Can't afford good dehydrator...

[bama2caligirl]

Hi! I am on my second start of going raw and doing much better this time. I have been on it for 4 days and already lost 5 lbs! Here is my dilemna. I am a stay at home mom on a budget. I can't afford a dehydrator but I would love to try out some of the recipes in Alissa's book. Does anyhow have any alternative methods to getting this done? My oven doesn't go low enough and as archaic as it may sound, I don't know if solar is an option???

Thanks!

[Rawkinlocs]

You can get the American Harvest Snack Master from Walmart, www.walmart.com , www.nesco.com (cost a little more from them) or www.everythingKitchens.com for under $50. You can also order more trays, more fruit roll trays (their equivalent to teflex sheets) and a convert-a-tray that is deeper for making taller items from either nesco.com or everythingkitchens.com.

If you go to Walmart (the physical store) be sure to double check for that temp. control!! There are some round models being sold at different stores that do NOT have one.

It's a round model but has a temp. control. I've had and used mine for almost a 2 years now and still use it along with my Excalibur! You can still do pizza and crackers and other stuff in it...you'll just have it round and with a hole in the center...but doesn't do anything to how the food tastes!

This model will suffice until you are ready/able to upgrade to an Excalibur. One thing that you won't be able to do is fit a whole pan into it. But I think you'll get some good use out of it.

[onesmartcookie]

Rawkinlocs--

I just recently purchased the snackmaster and am pretty pumped to get started making raw treats =) I will likely be ordering more of the fruit roll trays--is that what you make crackers, pizza crust, etc. on? Also wondering if cutting parchment paper to fit the tray would work as well? I'm sure the fruit roll trays are easier, but I wonder your method for getting crispy crackers? Do you let them dry out, and then flip them onto a regular tray to ensure even drying?

Thanks!!

[Rawkinlocs]

Hey cookie!

Well, either the fruit roll trays or the parchment paper are fine as far as making nice, thin crackers is concerned. I've never tried using parchment in my Nesco, but it's all I use in my Excalibur.

To make the crackers nice and thin and crispy is (for ME) to use my hands to spread it and spread it ultra thin. I generally prefer to use dry, ground flax seeds as opposed to whole ones, though I've done both. But I use my hand instead of a spatula and if the mixture starts to stick to my hand too much, I wet my fingers with water and continue spreading, wetting, spreading until their thin enough. You kinda get a "feel" for how thin to spread them after a while.

I dry them, then when ready to flip and come off of the tray without sticking too much, I flip onto the mesh tray and dry the rest of the way.

Now, I DO like how they dry and peel off of the parchment much better, so maybe you might want to go that route. Someone here posted something about having seen parchment that was pre-cut into rounds...I've never seen them, but I did a quick Google search and found this: http://www.goldaskitchen.com/merchant.ihtml?id=28&pid=3169&step=4

They're not unbleached...but if that matters to you, I guess you could always just get regular and cut the circles.

But maybe lightly greasing the fruitroll tray with olive oil or something might help it come off easier.

[Raw_Medic]

I just wanted to put my 2 cents in too. For the first year after I went raw I used my american harvest...I actually had it prior to going raw...I used it for jerky... I bought it for $40 at walmart. I used it for everything...and still use it on occasion when I make a big batch of things (when my 5tray doesn't cut it). I even made the Chili recipe that's in the recipe section right now (OMG try this!) by putting the heating/fan element on top of the glass bowl I had the chili in. In worked like magic. I kept the temp around 115, and had to stir fairly often...but it works for everything, so if you can't afford the extra trays, you can still use it!

Now if this isn't an option either...you can always use the finger method and heat things up in a pot...making sure that it never gets hotter then luke warm. There are sites online that tell you how to make your own homeade dehydrator...you could try googling it. I don't know how much it would cost in materials though.

Also...there are recipe books out there that have lots of stuff to make that don't require a dehydrator. "Raw Food for One or Two People," By Jennifer Cornbleet is an awesome book for some ideas. I also really like Frederic Patenaude's newest book...I'm sorry i can't remember the name and it's not in front of me...but on his site it's the one he's advertising most...but all those recipes are simple and require very few appliances...maybe a blender and some knives.

Hope we helped, and good luck!

[rawpriestess]

I saw the round parchments at Sur La Table, it is a cool kitchen gadget store in Seattle, but I think it might be a chain, the parchment sheets were cut in several sizes for high end cake pans you buy them in a package -- don't know how many in the package though.

as far as solar or sun drying, it really depends on where you live, how much sun and wind you have, the wind is the key.

I used to dehydrate things in front of my pellet stove, it has a fan and heat, or in front of a furnace vent, or you could use your oven and a fan, you just have to keep an eye on anything you do like that, I suggest using a thermometer, and keep checking, on the temp.

even in your oven that goes above 115 degrees, with a fan, the actual temp might be much lower than you think, you could always try it without any food in it first, plus just because the air temp is high, doesn't mean the food is that temp.

So, you do have options.

[TennMom]

I picked up a 4 tray perfect working order, perfect condition 4 tray excalibur dehydrator at Goodwill yesterday for $10.00. It has all the trays with mesh and sheets, and instruction book. Works perfectly! Now if I could just find a Champion Juicer there..... :)

[JinxieKat]

If you have the mesh screens for your dehydrator you can use those as well to make thin crackers. I make flax crackers and the onion bread on them all the time. That way you don't have to flip them half way through to get them crispy. I tend to dehydrate overnight, when I'm sleeping, so flipping half way through is not an option. You do get a few flax seeds stuck in the mesh, but with a stiff brush they wash off easily.

Jinx

[Spectatrix]

I picked up a 4 tray perfect working order, perfect condition 4 tray excalibur dehydrator at Goodwill yesterday for $10.00. It has all the trays with mesh and sheets, and instruction book. Works perfectly! Now if I could just find a Champion Juicer there..... :)
That's great! I need to start perusing goodwill more often for deals like that...

[tvillemom]

WOW!! Goodwill? Who would've thought someone would get rid of something so valueable? Like it was trash??
I need to check there more often!
Wendi