Food Dehydrators

There is a five year old post with two responses on here, so I thought I would reopen the topic.  If you dehydrate, what machine do you use?  What do you dehydrate/make?  How often do you use it?

Thx

I have an Excalibur 9 tray, a refurbished basic (not digital, no timer) unit from Amazon. Nesco is a cheaper brand, available in Walmart. Good for beginners. There are other brands: Cabelas makes a nice one. Each has their pros and cons.

Bananas, apples, pineapples, zucchini, eggplant, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, mushrooms, celery, corn, ginger, garlic, onions, breadcrumbs, yogurt, proofing bread dough, etc.

More in the summer and fall than in the winter. I got the dehydrator to be able to preserve the fruits of my vegetable garden. I have it running pretty much non-stop from July to the end of November. Now, in January, I'm running maybe four batches a month, mostly pineapples and banana chips for the kids. I wish I'd done more apples last fall - we love them.

I make nourishing, organic, home-grown vegetable soups all winter from my summer harvest of dehydrated veggies and powders. And the ginger and garlic powders are amazing - I hope to never have to buy them again - the flavor is simply not comparable.

There is a Facebook group: Dehydrating Divas and Dons, that I highly recommend. It's taught me everything I ever needed to know about dehydrating!

I have this dehydrator, and I absolutely love it. I make almost nothing but jerky on it, since I have a ridiculously easy recipe that my husband absolutely loves. I make it three or four times a month, and I'm sure Husband would eat more if I made more of it!

I saw the other day that you are here in town (Tucson).  I just talked to my mum about it, cos she had the surgery too and she has a ridiculously hard time getting all the protein she needs.  I think this would be great for her to be able to make all the jerky she can eat!!!

It's absolutely a great way to get protein in, especially since you don't have to cook it! I love being able to grab a handful and just go.

I'm experimenting with turkey jerky next, I'll let you know if I get a good recipe for that one figured out :)

I have a NuWave oven that I LOVE.....I cook just about everything in it and my food comes out moist and evenly done. I make beef jerky in it and I find it fast and easy.

My recipe is simple (because I like to keep things that way)....I purchase beef that is already cut for stir fry and season it with Montreal Steak Seasoning. I could save money if I purchased meat that I would cut up, but I've been lazy lately. I put it in the oven and set it for 175 degrees and set the timer for 125 minutes. Sometimes I have to cut the slices to make them thinner, but that's about it. I also spray the racks with Pam before dehydrating, so clean-up is a breeze.

Jerky is a wonderful go-to snack for me (the Jerky I make....not the store bought kind that's usually loaded with all sorts of sugar and syrups) because I know what's in it and it's pure protein....win-win situation.

Will have to try other things one of these days.....loving all the suggestions here!

NuWave - is that the countertop convection oven?

yes it is......I'm very happy with it.

ohhhhHHH... didn't think about trying jerky in my Nuwave. We did not like our attempt in the dehydrator, but this will be worthy of another try using Sparkle's recipe. Glad you mentioned that!

if you spray the racks with Pam before putting the meat in there, clean-up is a breeze