The booklet which accompanies this Excalibur mentions Viktoras Kulvinskas saying that he starts protein foods at 140 degrees and then lowers it after a few hours. But the guide has a zone for raw foods @ 105 degrees, which is what many of my recipes recommend. How high do you guys do it?

Kulvinskas likely knew his stuff but it's a bit confusing, you know? To kill the enzymes would negate the whole purpose of a dehydrator! Thanks for your input. I think I will take it in a case-by-case basis...

Its easier to leave it at 105 the whole time, as you don't have to change anything. Starting at the higher temperature can make things go faster, but if you forget to lower the temperature, you've cooked your food. So its a tradeoff on which technique to use.

If you dehydrate some sunflower seeds up to the temperature in quetion, do they grow? If so, they're "raw" as far as I'm concerned.

[fresherthanlife.com]

Prana, I know...It's just that apparently it's a way to speed up the process. And humidity is also a factor, which I didn't realize! For instance, it's muggy as heck right now and I suspect that would slow down "cooking" time.

FTL: I saw some video where the flax crackers didn't come out right (might have been Angela S-M) and she threw them in the garden and they SPROUTED. I thought that was the coolest.

The reason to start at a higher temp is to get it up to where it needs to be quickly so there isn't a window of optimum bacteria temp at the start, ye know? It's not long enough to cook it unless as mentioned you forget to turn it down. Best bet is to try it both ways and see which works better for you. The heat and humidity where you are makes a difference too so... you'll have to test things out a bit I'd think.

Okay...It is humid around here right now. I just don't know if I would know if it was still raw (and therefore if the experiment "worked". I would prefer to err on the side of caution, especially if I am not making jerky, which would be more likely to spoil if not done right.

Hello Babana who,

**Thanks for your question on the 105 degress thing : I just bought the same dehydrator as you did and I had the same question. Now I have the answer :-)

**I have also posted a question Yesterday and I wonder if you have some info on it :

''...in reference to food preparation before dehydration in order to preserve their color, nutrients and texture:

The Excalibur Dehydration Guide talks about Dipping (Sodium Bisulfate,Ascorbic acid-Citric acid, Citrus/Pineapple juice or honey dip) and Blanching (Water blanch and steaming blanch).

My guess is that the only method that will keep the food alive without adding anything toxic to it would be the juice dipping and that this would be good for fruits only. But then what do I do for veggies ?

I think that steaming the food, event for just 5 minutes, will kill the exzymes.

I've just read the article from Rose Lee Cabalerro on the subject (I used the Search engine on this page and found her text). She says that Sodium Bisulfate is bad but she doesn't talk about any other food preparation method.

Will the apple slices turn brown if I dehydrate them at 105 degrees without treating them first ? An if so, is it less nutritive and healthy? And what about potato and turnip slices for example ?

Thank you for your tips.


IN FACT, I NEED TO KNOW IF ANY PRE-TREATMENT IS NECESSARY FOR RAW FOOD DEHYDRATION.