment in hot soapy water and use a brush. Would buy it again.