Preparedness for when

craigywv

thank-you i thought you were some sort of mutant xxx your weather posts are BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Confuzzled

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

DEHYDRATORS - I had a cheapy one for a few years that never did the job properly and eventually the plastic trays melted and we threw it away. My christmas present from all the family combined this year is an EXCALIBUR 9 tray model, it was £300 but worth every penny. It dries everything you can imagine to perfection although thanks to Kitties very useful advice I do find that you have sometimes to use a higher temperature and dry for longer than the instruction book says. It is a superb addition to my preserving methods and one I will maximise on using this coming growing season. Added bonus is not having to use electricity to store my surpluses once they are dry. Hope that helps, Cheers Lyn xxx.

i have to agree with this, wholeheartedly

i had a handful of round dehydrators that were a pain to clean, use and weren't very efficient. i invested in a 5 tray excalibur and it was love at first use!

i didn't bother buying the expensive tray liners for fruit leathers from excalibur or their suppliers directly. instead i bought some of the flexi sheets from ebay, they look a bit like parchement paper but are more of a waxed papery cloth of sorts. i just trimmed it to fit and this worked really well. you can use silicone sheets but the air can't get through that very well so with an excalibur it sorta blows if over the top it will technically work using the flexi sheets is better because you get full circulation as the air does go through them much easier than silicone

the main part of each tray is a plastic mesh that you pull off so you don't have to mess with the actual tray each time unless it's really manky but it's easier to clean than the littel round dehydrator trays are and sturdier too. the pull off flexi mesh is very flexible so you can shove it under the soapy water to soak, def easier to clean

i agree, higher temps, longer to dry than what's stated, oh and don't be silly like me and leave a sink full of dishes soaking near your dehydrator or you'll be slowly dehydrating THAT too :rotfl:

mardatha

Meant to say up north HJ

bluebag

Hail, rain, gale force winds ..... it's like armageddon here!!
All I can see out the window are dark huddled shadows scuttering about trying to get the H£ll out of it.

2tonsils

bluebag wrote: »

Hail, rain, gale force winds ..... it's like armageddon here!!
All I can see out the window are dark huddled shadows scuttering about trying to get the H£ll out of it.

Bluebag that is the best weather report I have read for a long time....it put pictures in my mind...very descriptive :T

GreyQueen

bluebag wrote: »

Hail, rain, gale force winds ..... it's like armageddon here!!
All I can see out the window are dark huddled shadows scuttering about trying to get the H£ll out of it.

:eek: Brilliant visual. Haven't got anything alarming weather wise today; been mildish, dry and sunny. Haven't even got the heating on but oven on as am having a chop, plus lots of veggies in the steamer.

Might have pretty lame scenery compared with the Scots and Irish but the weather is gentler. I expect we'll get the tail end of it eventually.

pineapple

Thanks to all for the dehydrator replies - it's as I feared - the most expensive is also the best!
We haven't had any snow yet though the local forecast said that tomorrow's rush hour could be tricky. They say it will turn to rain later tomorrow and the rest of the week will be a mix of rain, snow and sleet.
I've just bought a new outdoor jacket so we will probably have a heatwave :rotfl:

tina_malteser

Was going to visit DS had to turn back through Kilmacolm BLIZZARD:eek::eek::mad::mad:

ginnyknit

All I can say is, if this is how bad the weather is here goodness knows how bad it is where mardatha and all our dear Scottish friends are. We have gale force winds, heavy rain and hail. Thanks to the advance warning though we managed to take the cover off the plastic greenhouse and pack it away otherwise it would probably be just about to land in Mar's garden.

Got my sink fixed :j:j luckily he managed to do it without ripping the kitchen apart, he just made a bigger hole in the back board. Even OH was impressed, thats how he would have done it if he had been fit enough but you know what these workmen are like. Its now still a luxury to have it working again and for now I really appreciate it

All the talk of de-hydrators reminded me mines full of veg and I need to empty it

bluebag

pineapple wrote: »

Thanks to all for the dehydrator replies - it's as I feared - the most expensive is also the best!
We haven't had any snow yet though the local forecast said that tomorrow's rush hour could be tricky. They say it will turn to rain later tomorrow and the rest of the week will be a mix of rain, snow and sleet.
I've just bought a new outdoor jacket so we will probably have a heatwave :rotfl:

Nah, deffo the weather from the frozen depths, that's coz I got me tent out of storage to check it out for spring (ha ha, Oh! the optimism !!! ) knee deep in snow by lunchtime tomorrow for sure.