5 tray or 9 tray?

[adaora]

Currently I'm an unmarried student w/o children. I prepare food for myself and sometimes my SO. also I may prepare food for a few friends that come by. I'm new to raw foods (on day 14 of the raw food challenge!!). For those of you that are experienced at dehydrating how much food can you actually prepare w/ 8 square feet? Is it sufficient.
decisions...decisions.

thanks!

[Eva]

I think 5 trays would be fine unless you really want to splurge. I'm using a 4-tray (which is MUCH smaller than the 5 tray because the length/width are smaller too), and it's fine for just me. It was fine when my mom and I were sharing it too.

[Veganforlife]

If you can afford it - go for the 9 tray! I'm one person and I'm so glad I did get that size...

[adaora]

well lets say there's a day where id like to make a dozen cookies. a few burgers (and buns). 2 pies and a nicely sized lasagna. cd i do it with a five tray?

[RawLoveBaby]

someone told me once that if you have lots of time on your hands you can have a smaller dehydrator....

if you're a busy person, get a bigger dehydrator because you can do more at once.

For example, I buy all my nuts and soak them all at once, then I can dehydrate them all and put them away in my cupboard. If I had a smaller dehydrator, I couldn't do it all in one go and would be spending days soaking and dehydrating my nuts :-)

[crawmommy]

I would go for the 9 tray. If you want to make a lasagna and a pie or 2, is this at the same time? Having to remove trays to make room for the dishes and making cookies, you'd need the room. I just ordered a dehydrator of another brand and it is a 10 tray. I plan on making a lot things at one time and didn't want to run into the problem of not having enough room to do everything or at least half.

[carolg]

We are two and when peach season hits I'm glad I have a 9 tray. Same with tomatoes. I don't have dehydrate much today.

carolg

[Jenifae]

For example, I buy all my nuts and soak them all at once, then I can dehydrate them all and put them away in my cupboard. If I had a smaller dehydrator, I couldn't do it all in one go and would be spending days soaking and dehydrating my nuts :-)

I know this might sound "Dumb" :o But, at that risk could you explain why to soak and then dehydrate?

I'm a newbie :o

[crawmommy]

If you do a search on the site for soaking nuts or times for soaking nuts you will find a lot of info in this topic. I believe there is a chart that states what and how long nuts need to be soaked, the enzymes/sprouting times etc. I think Alissa shares this in her book as well. I would soak and dehydrate to make the nut more into a flour like substance when grounded in the blender for pie crusts and such. And NO you don't sound dumb- u have an inquiring mind- please don't belittle yourself. We are here to ask and get questions answered. Good luck in your search!!

[Jenifae]

Thank you :)

[Bookish Lass]

I got the 9 tray but have rarely used more than 3 or 4 trays at a time. It'd have been better for me to get a smaller one to save on kitchen space.

[RawDrop]

I think for the price difference, the 9 tray is the way to go. If you watch Alissa's video, you can see why. Anytime you want to do anything thicker, you will lose a tray. And if you do a lot, the more trays you have, the more you can experiment.

I am waiting to be able to afford a 9 tray!! I wanna do fruit leathers, tortillas, chips, crackers and bread all at the same time!!

[adaora]

thanks! i ordered the 9 tray and it arrived today. (omg--its huge!). :p
making pizza tonite!