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Tue Apr 04, 2006 11:34 pm  |
I just purchased my first food dehydrator. I am so excited.....! I loved dried fruit, especially dried mango and pineapple.
Anybody else has a food dehydrator?
Mind sharing what type of dried food you like?
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Wed Apr 05, 2006 4:19 am |
I have never heard of one of these, I am intrigued now!!!
I love dried apple, it is so expensive though, £1 for a tiny amount.
Also love dried Banana Chips |
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oily/acne prone - acne scars on chin area/Large Pores in winter. Oily in Summer. Fair, nuetral/cool complexion, burn easily. Early 20s |
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Wed Apr 05, 2006 6:27 am |
I'd like to get one but I don't know where I'd put it. My mom loves hers, and dries all kinds of fresh fruit in it. Especially strawberries in season.
I use my oven as a dehydrator for making sundried tomatoes. I just did a batch yesterday. The ship brought in grape tomatoes so I bought 8 pints of them, washed them, sliced them in half lengthwise, spread them on a cookie sheet, sprinkled them lightly with kosher salt and left them in the oven at 250F for several hours until they were shrivelled. I don't dry them all the way because I like them soft, not too chewy. They are like candy! |
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Owner at GS & Company at Semiahmoo Shopping Centre |
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Wed Apr 05, 2006 7:18 am |
ohhh I love dried fruit! My favs are apples, apricots, peaches (these are addictive), cherries (pit them if you want to eat them, don't have to pit them if you want to use them in let's say, a roast), plums/prunes, grapes, tomatoes, garlic, and fruitleather. I grew up in the Okanagan Valley, so we dried a lot of different types of fruits and veggies.
What sort of dehydrator did you get - is it a flat one (i.e. you can lay a piece of wax paper on it) or one with a hole in the middle? How many layers does it have? |
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Wed Apr 05, 2006 8:25 am |
| ulana wrote: |
ohhh I love dried fruit! My favs are apples, apricots, peaches (these are addictive), cherries (pit them if you want to eat them, don't have to pit them if you want to use them in let's say, a roast), plums/prunes, grapes, tomatoes, garlic, and fruitleather. I grew up in the Okanagan Valley, so we dried a lot of different types of fruits and veggies.
What sort of dehydrator did you get - is it a flat one (i.e. you can lay a piece of wax paper on it) or one with a hole in the middle? How many layers does it have? |
I got Ronco 5 trays food dehydrator. Honestly, I have never seen a food dehydrator in person, so I do not know what to expect.
Anyone has thie same exact product? |
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Wed Apr 05, 2006 9:12 am |
Wow, we may have the same (or similar one)!! I have a Ronco 187-04 model, but instead of 5 trays I have 8. I've had it for a few years - I bought it at a garage sale for a grand $10 (it was used maybe a few times) so overall I'm really happy with it. I didn't get an instruction manual with it though, so a lot of my food dehydrating has been a "learn as you go" process.
This one has the hole in the middle, so it's not greatest to make fruitleather in (unless you cut the wax paper with a hole in the middle). Before I forget, a tip I learned about fruit leather, wax paper from cereal boxes works best for this. Maybe you could try cutting the wax paper into small strips around the hole (if you also have a hole in yours). I think I'll try that this summer and see if it works out ...
It also has a thing on the top (for lack of a better word) that allows you to adjust the heat. Depending on how fast you want the food to dry or if you're around when you're drying the food, I either have the top open (so the heat can escape) to slow down the process or dehydrating or keep the top closed (or just a crack open) if I want the food to dehydrate quicker.
Also, rotating the layers is pretty important. I've burnt some of my food not paying attention. I've learnt that switching the top with the bottom isn't the best way - make sure that the middle layers get direct exposure to the heat as well.
There is a hole in the bottom of my machine - I usually keep a towel around it incase some juices leak (peaches are the worst for this!). I once put the machine on a cookie tray to catch some of the juices, but this caused the machine to put out the heat unevenly so on one tray I had dried food and on the other side of the tray, it was not even close to being finished.
That's about all the comes to mind at the moment about dehydrating food. Hope it helps! |
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Wed Apr 05, 2006 9:38 am |
I have a dehydrator that I purchased some years ago at a yard sale- not an expensive model (American Harvest) it's round with a hole in the middle so I line the drying racks with parchment paper (I made a cardboard template to cut these easily). I use it to make healthy raw crackers that consist of sprouted nuts and seeds, fruit, coconut, and spices. My favorites included almonds, raisins, pumkin seeds, flax seed, sesame seed, and cinnamon (makes a healthy breakfast on the run!). They can be varied so many different ways: savory crackers with curry or onion or caraway seeds, or braggs liquid aminos (healthy soy sauce), seaweed, and garlic. You get the picture, have fun experimenting! The nuts and seeds are soaked to remove enzyme inhibitors and to boost up good enzymes & vitamin content. All those good enzymes are destroyed by cooking so this is a great way to load up on them. It doesn't get better than that! The flax seeds get gluey when they are wet and act as a binder . Its been a while since I've made these because my life kinda got turned upside down these past couple of years so I haven't bothered, but now that you bring this up, I'm inspired to start again! Thanks!
Try these web sites for more info- for recipes: http://gogreen.org/recipes.html
For sprouting information: www.therawtable.com/sprouting.htm and www.therawtable.com/sproutCH.htm
Have fun!  |
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Wed Apr 05, 2006 9:41 am |
Thanks mimsy, ulana...
As soon as my food dehydrator arrive, I am sure I will be asking you girls for tips |
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Wed Apr 05, 2006 9:44 am |
You're welcome, Roadtonowhere, I'm sure you'll have fun with it!  |
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Wed Apr 05, 2006 9:52 am |
| My pleasure Good luck roadtonowhere. Let us know how everything turns out! |
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