Paraflexx - teflex?

[rawlapalooza]

Hi I just got an excalibur dehydrator and I was wondering if it's supposed to come with the teflex sheets. All mine came with was the big plastic trays and these plastic sheets with holes about the size of a flax seed (I think they're called polyscreen). I tried poring a cracker mixture on it and of course it leaked right through and made an awful mess nevermind the waste.

The other question is what's the difference between teflex and paraflexx?

Thanks

[Tirza]

I was just talking about this last night on another thread about the onion bread. Some were saying that they didn't use the teflex as it took too long to get the mix dry, and that they spread it right on the trays. I looked at my trays and realized that would never work for me as I also have about 1/8" squares in the plastic mesh that sits on the tray grid (L'Equip dehydrator). So today I got my husband to go down to Home Depot and get me some window screen material, which it looks like what the trays are made of in some of the dehydrators on ebay etc. I cut it to size and am just about to start a batch of crackers using just that as the base instead of beginning with the teflex. My dough is pretty stiff, so I am hoping it won't ooze through. I use ground flax, sunflower and sesame seeds in my onion bread and I think that the jell that develops from the flax seed really stiffens up the mixture. It is a little more moist than a stiff cookie dough, and dryer than a cake batter. I have great hopes for this. I want to be able to crank out loads of different crackers and stuff since I actually have people who are allergic to gluten who want to buy flax crackers from me.

Can someone tell me how they get the screen clean? Does it get really gunky this way?

[Revvell]

Unless where you ordered from said it came with the teflex, then it wont. Some deals Excalibur has states they come with a certain number of teflex sheets. Most the time, one has to order them separately. In the meantime, you might try parchment paper although, I think food will stick to it more and it's non-reusable.

[Biff]

You asked what is difference between teflex and paraflexx? I wondered this also when I bought my dehydrator last April. I came to the conclusion that since everybody used the teflex that is what I was going to go with because I found a bunch of the on ebay for really cheap! (over half off of the lowest price on the web.) And the strange thing about it is that excalibur was the one that was selling them for that cheap on ebay -- even though they were listed at full price on their website at that time. Pays to shop around for that big of a discount.

Remember to buy an extra one to put on the bottom of your dehydrator in order to make it easier to clean....

[Tirza]

Yes, I got a deal such as that on ebay. The sheets don't say "teflex" on them though and I think that they are thinner than the brand name sheets. They work fine though. I had to carve them up in order to fit the unusual configuration of my L'Equip.

Parchment paper will work and you might just get more than one use out of it.

I still haven't heard what Paraflexx is.

[rawlapalooza]

Thanks for the replies I'm off to peruse ebay right now for some sweet deals of my own. Parchment paper sounds good too but I"m not familiar with it.

[Biff]

The sheets I bought on ebay said "Teflex" on them and were still about 50% off...

[Tirza]

Parchment paper can be purchased in rolls like wax paper or Saran or foil and is easy to find right in the same section of the grocery store or in the baking section. It is a little thicker than wax paper and doesn't have the wax to melt and mess up your food and dehydrator. Wax paper also does not stand up to moisture, while parchment paper will.
Until you get your Teflex sheets, it will be an adquate stand-in.

[rawlapalooza]

Ok I went to ebay to buy the teflex sheets and I found some that were too small for my dehydrator. I read the description and it said that teflex had been phased out as of April to make way for the new paraflexx sheets. So paraflexx are the latest greatest I suppose.

I did a search for paraflexx on ebay and found some direct from the factory for $7.50 each which seemed like a deal compared to the other prices I've found.

Thanks for the heads up on ebay you guys.