can i dehydrate with my oven?

[dragonfist70]

our oven has a light only also but it starts to a low temp of 50 degree celcius is this good? summers over i can't use the sun anymore :( lol

[ebonysea7]

When I looked this up online (I was curious about this too) here's what I found:

http://farmgal.tripod.com/Dehydrate.html
Oven Drying: Oven drying is an acceptable method of drying food, but it isn't very energy efficient, and foods aren't very flavorful in the end. If your oven cannot obtain temperatures below 200 degrees farenheit, use another method for food dehydration. You will need to prop open the oven door to maintain air circulation during the drying process.

http://muextension.missouri.edu/xplor/hesguide/foodnut/gh1562.htm
Oven drying is the most practical way to experiment with dehydration. It requires little initial investment, protects foods from insects and dust, and does not depend on the weather. Continual use of an oven for drying is not recommended because ovens are less energy efficient than dehydrators, and energy costs tend to be high. Also, it is difficult to maintain a low drying temperature in the oven, and foods are more susceptible to scorching at the end of the drying period. Oven-dried foods usually are darker, more brittle and less flavorful than foods dried by a dehydrator.

I've concluded that if I want to dehydrate successfully I'll have to invest in a dehydrator.

[Gosia]

make your own, for a good price:
http://www.k-clements.fsnet.co.uk/dehydrator.html

Gosia.