Dehydrator material safety

[PomegranatePip]

I was just looking at some dehydrators, and the idea of them sounds really neat (I can think of all kinds of things I'd like to try drying!). However, I'm a little leery of the fact that most of the ones I looked at contained components like polycarbonate and Teflon. I've heard that those substances can leach into food and liquids even at lower temperatures (there was recent talk about the dangers of polycarbonate water bottles). Having food sit for hours on end on these substances doesn't sound very safe to me.

Does the food actually sit on the polycarbonate or Teflon components? And, if so, are there any dehydrators out there that won't contribute to the body's toxin load (stainless steel, perhaps)?

[Lilly the Naiad]

Ditto, I got the teflon alarm thanks to my budgie. I read that teflex sheets had teflon, I don't know about the actual machines though.

[luckitri]

I have wondered the same thing for a long time and will be watching to see if any answers are produced.

For all the various concerns that I have seen expressed on this forum during the time that I have been here I have been surprised that no-one has addressed this. I actually believe that it is overlooked because the challenge to be raw is so great that many need the dehydrated foods to make the transition so it is almost as if it is a necessary evil that will eventually be eliminated?

This very question that you have brought up has caused me to doubt alot about raw theory, including dehydrating foods at all.

This combined with the fact that I have not been able to produce anything but flaxseed crackers - everything else including the onion bread comes out horrible - has not inspired me to try to figure out how to get the better quality dehydrator.

[currious]

My dehyrdator actually came with paraflex sheets, when I bought it, the site said they were fazing out the teflex sheets. After reading this it would be interesting to see the reasoning behind that. I do know if you are worried about it, you could use parchement paper( I think thats what its called) Anything you use lol will prolly leak something into the food, you could always dry it in the sun! (as silly as that sounds, I have done that with fruit in the past! results are purdy cool!)

good luck!

[jrose_lee]

I have thought about this issue a lot as well. In the past on my cheap-o round dehydrator I have used parchment cut up in squares to make my crackers on.

I have been considering getting an Excaliber dehydrator and maybe I will try to use parchment on there as well.

Part of me thinks that I really want to avoid ALL plastics. But then I think about the poison of cooked food and try to weigh that out too. Is it better to dehydrate on plastic then cook your food? You know?

Sigh. I don't know.

There's always this one
http://www.everythingkitchens.com/sausagemaker_food_dehydrator.html

but it has chrome plated shelves....(is that bad too?) and might not be quite as easy to use.

Please....more thoughts on this! We are trying to eliminate toxins in our foods and bodies so we really should discuss this.

[jrose_lee]

there is this

http://www.lehmans.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=2302&itemType=PRODUCT&iProductID=2302

but it has fiberglass drying screens, which probably isn't much better......

[Lilly the Naiad]

You could always do like most of the big raw food guys and live without dehydrated foods :p Fresh is best! :D

[iamacranberry]

I don't own a dehydrator at the moment, but when I did I never had any teflex trays and used the machine mainly to dehydrate fruit that I knew I couldn't finish. My guess is that the harmful compounds in the teflex would be more likely to seep out when heated...and I don't believe that your dehydrator heats them enough for this to happen. I could be wrong though.

[rainbowgirl]

Might look into a diy one.

Here are some links:

http://www.k-clements.fsnet.co.uk/dehydrator.html

http://www.appropedia.org/Chris%27s_ENGR305_Solar_Food_Dehydrator

http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/09/diy_jerky_machine.html

http://www.waterwalker.ca/dehydrating.html

http://www.alpharubicon.com/prepinfo/dehydratorstryder.htm

http://www.backpacking.net/makegear/food-dehydrator/

http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Drying-Rack-Tower/

http://zedomax.com/blog/2007/02/22/diy-how-to-make-a-solar-food-dehydrator/

http://www.organicdownunder.com/solar_dryer.htm

http://www.appropedia.org/Chris%27s_ENGR305_Solar_Food_Dehydrator

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Solar-Food-Dryer-How-Make-Eben-Fodor/9780865715448-item.html?pticket=4zyhap45y4znohf0onzh5uaiBm1hXSPr pbsMcO6%2fiWOTSzuSGDs%3d a book on making a solar dehydrator

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/hooker41.html for a large crowd

http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/abeng/plans/6244.pdf solar plans

now this one looks good, but caution (there is meat in the pic)
http://www.instructables.com/id/Milk-Crate-Jerky-Maker/

Some of these are using things around the home, and vary from solar to electric.

Just in case anyone's interested!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sue

[luckitri]

Wow! Thanks for the links jrose lee and rainbowgirl!

I just looked on another site and saw that the paraflex sheets were formerly called Teflex leading me to believe that they are the same thing.

