Food prep equiptment/Dehydrators

[Dann]

Newbie question for the veterans,

Its been a week so far since I began eating raw. (Alfter a 40 day master cleanse)

I have a juicer, a blender and I have also ordered a vitamix (2 more weeks before it arrives) I guess they must hand make'um on an as needed basis.

Any ways my question is when it comes to a dehydrator I see myself at some point buying a excaliber or at least something of that quality. The challenge is I am not prepared to $pend that type of money at this time and was wondering if a cheapie dehydrator could do the job and get me started until the funds are available to upgrade later??

What are the performance differences you raw food veterans have observered that have had the opportunity to use both?

In my automotive repair career buying tools is a way of life and rarely is it never worth it to spend the extra $$$$ to buy the quality tools. So far it has been my observation that it could get pricey to get started as a raw foodist by the time you get all the tools necessary to really be able to make the more advanced recipes. I'm in for the long haul and realise that tools don't last forever.

I'm interested in your thoughts

[justinesmith]

First of all ~ I LOVE YOUR AVATAR. Awesome. Secondly ~ IMHO as long as the dehydrator has a temp control you are O.k. I don't think they have to cost a ton..... my friend got a nesco dehydrator through freecycle and is very happy with it. Mine is a commercial size dehydrator for a commercial sized price and I love it ~ use it everyday in fact. The money I save making my own dehydrated goods is significant, that food is EXPENSIVE (if you can even find it) in the HFS. You can always check craigslist, freecycle or ebay (that's where I got my vita-mix 3 years ago). Good luck Dann! Rawk on! :D

[klomasius]

Hi Dann,

I have a circular dehydrator with an adjustable temp controller and I'll eventually get an excalibur 9 tray when I can afford it.

I bought the circular one as I wasn't sure how much I'd use it, and I use it a lot.

It seems to do the job of the more expensive ones, but it has an annoying hole in the middle, which means it's heaps more fiddly, and I can't make a round pizza! Plus the excalibur 9 tray holds more and you can make things like square flat bread etc.

I think it's still a good idea to get a less expensive circular dehydrator, you can get a good quality one, it's just that the two different types of dehydrator cater to different types of dehydrating tasks.

Then use it and see if you like dehydrating enough to get the deluxe model.
:)

[Dann]

Thanks for the tips!

I almost bought a dehydrator without a temp gauge.
Heck when I looked at it closely it didn't even have an on/off switch.

[juliebove]

I have the Nesco. I bought extra trays and extra sheets for it. Works for me. Granted I can't do some things like put a bowl in it, but you can't beat the price!

[Aleesha Sattva]

i'm of the belief that it's cheaper to buy it right the first time. so i picked up a 9 tray excalibur right from the get go. this way i don't have to waste money on a cheaper version only to upgrade later. from what i understand the excaliburs last forever. :)