Electricity and Dehydrators

[phileuro]

Hi,
I'm new here, so maybe this has been discussed before (though I couldn't find it).
The recipes I see use food dehydrators a lot. And often in these recipes they are left running for hours and hours (often overnight). Isn't that a lot of energy?
I ask for 2 reasons. The first is that I am looking for an environmentally friendly way of living - and using copious amounts of electricity would surely offset and ecological benefit. The second is that where I live electricity is VERY expensive (and a lot of people run on wind and solar)... so running something overnight is not really an option.

I'd appreciate hearing people's views on this and finding a solution that will let me make some of the raw recipes.

Thanks!

[spicyfull]

You can be RAW without using a Dehydrator. You can eat Simple Fresh Whole Foods, you can choose Recipes that do not call for Dehydration or you can use My Grandmother's Dehydrator.........THE SUN.

[Zaphirah]

yes-that's what I was thinking. You can get dehydrators that are made esp for hanging out in the sun. Of maybe retro fit your dehydrator with a solar powered battery of sorts?

[rawstrength]

I've been raw for a year without a dehydrator and I'm doing just fine. I like my foods with the fresh, living juice still in them.

[jurence]

Dehydrators are fans that heat the air 5-20 degrees, it isn't that much electricity.

[freshlight]

Hey phileuro, welcome :)I'm raw since 2003, haven't used a dehydrator and am not planning to: enjoy the juicy food :D Take care, Eva

[Ilse W.]

Nobody every asks, "doesn't it cost too much to cook and bake with a stove?". I put a slab of butcherblock counter on my stove to get more work surface. The first month I went from cooking to dehydrating, I couldn't tell a difference in my electric bill. I never cooked very much, so it's not like I am comparing some dehydrating with a lot of cooking. Actually, in September when tomatoes were ripe along with peppers and all sorts of other goodies, my dehydrator hardly stopped. As Jurence said, it's a fan and a very small heating element. I have a 5-tray Excalibur, but I don't think the 9 tray uses any more power. If you are in a Southern area, I agree to let the sun do the work. Google "sun drying" and I'm sure you can come up with instructions on how to construct screens.

[freshlight]

ckeck this link of the Rawkin radio: Revvell asks Jinjee what she thinks about dehydrated food. Here it comes:

http://rawkinradio.com/2008/12/23/revvell-interviews-jinjee-talifero-on-raw-food-pregnancy-and-raising-raw-children/

[phileuro]

Good answers guys - I guess that I could just skip anything that needs dehydrating (I have just seen a lot of cracker/crust type recipes that mention it).

EmmaT: actually, here, we DO ask about the cost of baking. A lot of people have solar cookers and that does work great (we get 300 days of sunshine) but recently we've hit a rainy patch with no good sun for days... which means no cooking!

Thanks again guys