Dehydrator recommendations?

[thistlebloom]

I'd like to dehydrate some of the garden produce this year and wondered if anybody had a dehydrator to recommend, or even to stay away from :/ . Thanks!

 

[Carol Dee]

I will be watching the answers too. Mine is fried!

 

[thistlebloom]

I will be watching the answers too. Mine is fried!

Caroldee, would you buy that brand again? What features did you like or not like?

 

[lesa]

Being the cheapskate that I am, mine came from a garage sale (5.00). It is the no frills kind, with round trays stacked up on each other. You know what? It works great! I know there are very fancy ones, with square trays, fans, etc. (Excaliber got great reviews over on SS.) I have used mine for years and it is a real workhorse. There are times I keep it on, night and day. I use it for drying cherry tomatoes and herbs. If you can pick one up cheap (thrift store, craigslist, etc.) I would recommend it, just to see if it works for you. My SIL bought one, and used it twice- so that is now in my attic awaiting harvest season! My counters will be covered in dehydrators!

 

[peteyfoozer]

I have a Nesco which works really well for me, but i know a lot of people LOVE their excaliburs. I understand you could even do yogurt in those somehow. Maybe thats worth the extra $. I have a separate yogurt maker so it doesn't matter to me.
I mostly dry mushrooms, celery, fruits, jerky, tomatoes, herbs, and sourdough. (It's not the first time dehydrating it has saved my batch!)

 

[thistlebloom]

My sister gave hers (never used ) to my brother, whom I'm pretty certain will never use it. Yikes! What was she thinking??
We all live far far away from each other, so handing things off is sort of a major endeavor. I've been keeping an eye on CL, but nothing so far.

Petey, you dry your sourdough starter? I forgot to tend mine during the summer, when I rarely have time to bake, and it died.

 

[peteyfoozer]

yes, thistlebloom. All you need to do is spread some thinly on a piece of wax paper and let it dry. I put some in the dehydrator just to speed it up. THen you can store it. I sort of powder it up and put it in a baggie in the freezer. Then if you lose yours, or just decide you want a break, you can reconstitute it by re-hydrating it and feeding it. You can even just use the stuff that dries up and collects on the sides of your jar.

I can send you some if you want to start again

I took a couple years off and just restarted mine a couple of weeks ago

 

[nachoqtpie]

Hubs bought me a dehydrator for my birthday last year. I've never used it.. I can't wait to actually get some stuff to use it for! I think that I'm going ot make some strawberry fruit leathers, some dried strawberries, things of that nature this year.

 

[thistlebloom]

yes, thistlebloom. All you need to do is spread some thinly on a piece of wax paper and let it dry. I put some in the dehydrator just to speed it up. THen you can store it. I sort of powder it up and put it in a baggie in the freezer. Then if you lose yours, or just decide you want a break, you can reconstitute it by re-hydrating it and feeding it. You can even just use the stuff that dries up and collects on the sides of your jar.

I can send you some if you want to start again

I took a couple years off and just restarted mine a couple of weeks ago

That would be so great!! I'd love it and thank you!

 

[Southern Gardener]

I have one called Open Country. I bought it at Bass Pro Shop - it's a no frills - just stackable trays. I can't remember how much I paid, but I know it wasn't that much. I've done deer jerky and tomatoes and was very satisfied with it.