Food drying - Dehydrators (merged)

D&DD

Arkonite babe yes you can use it to make jerky if you look on youtube there are some great tutorials and loads of recipes online

cake I don't know hun sorry but yes I agree with what you say its not worth splurging on an excalibur unless you know that its going to earn its keep My little cheapo one has served me really well and its only now after 6 years of use I'm upgrading as I use it so much and I need a bit more room.

Ken68

If you have enough surplus from the garden or allotment then you need a sizeable set-up, but agree Excal. darned expensive.
If buying just to try, then the cheaper the better, but it won't replace the freezer.
What I like is the enhanced taste and the different textures.
Can't see it would pay if you had to buy the fruit/veg
Never tried jerky, Ark. maybe like overcooked liver.And reading it up, don't like the idea of all that salt and seasoning.

Ken68

Drying onions, from Lidl 5kg 99pence, looks like it will do 10 to 12 trays of Excalibur size.
Quick effort Julienne slicer and dries in 4 to 8hours. Just changed the blade for crinkly cut and a bit thinner.
And chop some up maybe for the freezer, but they do keep for a while, hung in the shed.
And can't grow them for the price and not enough land anyway.
Wet and cold here.

applepad

I'm think of getting the Lakeland one, can send it back if I don't use it!

Starting on a healthy eating kick in the New Year and thinking small, banana and apple chips, also veg, like crisps? Need to be able to have sweet stuff without sugar or choc.

£50 is a lot of money but when I look at the cost of a small bag of banana chips and then see bananas at 68p a kilo I think why not?

Ken68

Just been reading up on banana peel. Most research say they are edible and without toxins.. So will try it next time in the drier and report back.

1cherish

hi all,
been reading the thread, and finally taken plunge... waitng for an excalibur to arrive. They are on 10% discount at the mo, but I was unable to find any discount codes or any suppliers listed on quidco or topcashback which is a shame.
Looking forward to reading more of your updates soon!

Ken68

I did a lot of mushrooms last week, (half price at Lidl)
Enough to last for a while, put them in stews and soups mainly.

1cherish

hi everyone,
christened my dehydrator last night.
Apple slices sprinkled with cinnamon (first impression OMG!), also bananna chips - delicious.Will definately be making these again.
Some lemon and orange slices - think I might blitz them to make a powder for baking cakes/icing?
And my sons favourite- dollops of yeo valley cherry yoghurt cooked on the paraflex( got 3 tubs for £1.20 from heron this week). Think I didn't cook them long enough, but they are not going to last long anyway!
Ordered one of those apple corer/peeler/slicers so rest of apples might have to wait.
Will definately be eating more fruit now I've got this.

Ken68

Congrats Cherish, like that idea blitz to make a powder. Have you noticed the enhanced flavour of fruit.?
Often see Greek Yogurt in Lidl with 30% off(with short date), so maybe will paraflex them.

1cherish

hi ken,
yes, definately enhanced taste.
Overcooked my last batch, bananas very crisp, not chewy, and bananas were too fresh, definately better with older bananas. Also my kiwi was too fresh and tastes a bit tart.
Used my new apple peeler/corer/slicer gadget, and think it is going to be great when we get the apple/pears later this year! Hoping for a good crop this year as last year was very disappointing.
Like your greek yoghurt idea. Saw a reference to someone sprinkling chopped nuts on the top or stirring in some fruit puree. Or are you going to use it in savoury dishes?
Do most people use a slow cooker? I was wondering if savoury things would rehydrate ok in a pressure cooker? Quite happy experimenting with the fruit things mostly at the mo though.
Liked the idea of the glass lemon bottles with the spray trigger on the top that the dehydrator store woman uses, does anyone know where I would find similar in UK? Not so keen on plastic.
Thanks.