Are dehydrators necessary

[blix]

Hiya
Are dehydrators necessary for raw eating. I cannot afford one, although I can't see how I could get crackers etc., without one. My oven has a 40 deg. setting but only 90 minutes on the timer, which, of course, means that I would be getting up every 90 minutes at night or staying in doors in the daytime to reset the oven. Ha Ha:p

[punkspirit]

I don't have a dehydrater either. And its fine with me...
I never ate those crackers taccos pizzas whatever... even though they must be hilarious good!:)

I have only a kitchenknife... nothing else... soon a blender too...:D I eat fruits as they are and salads with t.ex. avodip

I think there are lots of "more complicated" reciepes you can do without a dehydrator too... Just lurk arround here.. THERE ARE MASSES!;)

[Rawkinlocs]

Even in recipe books where recipes use dehydrators, you really don't HAVE to.

The only recipes that would require dehydration are crackers, fruit leather, pizza/calzone crusts, breads - stuff like that that NEED the change in texture to be what they are. But say for example you see a recipe for nut burgers - that doesn't have to be dehydrated, it can be eaten stuffed in some kind of leafy veggie such as lettuce or collard greens or eaten with crackers or with carrot/celery sticks...if you see a recipe for pie, the crusts never have to go into the dehydrator...if you see a cookie recipe, you can add a little more dry ingredient such as ground nuts or shredded coconut, form them into desired shape (either balls or flattened into cookies) and refrigerate for refrigerator cookies. Dehydrators are mainly used to either warm foods on low temps (along with that air flow from the built-in fan) without cooking them, or to remove the moisture, thereby changing the texture to make it like cooked food such as if you put stuffed mushrooms or cabbage leaves, etc. it softens them down. But you can achieve a similar effect by taking some sea salt and massaging it into the leaves or the mushrooms, etc. (carefully with those) or simply marinating in some kind of marinade for a while.

So all in all, you don't NEED a dehydrator to do the raw foods "diet" - it's just an extra gadget to have that adds a few more options to your diet/lifestyle!

You could also look into the Nesco American Harvest Snackmaster WITH temperature control (make sure it has that!) as they are way less expensive than, say, an Excalibur. Those can be purchased either in Walmart, on walmart.com, nesco.com or everythingkitchens.com (probably other online places too, but those are where I've seen them personally) - and they usually run anywhere from about $30 to $50 depending on where you get it and if it's on sale or not.

[kiropa]

agree, don't need one at all.

i don't have one & really do not feel 'deprived'.

i bought raw crackers once & was not that impressed.

i use nori for crunch & various lettuces for wraps.

i'm glad i didn't rush & buy a dehydrator.

[Pierre]

I don't have a dehydrator. I'd like to, but I'd use it only occasionally, whereas the blender I use every day.

Can you use the oven without the timer? Turn it on, note the time, and come back at a later time, or set an alarm.

[blix]

Thanks everyone. My oven has a timer. I could use it to warm something up. I have a Matstone juicer, which I find is good, a Kenwood blender, and a foodprocessor plus a small kitchen so it's good that a dehydrator is not necessary. I'd have machines all over the place and no work surface left to work on.:D I'm looking forward to going raw. I have felt for a long time that birds and creatures do really well just eating raw food. I suffer from Rheumatoid Arthritis and the reason I want to do raw is that I have heard of people whose symptoms go away on the raw food diet. At the moment, (DON'T TELL ME OFF HERE) apart from the highly dangerous drugs the doctors want to give me for my treatment, which suppresses the immune system, I take CMO, which is derived from animal by products. I hate myself for taking it but it is the only thing which is keeping the disease process under control. I don't want this to get out of control and kill me. That is why I take it. However, if I can go raw vegan, I hope to stop the CMO.

I will look on this site and learn. Wish me luck.

[Ariannah]

I don't use my dehydrator. When I eat raw I mostly eat fresh.

When the idea to eat raw came to me, I didn't search the web at first, I just thought "what is raw?" I was in heaven being able to eat lots of fresh fruit, greens, some nuts, etc. Just going by my own instincts, raw didn't mean anything but pick and eat.

Dehydrators are excellent if you want to make recipes like crackers or leathers etc, or many of the recipes on line, but raw food is simply that, raw food. I've made many "burger" recipes into pates instead just by not dehydrating it. Keeps the fresh flavour alive to me.

[lytlsprout]

I have one and I almost never use it. I don't sprout that much either. I work full time and I'm a full time student so the stuff that takes longer I haven't worked out how to fit into my schedule yet. But I don't need to. I eat mostly whole foods and I am totally satisfied! And if you really want crackers you can buy them online.

[Wendee]

Dehydrators are so not necessary, that I am considering selling mine. I havn't used my Ecalibur 9 tray more then half a dozen times since I bought it last year.

I don't like dehydrated foods, I guess. Fresh is best!

