My dehydrated crackers are moldy!!!

[bicb85]

So I just got my brand new Good4U Dehydrator last week. I made some basic flax crackers and some veggie flax crackers (both recipes out of Alissa's Book). It has only been 3 days since they finished dehydrating and the veggies ones are all covered with mold. Its so gross- there is mold all over them and they smell VERY strongly of garbage. The basic crackers seemed ok but I threw them out too because I was very put off...

Why did this happen? I dehydrated them for as long as the recipe called for and they were very dry. I thought that they would last for more than 3 days so any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[spicyfull]

When I do Crackers, rarely, I leave them out in the open after I take them out of the dehydrator. That way they can air dry if they happen to still be moist. Did you store them in a container?

[Zaphirah]

I *always* put my D'ed stuff in the fridge.

[bicb85]

I put them in a covered container but I didnt refrigerate them. Maybe thats why...

[blaqberry]

Ooo... :confused:

Certain mixes of cracker will attract moisture (depending on what ingredients used, humidity, etc.) if they are not stored in some sort of truly air-tight container. If there is even the slightest hint of moisture retained in the cracker after dehydration, it's often best to keep them inside the fridge. However, if the crackers are completely crisp they can most probably last without refrigeration. (we don't put completely dried crackers the fridge, no probs ever...but we do put breads and other things not completely dried in cold storage)

Aaaannnd, if the dehydration process takes a long time, there's a chance that fermentation could have taken hold even before the items were "done"...so it's really hard to say what exactly may have brought on the mold. (that's not to say you can't/shouldn't dehydrate things for long/er periods of time if required)

I say try again :) ...see how it goes next round.

[cara4art]

When I take stuff out of the dehydrator(certain veggies, fruits, various crackers and buckwheat granolas so far), I let it sit on a plate to cool first, then I bag them up in ziplock bags and always store the stuff in the refrigerator. I often freeze half of my crackers too. Seems to work just fine and they keep very well that way. With all of this, I've never had a problem with mold.

[raven]

Blaqberry gave you the correct possibilities. There's some discussion about dehydration temperatures in order to prevent fermentation during the drying process. Excalibur actually recommends turning up the thermostat initially until the food itself reaches the desired temperature and then dialing it back.

Suzy