Dehydrator as a warmer?

[FeChef]

Had this crazy idea of using my convection dehydrator to keep a rack of lamb warm while i prepare other dishes that will need the oven. I would normally take the sous vide approach but i plan to build a crust and a thick glaze and i got to thinking that a dehydrator would only help achieve them. My dehydrator has 10 racks and removing two racks would allow the rack of lamb to fit nicely. The temperature can be adjust from 100F-155F so i was thinking somewhere between 135-140F should be a safe holding temp and would most likely take hours to to over cook if i am shooting for a target temp of 131F.

 

Has anyone else done this, and does anyone have any opinion on why this might now work?

[KennethT]

I wonder if it would dry out, depending on how long you plan to hold it.  Most commercial holding cabinets are enclosed and don't have fan blowing hot dry air over the food...  Maybe putting a pan of warm water in teh bottom to add humidity would help with that?

[gfron1]

I use my dehydrator like that (mostly for chocolate) but when I need moisture I just add a hotel pan of hot water.

[Martin Fisher]

1 minute ago, gfron1 said:

I use my dehydrator like that (mostly for chocolate) but when I need moisture I just add a hotel pan of hot water.

 

Me too.

I also warm plates, cups, serving-ware, etc. in the dehydrator for 'larger' dinners.

[FeChef]

Great idea with the water pan. But i got to thinking, wouldn't that defeat the purpose of using the dehydrator instead of using the sous vide to keep warm? What i mean is, whenever i use sous vide to retherm or use to hold a temp the food ends up losing its crust. Maybe its the the fact that its in contact with its own juices in the bag.

 

Also, forgot to mention i am planning for a 1-2 hour hold.

Edited February 13, 2017 by FeChef (log)

[dcarch]

Dehydrator is a very poor food warmer. It dries,  warms and cools the food at the sametime. (Latent heat lost from evaporation).

Use your microwave, cover the food and set the power at 1 or 2or 3, depending on your MW's power.

 

For warming plates: Put a wet thin napkin in between every two plates and MW. You can stack as many plates as your MW can take. You can get all the plates boiling hot in no time.

 

dcarch

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 13, 2017 by dcarch (log)

[KennethT]

I don't think the pan would make it 100% humidity... but at least it won't be 30% humidity which would be too dry...

[FeChef]

 

26 minutes ago, dcarch said:

Dehydrator is a very poor food warmer. It dries,  warms and cools the food at the sametime. (Latent heat lost from evaporation).

Use your microwave, cover the food and set the power at 1 or 2or 3, depending on your MW's power.

 

For warming plates: Put a wet thin napkin in between every two plates and MW. You can stack as many plates as your MW can take. You can get all the plates boiling hot in no time.

 

dcarch

I dont even trust my microwaves defrost , let alone use it to warm up a rack of lamb. I dont know if i believe you about the dehydrator warming and cooling? I will run a test today with my igrill's ambient probe and the recording feature on the app. and see how the target temp holds.

Edited February 13, 2017 by FeChef (log)

[pastrygirl]

What are the other dishes?  Maybe they would do better staying warm in the dehydrator while the lamb rests. 

 

Is your oven very small, or do your dishes require vastly different cooking temps?

[FeChef]

9 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

What are the other dishes?  Maybe they would do better staying warm in the dehydrator while the lamb rests. 

 

Is your oven very small, or do your dishes require vastly different cooking temps?

Both. Not to mention i have soo many other things going on that i don't want to worry about the lamb over cooking.

[dcarch]

24 minutes ago, FeChef said:

 

I dont even trust my microwaves defrost , let alone use it to warm up a rack of lamb. I dont know if i believe you about the dehydrator warming and cooling? I will run a test today with my igrill's ambient probe and the recording feature on the app. and see how the target temp holds.

 

 

When you have a long time before serving, setting the MW power at the lowest power, the conductivity takes over and will warm the food evenly without overcooking part of the food.

You can't use ambient probe in a dehydrator to get an accurate measure. The metal shaft of the probe will conduct heat faster in a convective environment. Use an instant read thermometer will be better.

 

[Martin Fisher]

1 hour ago, dcarch said:

Dehydrator is a very poor food warmer. It dries

 

I cover the food.

[andiesenji]

I have used my dehydrator to keep foods warm, sliced meats, whole chickens, roasts, vegetables, 

also canapes, etc.

 

I wring a tea towel out in hot water, put it over the food and have had no problem with it drying out, as long as it was not left in there for more than 30 - 45 minutes. 

[FeChef]

I ended up preparing the other dishes and flash chilling to be reheated sous vide. The tricky dish was porcini and lump crab risotto. I had to cook it al dente and flash chill. Basicly everything was in the sous vide holding at 135F while the Rack of Lamb slowly reached target temp in the oven.