[Rawkinlocs]

Wendee, if you do decide to sell it - please let me know when and for how much (you can email me privately) as I am thinking I may want or rather NEED another one for when I do classes.

[Pennypower]

I have one and I almost never use it. I don't sprout that much either. I work full time and I'm a full time student so the stuff that takes longer I haven't worked out how to fit into my schedule yet. But I don't need to. I eat mostly whole foods and I am totally satisfied! And if you really want crackers you can buy them online.

I have a cheap dehydrator, but everytime I use it I can't help but think it was way too much trouble for just one meal, that I didn't really like all that much anyway. And I hate sprouting. I can't keep up with the mold. I love this idea of just buying the crackers online. Make it easier on yourself.
As far as fruit leathers go, personally, I'd rather eat the food fresh. It's the juice that makes fruit so good. Why eat the fruit without the juice? ;) ;)

[Wendee]

Wendee, if you do decide to sell it - please let me know when and for how much (you can email me privately) as I am thinking I may want or rather NEED another one for when I do classes.

OK> I am not planning on selling it right now, but the thought has entered my mind more then once so I will let you know if and when I decide to sell it please don't hold out buying another one if you find one as I may just keep it if I find a good recipie worth keeping it for!;)

[misslinda]

I've toyed with the idea of buying one since 2004 but haven't --I'm too much into the whole natural food. Granted, I may buyone just for the experience.

[SierraSage]

I've never used a dehydrator. Eating raw doesn't require one at all! :) I've tried some of the dehydrated crackers etc, in the hfs's & other dehydrated foods on occasion in raw restaurants. Didn't like them at all!! Especially after eating whole foods raw. One thing: if you are trying to cure yourself from any form of serious illness I would not recommend dehydrated foods. The point of using raw to heal one's self from disease is to use cleansing fruits & nourishing veggies in their purest raw form in order to help the body cleanse & heal itself.

Good Luck :)

[Rawkinlocs]

I just wanted to jump in here and say that MANY people have, indeed, experienced the reversal of serious illnesses even with eating dehydrated foods - Alissa has such people's testimonies in her book and there are many on this very forum so... listen to your own body and intuition! Dehydrated foods aren't the "debil" - they can be very good in transition to raw as well as for the raw vets who want some variety from time to time. :)

Also, to the OP (original poster) yes, you can try crackers from other sources and while some may have the experience that they didn't like crackers, etc. upon tasting them from another source (or maybe their own) that is not to say that YOU won't like them...make this journey/experience your own! ;)

[Rawkinlocs]

OK> I am not planning on selling it right now, but the thought has entered my mind more then once so I will let you know if and when I decide to sell it please don't hold out buying another one if you find one as I may just keep it if I find a good recipie worth keeping it for!;)

Ahhh...gotcha! In other words, don't hold my breath waiting on ya! ;) :p

[PATH301]

I have a old style dehydrator that I use every now and then to make chips or the occasional flax seed sweet snack, but I have to watch the temp on it. But mostly I use the blender alot and some times I'll use the juicer.
:D

[Wendee]

Ahhh...gotcha! In other words, don't hold my breath waiting on ya! ;) :p


Correct!:D

[RawVee]

I just got my 9-tray Excalibur a few weeks ago. And though I'm a huge fan of just eating fruits and veggies as is, I really like the option of the dehydrator. So here are some "pros" to using one.

1. It's a great way to turn friends and family onto raw foods. Who doesn't like pizza?!!

2. In the wintertime, it's nice to have a *little* temp to your food, especially soup.

3. If you enjoyed cooking, then the dehydrator is a nice tradeoff. You can get really gourmet with it.

4. Even if you don't like the idea of being in a kitchen, taking time every 1 or 2 weeks to make a big batch of dehydrated stuff is smart. You can make crackers, bread, pizza shells, burgers, etc, and freeze them. You never know when you'll have a craving for cooked stuff, and rather than slip, it's great to have the dehydrated options.

5. Alissa's calzones, crepes, and pizzas. :)

6. They're easy to use, easy to clean, and don't use a lot of electricity. And in the summertime, they don't throw out a lot of heat like ovens.

7. If you're a big outdoors/camping person, dehydrating fruits and veggies is awesome for the trail.

8. They make your house smell yummy. :)

[acudawn]

Thanks RawVee...it is good to hear the all the pro's too!

[barose]

I agree with RawVee. I love to cook and can’t imagine giving all that up. I love gourmet with raw, I don’t have to give that up. Most of my diet is whole fruits and veggies and smoothes, but it’s nice to have crackers to dip into hummus, pizza, and "bread" from time to time. I have a hard time eating just nuts, but if its a "bread" its much easier.

Plus when I travel, I need to be able to take food (that wont parish right away) with me until I find something more substantial.

I dont use it everyday, but I will make batches of foods. Since its on when I'm at work all-day or sleeping all night, its not a big deal.