Quality Food Processor and Dehydrator Recommendations

[cormie]

Hi there,
I'm in the market for a new food processor and my first dehydrator. Have been researching quite a bit and have come up with the following:

Dehydrator:
Needs to be easy to clean (I just won't use it otherwise)
As quiet as possible (I'll be sleeping close to it in open plan area with no doors to block sound)
Timer
Correct and accurate temperature settings
Removable trays for larger items

Leading contender so far:
TSM Stainless Steel 5 or 9 tray

Questions:
What's the situation with sheets? Do you need to buy sheets as well as a dehydrator? Why? What do they do and are they only for certain foods and are there particular ones for certain types of foods and certain brands of dehydrators? Can you get away without having the sheets? The TSM comes with stainless steel trays if this makes a difference?

Also, power consumption wise, how would leaving one on for say 24 hours compare to leaving a fridge on for 24 hours?


Food processor:
Needs to be easy to clean (the less bits the better)
At least 700w (powerful enough for thick, sticky, heavy recipes)
Needs to be compact and not take up too much space

Leading contenders so far:
Cuisine Art or Kitchen Aid (Cuisine Art seems to have a larger market share but Kitchen Aid seems just as good, yet cheaper?)

Questions:
The main concern with a processor is the power I guess. I need it to be able to keep going with large, heavy, thick, sticky recipes (with dates and nuts as a main ingredient to give you an idea). My current processor (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-HR7735-80-Click-processor/dp/B0007XHGFW) is 700w and it handles pretty well, it has had to cut itself off once or twice before when the recipes were just a bit too much. As to bowl capacity, well my current one is 3.6L and according to here (http://www.conversion-metric.org/volume_conversion/litre_to_cup_conversion.php), that is equal to 15 cups? I definitely wouldn't want less, I think it's a good size, a little more may come in handy but looking around, it seems this is quite a large size itself? Also, looking at this video; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pKYkozQin0 it says in the "shop" link in the description, that the one used is an 11 cup one, but the one in the video looks much bigger than mine :confused:

Purchasing:
I'm prepared to spend enough so I'll have something of great quality that will last. I'm not prepared to go crazy and spend loads on the best of the best, just something that does what I need it to do and does it well. If anyone can recommend exact models (with number and direct link please) of what I'm after I'd really appreciate it. I know there's a LOT to choose from and it just confuses me so I'd love to narrow it down to particular models and just go with one.

I live in Ireland, Europe, so would ideally like to buy within Europe to avoid import duties from the States or anywhere outside of the EU. Also to keep costs down with shipping etc. Customs are cracking down big time on imports so I think I'd definitely get stung increasing the price of something from the US by about 30% I think it is after all the duties and fees.

I'd really appreciate any help on this at all so I look forward to your recommendations :)

[sport]

Hi Cormie. Wher abouts are you.

[sport]

http://www.electricshopping.ie/shop/ie/en-ie/electric-shopping/kitchen-cooking/food-processors-mixers/magimix-5200-series-black-food-processor-18501/index.html
This is what I have. I got it from some company in Co Wicklow but I can not find their website now. It was delivered and I have had it for a number of years and am very happy with it. Prior to that I burned a couple of them out doing ice cream but this is holding up very well.
I am on my second dehydrator. I had a very good circular one but I changed to the excaliber because the other had 2 drawbacks. You could not remove the trays to do something tall and there was a circle in the middle so you could not get a big square (handy for fruit leathers). It was better at crisping crackers than the excaliber.

[ptrhenry52]

I have heard very good things about those dehydrators.I am an entry level dehydrator and don't know if i will go pro. If I do you will see a post here about those but for now i will try a cheaper one.The pro models of cuisinart are very nice.You can even knead pumpernickel bread in them. Not that you would, but you have the horsepower if you need it.It's solid and steady and Cuisinart is a reliable brand.

[cormie]

Thanks for the replies :)

I'm in South Dublin/North Wicklow :)

Sport, I haven't heard anything about that megamix brand and the price seems quite high. What made you choose that initially? I just had a look at comparing that site you linked to, with Ebay.co.uk and took the KitchenAid as an example, €306 delivered and on Ebay, I'd say about €180 delivered for a brand new one from UK.

However, the kitchenaid I see is only 650w, that's less than the one I have at the moment :eek:

[sport]

Will ebay ship it to you. I have found that amazon will not ship things like that to me and I assume that it is because of the recycle rules which obliges them to accept it back for recycling. Very frustrating.
Yet I bought my juicer from ukjuicers with no trouble. Maybe amazon have another reason. Maybe they just do not like me.
I do not know why I picked that one as it was a number of years ago now. I expect that I just wanted a good one and did not have a lot of choice at the time. I am pleased with it.

