Food drying - Dehydrators (merged)

Seakay

Does anyone know this make? It's for sale with Groupon, and it's claimed that the usual price is £299. I was wondering if it would be a worthwhile upgrade as I fear that an Excalibur is way out of my reach!


Bio Chef Food Dehydrator from £139 from Vitality4Life (54% off)

• Makes dried fruit and vegetables, meat jerky, dried flowers, dough art, bread alternatives, yogurt, fruit roll-ups and more
• Horizontal drying system for evenly distributed process
• 600 watts
• Designed to be easy to use
• Adjustable thermostat
• Drying guide
• 40-hour digital timer with auto switch-off
• Eight trays (dishwasher safe)
• Three-year warranty
• Dishwasher-safe trays
• Cleaning brush
• Available in black or white

More About Vitality4life

Dedicated to keeping things au-natural, Vitality4life is a holistic health and wellbeing company with product collections tailored towards health, beauty, and fitness. Founded in 1986, the company has used the years of experience to provide a consistently updated product range to stay on top of all things healthy.

To find out more about Groupon Goods, see the FAQ.

Vitality4life
Returns: Vitality House, 5 Twyford Court, High Street, Great Dunmow, Essex CM6 1AE

Ken68

Don't know the item, Seakay, but de-hyrdrators are not complicated, basically a controllable fan heater in a square or round container.
Have heard bad things about Groupon on the coupons thread.

Seakay

Thanks Ken68. I currently have the round one (£26 with Tchaibo a few years ago) which is ok apart from the shape, haveing to swap the trays around and not being able to control the temperature.
The one in the Groupon offer is described as though it competes with the Excalibur but i don't know if it really does so I as just calling on the collective knowledge!

twiz21

Seakay wrote: »

Thanks Ken68. I currently have the round one (£26 with Tchaibo a few years ago) which is ok apart from the shape, haveing to swap the trays around and not being able to control the temperature.
The one in the Groupon offer is described as though it competes with the Excalibur but i don't know if it really does so I as just calling on the collective knowledge!

Hi, I've had a look at this and watched the video on their website.

I have the excalibur 9 tray.

There does not seem to be enough information on the bio chef.
The excalibur has removable white plastic mesh sheets for each tray.
The bio chef is shown with excalibur 'paraflex' sheets. Do these come with the machine or are they bought separately?

I would like to see the actual control panel too, and see customer reviews.

I don't want to buy one, I'm just curious.

Seakay

Thanks twizz21, I have put your questions to the company. Too late for the Groupon offer now but will be useful to know in case another one comes up

[Deleted User]

I have grown celery this year and been dehydrating most of it. The red celery is a big plant with strong leaves and stems ie not a bit like the shop bought anaemic crunchy kind. I dug two up yesterday and one filled a whole sainsbury bag so you get the picture and the leaves are tough rather than soft and delicate

First I pinched the leaves off and washed, keeping them together. Then I chopped the stalks into 3-4" lengths, splitting the very thick stems and discarding the thick growing tips. Everything was washed and then steamed for 4 minutes, 4 because this is a `tough` plant. My steamer is powerful and I have had it for many years
http://www.modernsteamers.com/tag/magimix-11580
If I was using say a tefal steamer then I would likely add a few minutes

straight onto the 9 trays, you could dry the leaves on their own as they dry more quickly, then set at 125 after one initial hour at 135. I started early afternoon so left it on overnight on low. It was dry when I got up and I popped all in the processor and whizzed. I now have a lovely powder of concentrated celery and it just takes up 450 ml. It smells so good that I may well grow the red celery again next year. The result was far better having steamed it first

Yesterday I dug up 7 large parsnips, ok not frosted but I don`t like them too sweet and I will need the space for garlic. Today I peeled topped and tailed and popped them into water with a tsp of vit c, so they remained white. I sliced 6 with my electric slicer, 1/4" thick and steamed in batches for 5 minutes, counting from full on steam. Straight onto the trays and now drying, same temperatures as the celery. I think I have at least a dozen more parsnips in the ground so will dry more in a few days

Yesterday I cooked a roasted veg medley and added some soaked, part cooked dried potato slices. They went very crispy and were liked by all

Drying is intermittent at the moment only parsnips left but I may dry kale if it keeps growing.

I just read about the strawberry tops, another brilliant idea, thank you

D&DD

Kittie I use the leaves to make my own celery salt so nothing is wasted..not that I can grow it for toffee lol I use shop bought.

One time I ever tried growing it it turned out so bitter I couldn't get rid of the taste for a week :rotfl: I gave up and grow par-cel for the celery salt too now but the red variety sounds interesting.

Do you grow yours in the ground as I read somewhere about growing it in buckets stood in water and its supposed to stop the bitterness??

I've been gifted yet more tomatoes so will be drying some of them for the neighbours and a mahoosive courgette I found hiding the climbing one I have is still fruiting!

Need to do a few of our homegrown apples too and get round to ordering my excalibur

mowdrops

Li'l have 5kg bags of onions for 1.99,so my dehydrator is working overtime in the garage.Couldn't stand the smell indoors.

arkonite_babe

so I fianlly took the plunge and bought a lakeland dehydrator to see how I get on. I love it

Now, can I make beef jerky in this? I have been drying fruits and veggies with great success (currently have cherry tomatoes, bananas, courgettes and papaya drying)

I'm hoping evenyually to have funds gathered up for an excaliber or similar model

Many thanks for your help

the_cake

I am keeping an eye on dehydrators on Ebay, and have a question: the Julie Diane and the Andrew James look exactly the same - are they? I like the fact that they are adjustable to different temperatures, but are they any good? I want to try one which is not too expensive, then if I get on with it, save up for an Excalibur .... any advice gratefully received!
TIA, the cake