I am wondering if you use it often. I ask because I am still wondering if I should get one. I can think of things I would make but I don't want it to turn into yet another toy. So off the cuff, I can think of making sprouted breads, seed crackers, dried apples and other fruits, kale chips, granola, and nori wraps.

I guess my doubt comes from watching a Kevin Gianni video where he and his wife announced that they had removed dehydrated foods from their eating habits. I have likewise wondered how removing water from foods is beneficial in the long term. I realize that it's a great way to store food but really, should we be storing food long-term? Maybe that's the problem. Maybe we should just stick with fresh, simple foods.

Clarification: I am asking about those with Excaliburs because that is considered one of the "top of the line" brands and if you have a cheaper one, you may not be too thrilled with its capabilities and therefore don't use it too often.

I have the Excalibur and I don't use it. It was good at the beginning of the journey for transition breads (organic corn + red bell pepper + some flax seed + food processor) but I got tire of cleaning all the pots and pans and the food processor. If you are into fruits and salads you won't use it. If you are into raw gourmet then you'll use it every day.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/13/2012 06:28PM by Panchito.

I'm a recent owner, so can only comment on that. Been about 3 week now. I use it often, mostly to make crackers/bread. I LOVE IT!! I bought it to make snacks for myself that are healthy, and to combat craving. Making flax crackers is so much fun - I've not followed a recipe - I just use all kinds of different spices. It's nice to reuse carrot pulp - adds a nice orange texture. It is helping me feel more satisfied with my simple raw meals, and it is a new source of creativity for me!

Kale chips are incredible, and I have had fun experimenting with making dried apples, oranges (like candy!) and pineapple, I'm always running to my neighbors getting them to try my concoctions. It is good also to rescue things in the fridge that are about to go bad...

I also hope to keep up with my pear tree this year, no wastage this time.

I agree that fresh food is better any day, but sometimes a good crunch is needed, and my dehydrated snacks hit the spot. Haven't made sprouted nuts yet but will try that soon. Have you noticed how much sprouted dehydrated foods cost in the store?? Yikes!

In the age old question of which one should I get - the 9 tray is the way to go. You will this realize immediately. I agonized about the timer, and personally don't think it's worth the extra money.

I wanted one for a long time and am happy to have finally made the purchase. Time will tell but I think this winter it will keep me in the raw, where last winter I slipped a bit.

Hope this helps.

Snowshoe, thank you so much for that input. It pretty much confirmed what I had thought, regarding the value of certain things like crunchy foods. The timer was mentioned as a handy gadget so I will review that aspect.

Panchito, I can see what you mean totally, which is why I asked the question. I didn't understand what you meant about "pots and pans." Are you just talking in general with cooking, or in relation to the dehydrator? It's not hard to clean the Tefflex sheets, is it? I am not sure if I would ever go 100% raw so I still use pots and pans and it's not a biggie for me. Thanks for replying, though.

I've been dehydrating forever since I've had access to one.

The trick to save yourself headaches... is to make a massive recipe when you get around to it. Pack the dehydrator to the max with crackers, don't just make a sheet. Then you can freeze them... and won't have to make anything for another eight weeks.

Kale chips are another story. Those don't last a day. >8)

Cleaning it isn't THAT awful. The benefits outweigh the work. I don't use it every week, but I have used it steadily since purchase.

I think it's integral to staying 100% raw for the long term (it's been more than four years now for me).

For example, I'll make eight big pizza crusts in one go, and split a pizza one day per week with Raw Boyfriend (the remaining crusts stay in the freezer). That's not an unhealthy, excessive, gourmet obsession. It's a nice treat to have. It's a manageable tempo of dehydrating/doing all fresh raw.

My thoughts.

LOL have not used it once! I did get it for use with fresh produce in summer though and that's coming up so we shall see. I lent it to my cousin to dry nettles for tea for the weekly farmer's market, not sure if she's even used it yet. It seems to require more time in prep along than I've got right now. I'm working on getting more organized with scheduling.