[cormie]

It does look like a good one alright but it's just when you hear so many recommendations for things like cuisine art and kitchen aid, you tend to sway towards what's been recommended :)

Amazon went through a phase of not shipping anything but books and DVD's to Ireland for a while I think, but they ship everything now as far as I know :)

Ebay will depend on the seller, but an Ebay seller will be far more likely to arrange alternative shipping than a big company like amazon.

Do you know about the sheets for the dehydrators at all? What's the situation with them? Do you need to get them or are they just for certain foods? And how long do they last/ Do you need to keep replacing them at a high cost?

[sport]

I have sheets and yes you need some. I only use my dehydrator to dry seeds now but you could not dry sesame seeds without them and would probably loose a lot of sunflower and pumpkin seeds as they would fall through.
Mine have never needed replacing and I do not think that they ever will. Some people use greaseproof paper.
What are you planning to use it for. I did use the sheets for crackers as well because I think that they would stick to the mesh too much.

[cormie]

Thanks again for the reply :) good to hear you don't need to keep replacing them anyway :)

I'll be using the dehydrator for a good few things I think but I'll also be drying out buckwheat too, which will definitely be too small so would need the sheets aswell I guess! Any particular type I should go for or are they all the same really? would prefer just to buy what I need now that will last me forever as long as I take care of them as opposed to having to keep buying new bits :)

[sport]

I am not madly in love with my dehydrator (I have a nine tray Excaliber) but everyone else seems to think highly of it.
I do not think that the temp setting is good and I have had a digital probe attached to the top shelf since day one and I use that instead.
There is no timer on it and it does not get crackers as crisp as my previous one.

[cormie]

Thanks for that :)

Yes, I don't think the Excallibur is for me due to the points you mentioned, the loudness of it and a few other points.

The TSM Stainless Steel one seems to be the best for me from what I've researched so far. Not so popular though so having difficulty finding it at a reasonable price shipped to Ireland.

If anyone knows of a good resource for it or a powerful, reliable food processor, please share :)

[laLune]

Hi Cormie :)

I'm currently looking for my first dehydrator as well, and I think I'm leaning towards the LEM STAINLESS STEEL 10 DRAWER DEHYDRATOR WITH TIMER:

http://www.canadiantreasureseekers.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1168

I've seen reviews of it on many different websites and all of them are quite positive (perhaps one of the sites ships to Ireland???). I've also seen it in person at a local store - it's HUGE!! It would definitely prepare a lot of food at once (a big selling point for me). A lady at the store saw me looking at it and walked over to me and told me that she bought the dehydrator herself and loves it!

It is a little pricey, so that's why I'm still thinking about it... But, I have a birthday coming up ;)

[cormie]

Thanks for the suggestion. No results for that on Ebay UK either unfortunately :( I'd really prefer to order within the UK to avoid any unexpected charges if possible.

I don't really want something huge either as I'm not yet sure just how much use it's going to get and I don't have a lot of space for one either.

[sport]

The only piece of electrical equipment that I bought in from the US was a steriliser.
I had to pay extra to have it converted for our electricity and I had to pay import duty when it arrived.

[cormie]

Agh! You've just reminded me of a very important factor, the difference in power on devices from the US :(

I remember buying my Blendtec this was a problem. Completely forgot about it until you pointed it out, thanks a lot!

Seems the TSM I want is impossible to find from an EU or even UK distributor so I think this would be quite a problem.

[cormie]

Have seen a recommendation of another food processor called the Robot Coupe. Seems pretty powerful, maybe too powerful for what I need even.

Seems I'll probably end up buying from UK (or Ireland if they can match the price). Still not sure what to go for in terms of food processors though.

Dehydrator wise, still having trouble trying to find a UK seller of TSM Stainless Steel one.

Any further comments greatly appreciated to try and make me make my mind up :)

[cormie]

Me again :)

So after stagnating for a few months I think I'm just going to go and buy a processor and dehydrator and be done with it!

I think trying to buy from the US will be too much hassle with shipping costs, customs and import duties, voltage issues etc. The only supplier in the UK I've found which seems to stock the TSM is here: http://www.ukjuicers.com/tsm-d10-stainless-steel-dehydrator

they also stock a pretty good cuisineart model the FP16DCU (1500w 3.8l bowl - bigger bowl than mine and double the wattage!). http://www.ukjuicers.com/cuisinart-elite-food-processor

The only issue is the price. They do free shipping though, but I'm still going to see if they can reduce it a bit (the cuisineart is about £30 more expensive than amazon!).

So if anyone has any last minute reasons for me not to go crazy and buy the above let me know :D but I think I'd just like to settle on knowing that they are both great quality products and will last (cuisineart I see has a 20yr motor warranty? nice!).

So along with the dehydrator, would I then also need a drip tray and the teflex sheets I wonder?

