Author Topic: Food dehydrator recommendation  (Read 1619 times)

jamesbond007

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Food dehydrator recommendation
« on: May 29, 2020, 11:51:53 AM »
Any recommendations on which food dehydrator to buy? We like making those vegetable chips and would love to make them at home instead of spending spending $4 per pack on chips at CostCo every other week.

Igelfreundin

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Re: Food dehydrator recommendation
« Reply #1 on: May 29, 2020, 12:22:38 PM »
Every time this topic comes up, everyone swears by the Excalibur. I have not purchased one yet because I can't bear the price but I will confirm that the cheap, garage sale dehydrator did not have the capacity to dry really wet foods like tomatoes in anything less than a few days.

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RetiredAt63

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Re: Food dehydrator recommendation
« Reply #2 on: May 29, 2020, 12:52:27 PM »
Every time this topic comes up, everyone swears by the Excalibur. I have not purchased one yet because I can't bear the price but I will confirm that the cheap, garage sale dehydrator did not have the capacity to dry really wet foods like tomatoes in anything less than a few days.

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This is also what I hear, but Cabelas has what look to be good dehydrators.  And since they are aimed at meat as well, presumably they should be good for fruits/vegetables?


FiveSigmas

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Re: Food dehydrator recommendation
« Reply #4 on: May 29, 2020, 02:11:20 PM »
007, you mentioned vegetable chips in particular. I would guess that you have more flexibility here, as your source materials are probably not super juicy to begin with. I agree you probably don’t need a super-duper model.

Last year I treated myself to a Nesco FD-60. The aim was to noodle around, not save money, so I wasn’t super price conscious (FWIW, I spent a little under $50 on sale). I so far mainly use it for drying apples, and have have been very pleased with the results. It’s tough to say when if ever I’ll “break even” — I’m eating more dried apples than before, so marginal grocery costs may have actually increased.

I somewhat regret not purchasing the FD-75A for a few dollars more — simply because it comes with a few mattes that would be useful for wetter material (e.g. tomatoes, mangoes, peaches, berries). These can readily be purchased after-the-fact, though.

jamesbond007

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Re: Food dehydrator recommendation
« Reply #5 on: May 29, 2020, 02:23:54 PM »
007, you mentioned vegetable chips in particular. I would guess that you have more flexibility here, as your source materials are probably not super juicy to begin with. I agree you probably don’t need a super-duper model.

Last year I treated myself to a Nesco FD-60. The aim was to noodle around, not save money, so I wasn’t super price conscious (FWIW, I spent a little under $50 on sale). I so far mainly use it for drying apples, and have have been very pleased with the results. It’s tough to say when if ever I’ll “break even” — I’m eating more dried apples than before, so marginal grocery costs may have actually increased.

I somewhat regret not purchasing the FD-75A for a few dollars more — simply because it comes with a few mattes that would be useful for wetter material (e.g. tomatoes, mangoes, peaches, berries). These can readily be purchased after-the-fact, though.

I will check this out.

terran

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Re: Food dehydrator recommendation
« Reply #6 on: May 29, 2020, 03:35:48 PM »

Cranky

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Re: Food dehydrator recommendation
« Reply #7 on: May 30, 2020, 11:56:23 AM »
I’ve got a Nesco that I bought at the thrift store and it does a fine job of drying apples and tomatoes which pretty much what I want to dry.

Goldielocks

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Re: Food dehydrator recommendation
« Reply #8 on: June 02, 2020, 10:09:17 PM »
Look to your thrift store.  I bought a Nesco for $20, and it works very well.   Maybe not as great as the excalibur, but on a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it an 8 and the Excalibur a 9.5.

Double check that your veggie chips are dehydrated, not fried, too.

I can't imagine eating uncooked veggie chips from the dehydrator.  Apple and fruit, yet.  But the veggies need to be cooked / boiled etc first in order to work with dehydrating and eating without cooking.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Food dehydrator recommendation
« Reply #9 on: June 03, 2020, 05:44:18 PM »
Look to your thrift store.  I bought a Nesco for $20, and it works very well.   Maybe not as great as the excalibur, but on a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it an 8 and the Excalibur a 9.5.

