Anyone have a dehydrator? I rec'd some home made Jerky over the holidays. It was really good!
- Thread starter barb_b
- Start date
I use mine often. (Excalibur) though I have to admit
that when I first got it I used it a few times to make jerky and fruit leathers (kids loved them) but then it went unused for a couple of years. I got back to using it for drying some things from my garden but mostly now use it for herbs and spices. One of my daughters that eats "healthy" and has multiple food allergies, uses it for a process of cleaning and drying raw nuts. Almonds for example have a really clean/fresh taste with this method. If you do get one, try to stick to the suggested heat levels. The temptation is to turn up the heat to make it go faster. I actually found that certain things properly dry out faster at the lower (suggested) heat. For example onions. For jerky - watch the fat. Concentrations of fat will never dry out. And generally speaking the thinner the better. A thick onion slice or multiple unseparated onion layers may never dry out properly. Thicker fruits will be rubbery whereas you might get to a crisp with a very thin slice.
All that said, you can probably use your oven for a lot of these things but it means tying up the oven for extended periods. My oven even has a "Proof/Dehydrate" setting - though I've never used it. I'm guessing but can't support it with facts that your oven will use more energy than your dehydrator for the same purpose. My Excalibur has a heat range of 95-145 degrees.
that when I first got it I used it a few times to make jerky and fruit leathers (kids loved them) but then it went unused for a couple of years. I got back to using it for drying some things from my garden but mostly now use it for herbs and spices. One of my daughters that eats "healthy" and has multiple food allergies, uses it for a process of cleaning and drying raw nuts. Almonds for example have a really clean/fresh taste with this method. If you do get one, try to stick to the suggested heat levels. The temptation is to turn up the heat to make it go faster. I actually found that certain things properly dry out faster at the lower (suggested) heat. For example onions. For jerky - watch the fat. Concentrations of fat will never dry out. And generally speaking the thinner the better. A thick onion slice or multiple unseparated onion layers may never dry out properly. Thicker fruits will be rubbery whereas you might get to a crisp with a very thin slice.
All that said, you can probably use your oven for a lot of these things but it means tying up the oven for extended periods. My oven even has a "Proof/Dehydrate" setting - though I've never used it. I'm guessing but can't support it with facts that your oven will use more energy than your dehydrator for the same purpose. My Excalibur has a heat range of 95-145 degrees.
I use mine for fruits and veggies...
little cherry tomatoes sliced in half and dehydrated are great, they turn really sweet and crunchy
strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc...
watermelon dice turned into candy -
apples, carrots, pretty much anything you can think of for snacks or for throwing into salads, or mixing in with nuts for trail mix and such
I even tried some spinach, it got flaky and I put it into a salad - oh and mushrooms, dried then stored in a jar for later use in stews or sauces... same with chives, corn, peas, etc...
haven't made jerky yet, but that's next!
little cherry tomatoes sliced in half and dehydrated are great, they turn really sweet and crunchy
strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc...
watermelon dice turned into candy -
apples, carrots, pretty much anything you can think of for snacks or for throwing into salads, or mixing in with nuts for trail mix and such
I even tried some spinach, it got flaky and I put it into a salad - oh and mushrooms, dried then stored in a jar for later use in stews or sauces... same with chives, corn, peas, etc...
haven't made jerky yet, but that's next!