I was referring to the model w/built in timer from Excalibur. So far, I have not had the need for a timer at all however it could be useful to have an external timer that would work with other devices also.


banana who Wrote:
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> The timer was mentioned as a handy gadget
> so I will review that aspect.
>
>

I used to have one and only used it a few times. Then I crawled away from raw foods and sold it to a raw friend, who got a better deal than he deserved. It now sits in his closet, sad and rejected like someone who never got picked to play on the team, with probably a few crumbs still stuck to its underbelly from my long-ago failed attempts at creating something resembling edible food. Now that I'm back experimenting with raw (oh, if only I could see into the future to avoid so many mistakes), I wish I still had it. Not to use, of course, just to sit in my closet until someday, somehow, someone comes along and changes my DNA and converts me into someone as motivated as Snowshoe...

How I appreciated your post jimtoo - I'm sure you speak for many of us!!!! I certainly reconize myself there!

I've made up my mind not to buy one. I think I've been on a raw journey long enough to conclude that I don't need it. Dried fruits and tomatoes I can buy, but otherwise I believe 100% raw does not necessitate raw pizza or other treats, which one can anyway have occasionally should one wish so in a restaurant or bought in the shop etc, hence they are "treats"... Also my personal way of dealing with cravings (any) is always cold turkey, so I guess don't need it for that reason too.

>Banana ice-cream rocks!<

It certainly is a useful tool if you travel, camp, need to pack lunches quickly, or if you are trying to eat a predominantly local diet. I can get everything at the grocery store all year long but off-season many things are prohibitively expensive as well as having to have flown half-way round the world to get to me. I'd rather store food I grew myself or that was grown close-by for use year-round. I'm sure we'll be utilizing that dehydrator lots this year. The garden is quite large, I can't see us being able to eat everything we grown as it ripens.

I use it for my crackers, hummus cracker that I love,and now I just heard about chia crackers that I definitely will make.
Another things is to dehydrate fruit for my water kefir grains - I am in love with it now.

It's several magnitudes of order cheaper to make your own treats vs. order out, plus you can make a purer, fresher, product, exactly to your liking. Also, not every place on earth has access to such treats.

It depends on who you live with and who you're cooking for, too.

I don't ever crave SAD foods anymore, I've burned that bridge a while ago. But sometimes I do want something DENSE, something full of flax (o3s) and veggies, brazil nut cheese (selenium)... it's a fun way to keep variety in the diet, rack up some minerals.

Also, I'd rather make crackers than throw juicer pulp in the compost!!

Another REALLY SIMPLE and FAST thing to make in the dehydrator is veggie crepes--blend up a few tomatoes and just pour them all over a teflex. It will turn into an awesome paper in a matter of hours and you can stuff it full of veggies, fruits, and whatever you want. NO NUTS.

banana who,

A thread from last year that may help:

[www.rawfoodsupport.com]

I know I've written somewhere here before that I have an Excalibur and used it a lot when I was gourmet raw, but came to detest the sound of it running, not because it's loud but because it made me think of all the energy I was wasting running it for 36 hours! These days, I use it only to preserve the last of the summer tomatoes, etc.

I actually just upgraded to the Sedona. Great machine. Whether or not it's worth buying depends in part on what you eat. I use my dehydrators daily. I'm making my own marinara sauce with dried and fresh tomato, my own trail mix with soaked and dehydrated nuts (taste much much better) and dried shredded veggies, carrot, squash, etc,

I do the flax crackers and manna bread too. I consider my dehydrator part of my raw vegan journey. Even if you don't do any of the above, it's nice to be able to warm raw vegan soup in winter without going above 115 degrees.

I'd say it depends on your choices. And fwiw, I like the Excalibur a lot. For most, the Sedona isn't necessary. I love it though. It's soo quiet and convenient.

Paul

Mine has been on the shelf for 3 yrs.
None of the stuff I dried came out real crispy like a potato chip.
Thats what I wanted -to get things to be just like a potato chip you would buy in a bag.
But stuff never did.
Even after 5 days in that thing.
Vinny

Vinny,

Even in my Excalibur, got crispy zucchini chips, crispy kale chips. I understand our experiences differ. I live in Virginia. If you are in more humid climate, it could affect the outcome.

Paul

One thing I just realised about a dehydrator - how does it fit with the oxidation issue? I'm still trying to get my head around oxidation, but general advice when blending, cutting things etc, seems to be to eat food as soon as, otherwise some of the goodness will be gone.

