Food Dehydrator

[mrb627]

<span style="font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif;">Okay.  I used to have a cheap food dehydrator that I would often use to make beef jerkey and dried fruits.  Unfortunately, it was cheap and didn't last long.  I have recently gotten the bug to start making my own jerkey again.  So, a shopping I go for a replacement dehydrator.</span>

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<span style="font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif;">Anybody have one that they think is the bomb?  The prices are all over the map and may not be an indicator of quality, so I need some feedback...</span>

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<span style="font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif;">Malcolm</span>

 

[applianceguy47]

I recently acquired...

my first dehydrator. Nesco American Harvest.

I found it on CL for $40. It came in the box with manuals. The woman lives near by and also has a big account on Ebay. It appears as it was never used.

I love it. It uses 500 watts or half a kilowatt per hour. It takes on average of 8 hours to dry, so thats 4 kilowatts. If your paying say .10 per Killowatt = $.40 for the batch of food your making. Very reasonable. If your off-grid, 500 watts is manageable.

Um, making jerky.... isn't that like salami or pepperoni? Bacon and Pepperoni are 2 of the worst things you can put into your body. Filled with Nitrates, and drying them only condenses and concentrates them. I used to like bacon, but no more.

 

[applianceguy47]

easy to clean and manage trays.

 

[applianceguy47]

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[applianceguy47]

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[applianceguy47]

Adjustable thermostat.

 

[mrb627]

Best Part...

<span style="font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif;">The power unit is on top and not the bottom.  Makes for an easier cleanup by leaps and bounds.  In fact, I think that is what ultimately killed my last dehydrator.  Anything that dripped from the drying food went down into the power unit underneath.  Which was very difficulty to disassemble and clean.  I ended up splicing the power cord to make cleanup easier.</span>

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<span style="font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif;">Malcolm</span>

 

[applianceguy47]

The first thing I dehydrated was 2 pineapples.

Then, 2 weeks ago, I got 4 containers of strawberries that were quickly turning. I sorted, out of all of them, one container of flawless berries, which I put in the refrig to eat as is.
The rest I cleaned, sliced off unusable portions, and placed the berries on the rack.

Same thing with the oranges. I knew I wouldn't be able to eat all of them before they went. So, I removed the shiney outsides, keeping the white nutrient rich skin, sliced, and dried.

A few of each with breakfast or as a snack.

And condenced, they don't take up as much space.

Dehydrating is better than canning or freezing because it doesn't kill the nutrients, and it much less work.

So, once the racks are loaded, I set the appliance on my porch so the light noise, heat, and humidity isn't in the house. Check it periodically, then bring inside and put the finished items away. easy clean up, too.

 

[applianceguy47]

yes Malcolm, the bottom is just a piece of plastic with no holes. It easily washes, like the racks, in the sink.

I suppose if someone were making something that dripped a lot of juice.... It would be able to hold quite a bit.

I've only had to clean off a few drips, here and there.

 

[perc-o-prince]

Alton Brown uses the Blow Hard 4000 (better than the 3000 because it's, well, the 4000) and a few furnace filters!

Part 1 of this vid shows the prepping of the beef and making your own liquid smoke. This is part 2. Skip to 4:30 for the demo of the actual unit.....

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