[sport]

Cormie.
That dehydrator is very expensive.

[cormie]

I know :o Seems to be the best one out there though and has some big pro's like it's seemingly very quiet which is very important for where I am at the moment! I reckon I could haggle them down a bit if I'm getting a processor off them too... I hope :)

[sport]

I have bought things from them and I find them helpful.

[cormie]

That's good to know :) let's just hope they will be helpful on the oul pocket aswell and give me a good deal :D

[cormie]

Ok, so I'm almost ready to buy both items now. I haven't really looked into the food processor at all, but can I be pretty sure that as it's an expensive cuisineart, 1500w and a 3.8l bowl, that it's pretty much the bees knees?

I've researched the dehydrator a good bit so I'm confident to buy that.

I've an option to get TSM non stick drying sheets at £7.95 and a drying screen for £6.95 each. I'll need a few considering the TSM is a 10 tray. Just wondering are these really necessary and how many should I consider getting of each? Are the non stick sheets the same things they sell in tesco, the "magic sheet" or whatever it's called? :P

Any thoughts on the above or on the processor I've picked VERY welcome!

[k8sl8]

If you choose to not do the non stick drying sheets right away - using bakers parchment paper is a very usable substitute. In fact for some things I actually like them better as they dry faster.

A drying screen substitute is plastic craft canvas (the stuff used to plastic canvas needlepoint and others). Easy to cut and very inexpensive. Available in several sizes so look around if you only find the 9" x 12" sheets.

[cormie]

Thanks for the info! good to know there's alternatives there anyway, so I think I'll order a few anyway and if I need more I'll consider the alternatives :)

I wonder how safe food would be drying out on plastic for 24 hours though?

[cormie]

I was able to get a discount in the end so will be ordering now in about 2 hours!

TSM D10 - 10 Tray Fully Stainless Steel Dehydrator (http://www.ukjuicers.com/tsm-d10-stainless-steel-dehydrator)
3 x TSM Dehydrator Drying Screen (http://www.ukjuicers.com/tsm-dehydrator-drying-screen)
3 x TSM Dehydreator Non-Stick Drying Sheet (http://www.ukjuicers.com/tsm-dehydrator-non-stick-drying-sheet)
Cuisineart FP16DCU - 1500w 3.8l bowl Food Processor (http://www.ukjuicers.com/cuisinart-elite-food-processor)

Big purchase, wish me luck :eek::o

[Luciano]

I was able to get a discount in the end so will be ordering now in about 2 hours!

TSM D10 - 10 Tray Fully Stainless Steel Dehydrator (http://www.ukjuicers.com/tsm-d10-stainless-steel-dehydrator)
3 x TSM Dehydrator Drying Screen (http://www.ukjuicers.com/tsm-dehydrator-drying-screen)
3 x TSM Dehydreator Non-Stick Drying Sheet (http://www.ukjuicers.com/tsm-dehydrator-non-stick-drying-sheet)
Cuisineart FP16DCU - 1500w 3.8l bowl Food Processor (http://www.ukjuicers.com/cuisinart-elite-food-processor)

Big purchase, wish me luck :eek::o


im on the same boat here... im looking for a dehydrator and, as shipping and customs are ridiculously high, i have to make a good purchase.

i dont care about pricing much as long as its under 500. what would you recommend?

i was set on excalibur until i saw all this other options...

[cormie]

Where are you based yourself? If you'd like the TSM then I guess ukjuicers is probably the best place to get it. They will deliver at that price too free in UK and IRE (maybe even further afield).

[Luciano]

Where are you based yourself? If you'd like the TSM then I guess ukjuicers is probably the best place to get it. They will deliver at that price too free in UK and IRE (maybe even further afield).

im in south america, argentina to be precise... its tough to get even a vegetable slicer here =p

[cormie]

Ah ok, you'd probably be able to get it cheap enough from one of the sellers in the US so! Just keep looking around I guess :)

[cormie]

Took delivery yesterday, very quick delivery, brilliant service from UKJuicers and I guess it wasn't just a regular order, I emailed them a few times with questions, requests etc and they were very quick to reply!

The items are massive :eek: The only place I can put the dehydrator really is on top of a freezer so I'm just hoping it won't damage the freezer with the warm air being blown around it constantly :confused:

The food processor is a beast aswell, looks like it may be difficult to clean, so many parts! That may not be the case though, I haven't used either yet, trying to get my head around them first :P

[sport]

Congrats and have lots of fun with them.
I hope that you have some bananas in the freezer to make ice cream with that processor.

[cormie]

Hehe, nope, I usually make ice cream in blendtec with cashews, have you a recipe suggestion for the banana one please? :)

I don't suppose you know if it's safe or not to keep dehydrator on top of that freezer? :)