Food dehydrator? yes or no?

[lamazemama]

Should I invest in a food dehydrator?

I'd love some opinions!

[Ilse W.]

I can be raw without one, but having one makes eating so much more fun. I love onion bread and nutloaf, and I dehydrate lots of tomatoes when they are abundant. I make my own celery salt and chili powder, and love making zucchini chips. I wouldn't want to be without mine.

[Ilse W.]

Also, you don't need an expensive model. I remember reading a thread where several people talked about how much they like their $40 dehydrator from wal-mart.

[Myca]

At this very moment, I am making Alissa's Blueberry Bread!!! I can't wait.
I bought a STX Dehydra 600W off of Ebay for $129.00, free shipping. It has a one year, hand signed and dated warrenty. It has 10 drawers.

[Revvell]

You don't NEED one and whether you "should" or not is up to you yet, it's very fun to make fruit leathers, kale chips, breads, crackers, cookies, loafs, burgers, etc.

I wouldn't go for a cheap round one as, from my understanding, you have to rotate the trays and you can't remove a tray if you want to put something in a dish in it to warm it OR, make kale chips. I've got a nine tray Excalibur and one recipe of kale chips uses 3 bunches (you wouldn't want to make less) of kale so, there's 3 trays they are on, PLUS, 3 trays to remove. You can add some crepes or fruit leathers to the other trays.

Revvell (http://LetsTalkRaw.com)

[Eva]

lamazemama -- I'm sharing my experience, for better or worse! I can still remember all of my dehydrator-made fouled food like it was yesterday. Yucky breads and crackers, food that just wasn't so "hot"... Ugh. There WAS a learning curve...

But those days are long gone, and I'm glad I have it now. I wouldn't give my dehydrator up now for anything! I love Vita-Mix, but I'd even go so far as to say I'd rather have a dehydrator and cheap blender over the fancy Vita-Mix that we all can't help but rave about once we try it.

There's something to be said for the days when you just want a cracker or bread or something warm to the touch. I WANT to have options on those days. It's better than running off to buy something else to fill a craving.

I have had more than one model of Excalibur because I was overseas for some time and didn't want to do without. I stand by that particular brand.

Keep us posted on what you decide to do! :)

[Zoocrew10]

I myself have the "cheapy" Walmart brand and although I don't have experience with an expensive machine (price is prohibitive) I have found I really like my cheapy machine and it works great for my needs. I've made some flaxseed breads/crackers, fruit leather for myself and my kids (THEY LOVE IT!) and banana chips. My husband is not raw, and he makes his jerky on it - so if you have a family member that is not raw that might benefit them too.

[lamazemama]

Thank you all! Such useful information.

Ok, so you're all leaning me towards getting one.

So here's my next question: what are the secrets to the really good breads and crackers? ;)

I'm pretty sure I can handle dehydrating fruit, it's the crackers that I am worried I will mess up and my kids will refuse to eat!

[Ilse W.]

Experiment. I don't think you can mess up. Sometimes I take something out too soon, so I pop it right back in to dehydrate some more. I have given up on sprouted anything in bread. I just make the onion bread. I love it with the eggless egg stuff and cucumber or tomato slices. I have never been a chips or cracker eater, so I don't do those.

[cara4art]

All I can say is that I love mine and make good use of it. I bought my Excalibur 4-tray model(as there's just two of us, and I'm the raw one)9 years ago initially to dry fruit and tomatoes. It wasn't until early last year when I basically went raw after getting onto green smoothies etc. that I sprang for the teflex sheets which opened me up to new stuff like "breads", crackers, raw granola, even a few cookies, etc. It does really help to have a few filling foods around when going raw, and for travel too, so you don't cave in to junk. IMO, dehydrator foods make great adjuncts to the much larger quantity of fresh foods that's the backbone of a good raw food lifestyle. After a learning curve as far as making goodies, you'll find a few staples that you will enjoy and make regularly.

[TheLaurynDoll]

Also, you don't need an expensive model. I remember reading a thread where several people talked about how much they like their $40 dehydrator from wal-mart.

That's great. I would always look at it, but pass it up due to fears it was inadequate.

[murphydoodle]

Just a thought for those of you who are on the fence or concerned about money- I went on Freecycle for my community and asked if anyone had one to give away. About a week later a woman emailed me to say she had one! It's not perfect, but it's as good as the $40 one at Walmart.

[Ilse W.]

Good idea. Someone on my freecycle asked for one a few months ago and got one. I keep forgetting about freecycle, but it's amazing what people have stored away and never use. It's definitely worth a try. Just in case you don't know, freecycle is a yahoo group.