Even tools we use to prepare our foods are designed to be less oxidation friendly. Like juicers with augers etc. Reading all these things makes me want to eat my breakfast, lunch and dinner as soon as i prepare it, or at least during the day, never tomorrow unless it's a sauce/dressing which is there basically for taste.


What about dehydration in this respect, all that air blowing through the produce for *hours*, often *days*?

>Banana ice-cream rocks!<



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/14/2012 03:58PM by chat.

I use mine about twice a year. If I lived near another person with a generally clean household who wanted to share it, I would.

Hey Paul, would you care to kindly share the details of the above mentioned delicious-sounding tomato sauce?

Eventually, all the centarians get little newspaper articles written about them. My secret is going to be headstands and kalechips.

I use the dehydrator less than most people use a TV. I wonder what the legitimate power consumption actually is--dehydrators are basically a small fan. Can anyone comment on this? Either way, it is most efficient, then, to pack the whole thing to the max before running it.

I found awesome purple kale at the farmer's market yesterday, organic and super cheap! Time for chips, indeed. >8)

Paul, do you dry the tomatoes in the Sedona? I have been trying to find out if tomatoes dried in a dehydrator come out the same as do sun-dried. I have a few tomtato plants and it would be an alternative to canning (if I am lucky enough to have so many extras!).

Tam, erm...that was a thread I started apparently...LOL- oh well, we're not supposed to dredge up old threads, now are we

At least you're still thinking about it

nanners,

Whoops! I didn't look at who posted it; I just did a one year search and that came back, and looked familiar and useful, so I cited it! I'm sure there was an older one that was more pertinent, but I can't find it.

Tamukha Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> nanners,
>
> Whoops! I didn't look at who posted it; I just
> did a one year search and that came back, and
> looked familiar and useful, so I cited it! I'm
> sure there was an older one that was more
> pertinent, but I can't find it.


LOL- I thought you were giving me a subtle nudge

phantom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey Paul, would you care to kindly share the
> details of the above mentioned delicious-sounding
> tomato sauce?
>

Phantom, i'm going to take a short respite from my break to answer your question and BWs. [www.youtube.com] Go to 3:30 of this video, it's Jennifer Cornbleet's. I like my marinara (red seasoned tomato sauce) sauce chunky like Jennifer. I'd say make your own dried tomatoes and adjust the seasoning to your taste.


Banana Who Wrote:

>Paul, do you dry the tomatoes in the Sedona? I have been trying to find out if >tomatoes dried in a dehydrator come out the same as do sun-dried. I have a few >tomtato plants and it would be an alternative to canning (if I am lucky enough >to have so many extras!).

BW, I used to dry them in my Excalibur and am not sure if they taste like sun dried or not. I assume a lot starts with the tomatoes themselves. If they are fresh from your plant, it should or better compared to store bought sun-dried tomatoes. Be sure to de-seed them before drying and cut to maximize a flat expsoure. If you are using them to make marinara sauce, soak in water for 1/2 hour before you use them to rehydrate them for the sauce.

Back to the sabbatical.

Thanks for the tip, I'm going to make off with trash bags of tomatoes from the farmer's market next week >8)

Paul,
Im in Pa.
Might have a little less humidity than Va,but probably the same.
I know Va is a sauna in the summer.
Vinny

Vinny,

If you are ever in the neighborhood. DC, drop me a line here and let's get together.

Paul

I'd say really have a think about what you are going to use your dehydrator for. If it's marinated veggies or anything that requires couple of hours to "firm up" - you can easily get away with a fan assisted oven if you lucky to have one.

In UK these ovens are very common, they have a large fan at the back wall which constantly blows air across food. The lowest setting is 50c which is 122f, and everything I've read so far about raw dehydration recommends starting off at 115-125 degrees for a couple of hours, and dialing down to 105-110 for the remainder of the time. Bearing in mind that with Excalibur these are the temperatures of the *food*, the temperature of the dehydrating air is correspondingly higher. (Im planning to call our oven manufacturer to ask what the temperature dial refers to, the food or the air. If it's the air, we've got a raw dehydrator already woo-hoo!)

That's why it seems to me that a fan assisted oven at 122f with the open door is a perfect solution unless the recipe requires long hours of low temperature dehydration. In other words saving you the amount of money the Excalibur wants for itself.

>Banana ice-cream rocks!<