Double check that your veggie chips are dehydrated, not fried, too.

I can't imagine eating uncooked veggie chips from the dehydrator.  Apple and fruit, yet.  But the veggies need to be cooked / boiled etc first in order to work with dehydrating and eating without cooking.

Think of all the yummy soups and stews that can be made with those dehydrated vegetable.

Goldielocks

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Re: Food dehydrator recommendation
« Reply #10 on: June 03, 2020, 07:24:09 PM »
Look to your thrift store.  I bought a Nesco for $20, and it works very well.   Maybe not as great as the excalibur, but on a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it an 8 and the Excalibur a 9.5.

Double check that your veggie chips are dehydrated, not fried, too.

I can't imagine eating uncooked veggie chips from the dehydrator.  Apple and fruit, yet.  But the veggies need to be cooked / boiled etc first in order to work with dehydrating and eating without cooking.

Think of all the yummy soups and stews that can be made with those dehydrated vegetable.
of course!   I just freeze mine for future soups but dehydrated is good.  From the post I assumed they were talking about veggie chips that are eaten straight from the package.

Goldielocks

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Re: Food dehydrator recommendation
« Reply #11 on: June 03, 2020, 07:28:19 PM »
Any recommendations on which food dehydrator to buy? We like making those vegetable chips and would love to make them at home instead of spending spending $4 per pack on chips at CostCo every other week.
which veggie chips are you talking about?
Veggie Straws, Daily crave chips   -- these are quite different from others.  Blended veggie flours with oil and baked, I think.  "POTATO FLOUR, POTATO STARCH, EXPELLER PRESSED SAFFLOWER OIL, SALT, SUGAR, TOMATO PASTE, TURMERIC, SPINACH POWDER, BEETROOT POWDER."

Terra chips, Mrs. May's Crispy Veggies Chips:  beet chips, sweet potato, carrots, squash chips, plaintain chips, etc -- like potato chips, just using other root vegetables



Dehydrated veggies chips -- that you need to soften in water before eating?  Like as in soup?


« Last Edit: June 03, 2020, 07:31:21 PM by Goldielocks »

jamesbond007

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Re: Food dehydrator recommendation
« Reply #12 on: June 04, 2020, 03:27:38 PM »
Any recommendations on which food dehydrator to buy? We like making those vegetable chips and would love to make them at home instead of spending spending $4 per pack on chips at CostCo every other week.
which veggie chips are you talking about?
Veggie Straws, Daily crave chips   -- these are quite different from others.  Blended veggie flours with oil and baked, I think.  "POTATO FLOUR, POTATO STARCH, EXPELLER PRESSED SAFFLOWER OIL, SALT, SUGAR, TOMATO PASTE, TURMERIC, SPINACH POWDER, BEETROOT POWDER."

Terra chips, Mrs. May's Crispy Veggies Chips:  beet chips, sweet potato, carrots, squash chips, plaintain chips, etc -- like potato chips, just using other root vegetables



Dehydrated veggies chips -- that you need to soften in water before eating?  Like as in soup?




Good question. Not veggie straws. We buy those beets, carrots, and okra that still maintain their shape. My guess is that they just dehydrate, then fry them and some seasoning.

Goldielocks

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Re: Food dehydrator recommendation
« Reply #13 on: June 24, 2020, 01:59:44 PM »
I think they just fry them, like potato chips.  They are very yummy.  No dehydrator needed.

anni

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Re: Food dehydrator recommendation
« Reply #14 on: June 25, 2020, 12:33:19 PM »
I've only dehydrated things in small batches (like, 2 apples' worth of chips at a time) but I actually use an air fryer. Mine is from Ninja. I get TONS of use out of it outside of dehydrating. Perfect for all kinds of things - currently have a single serve pot pie baking in there LOL

 

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