Question about my dehydrator

[abeautifulworld]

I've been keeping it in my basement, which is fairly cool, compared to the rest of the house. The other day, I made Alissa's banana macadamia cookies. They were supposed to stay in at 105 for 8 to 10 hours, but I forgot about them and they ended up staying in for closer to 20 hours, but when I went to get them out, they weren't warm at all, and were still pretty moist. Is this normal, or should they have gotten harder? I'm really craving the "crunch" of cooked baked goods.

[RawKnitster]

I haven't tried those. How do they taste?

I would guess they will stay soft. I have made brownies using macadamias (no banana in it). I found if I want it crunchy, it needs to be spread out thin, like about 1/8 of an inch.

[spicyfull]

Maybe the souroundings could have been too cold, making the dehydrator stay at an even lower temperature. Next time try making them Thinner. I too have never tried them. Hope you find the "CRUNCH" you are seeking.

[streetsurfer]

I don't know how the cookies are supposed to turn out. Can you tell me the make and model dehydrator you have? Maybe I can help you trouble shoot it. Food that may have fallen or been blown or sucked into the thermostatic switch area, or maybe dirty/corroded contacts could be keeping it from coming on. I am thinking of non digital ones here and that is why I asked the make and model. Try turning it up from a low setting slowly while it is running and see if you can hear a click, or feel the heat cycle on. Is your basement real damp most of the time maybe? A continually damp area could give you problems I suppose. You might also want to find a thermometer in the range of the heat adjustment on the unit, and place it in there while it's running to see if it is calibrated right.

[abeautifulworld]

Streetsurfer, it's a brand spanking new Excalibur 9 tray, so I don't think there should be any problems with it. It definitely is a bit colder in my basment, so maybe I'll try turning up the thermostat higher next time, maybe to 110 or so. I did these on 105. The recipe was from Alissa's book, and yes they were very tasty, but they fell apart every time I tried to pick them up!

[streetsurfer]

Streetsurfer, it's a brand spanking new Excalibur 9 tray, so I don't think there should be any problems with it. It definitely is a bit colder in my basment, so maybe I'll try turning up the thermostat higher next time, maybe to 110 or so. I did these on 105. The recipe was from Alissa's book, and yes they were very tasty, but they fell apart every time I tried to pick them up!

I see. You're right then, it shouldn't have a problem heating. In a humid or cool environment, or with full trays a little more heat at the start is helpful.
You can preheat the dryer before loading it (if you didn't), or start it at a 5-10º higher temperature, then lower to where you want it after while(an hour or two?)...once some of the initial moisture is removed and cookies are up to temp. Don't forget to lower it though.
Take notes of how you do it and how they come out each time, and with a few trials under your belt and referring back to your notes you should be able to work out the bugs. Hope that helps.