[baltochef]

I too considered the issue of outgassing with the Teflon coating on the Teflex / Paraflex sheets used in dehydrators..

Teflon coatings heated in ovens & on stovetops outgas from the initial exposure to heat..

Saute pans are the most vulnerable as the surface of a pan that is preheated for searing meats rises well above 400 degrees Fahrenheit..

This causes not only outgassing, but the Teflon surface immediately begins to deteriorate..

Even if the pan's coating is NEVER touched & scratched by metal utensils ( & how many of us REALLY don't do that?), the surface will still deteriorate to the point that it begins to shed the coating, ultimately being ingested..

Eating Teflon coatings is NOT good for humans!!..

Scratching the surface only hastens this process..

Several days ago, in another post, exurb mentioned that she stopped using the Teflon coated dehydrator sheets..She switched to the much heavier gauge silicone non-stick sheets, which she cuts down to fit her dehydrator trays..

Silicone is more stable at dehydrator temperatures..

To me this is a much more acceptable way to dehydrate sticky & wet foods..I'll be switching to the silicone sheets as soon as I can afford to do so..

Eventually, my ultimate goal is to progress to the point in eating raw that I eliminate manufactured raw foods completely..

For myself, the entire business of creating all of these construct substitutes for the SAD foods that I crave so badly: is to allow me to transition into eating pure raw foods without any artificial creations at some point in the future..

I'd like to be able to reach the same point that people like Matt Monarch, Dr. Fred Bisci, & others have attained..

Bruce

[jrose_lee]

Several days ago, in another post, exurb mentionedthat she stopped uuing the Teflon coated dehydrator sheets..She switched to the much heavier gauge silicone non-stick sheets, which she cuts down to fit her dehydrator trays..

Silicone is more stable at dehydrator temperatures..

To me this is a much more acceptable way to dehydrate sticky & wet foods..I'll be switching to the silicone sheets as soon as I can afford to do so..

Bruce

Bruce, thanks for your post! That is a great idea about the silicone sheets. Thanks to Exurb as well.

Where can I buy silicone sheets? I would like to do this as well.

Thanks!

[EZ rider]

Quoted from post #5
There's always this one
http://www.everythingkitchens.com/sausagemaker_food_dehydrator.htmlThis is a very interesting dehydrator. In the description they say "Adjustable thermostat" but fail to give the temperature range. Does anyone know what the range is ?

[jrose_lee]

called and the man said it goes down to 90 degrees

http://www2.mailordercentral.com/lemproducts/prodinfo.asp?number=R778

this one is even cheaper I think than some of the others...don't know why for sure. Looks the same.

However, the man I talked to on the phone owned an Excaliber (sp?) and he said he really likes his. LOL..

I may just do the Excaliber and do silicone sheets and/or unbleached parchment paper

[baltochef]

The least exspensive silicone mat that I've been able to locate is the 16" x 12" baking mat marketed by Silicone Solutions, & sold at Target..

They are designed to fit inside of a standard jelly roll pan..

However, the sheets in a Excalibur dehydrator measure 14" x 14"..

Trimming one of these down leaves 2" of wasted, non-usable space on the perforated screen..

At $9.99 a pop, that's too much to spend for less than full coverage!!

exurb stated in her post that she purchased her silicone sheets at a restaurant supply store..

So far I've not been able to locate a commercial source for a sheet that can be trimmed down to allow full coverage in a Excalibur dehydrator..

I'll keep looking, as I really do want to eliminate anything to do with Teflon from my everyday life as concerns food prep..

Perhaps exurb could let us know where she purchased her sheets, so we could look for a similar source near to where we live??..

Bruce

[baltochef]

I e-mailed SiliconeZone, the manufacturers of a wide variety of silicone baking products, to see if it would be possibe to purchase 14" x 14" silicone mats cut to order..

I informed them of the growing number of raw foodists who are interested in eliminating Teflon based products from our kitchens; & that dehydrator sized inserts could become a new market for them..

We'll have to see if I get a positive response from them..

I was able to find, after several hours of searching, two sources for silicone baking mats that measured 16 1/2" x 24 1/2", designed to fit a full size restaurant baking pan..

However, with the least expensive of these priced at $32.00, it would be cost prohibitive to any but the very wealthy to trim one of these down to 14" x 14"..

Unless you were able to sell the remnant, which would measure 16 1/2" x 10", to someone else to use on their cookie sheets..

Even then, it would still be too exspensive to out fit my 9-tray Excalibur this way!!

Here's hoping that SiliconeZone will be able to acommidate us..

E-mails from other interested raw foodists would help to convince them to offer this size!!

http://www.siliconezoneusa.com/static/siliconezone/contactus.php

Bruce