My dehydrator is making me sick!!

[Kris]

Ok not really, but the tasty food coming out of it is. I just got this thing after a few months on-and-off raw, but the past month high raw. I've been eating mostly fresh fruits, veggies, and nuts, with some treats like fudge balls thrown in for good measure. But today for lunch I had 2 sandwiches (onion bread, eggplant bacon, spinach, tomatoes) instead of my normal cut up veggies and fruit, and I feel SICK. So awful. Usually I'm ready for an afternoon snack by now, but no way.

Is this a common experience? It's kind of sad really, to have anticipated fun dehydrator food for so long and to now feel gross because of it.

[VeggieGirl]

You can OD on dried foods... lol... if you do not drink enough water, they will suck the water out of YOU! And they are much more condensed, so just don't eat as much next time.

Here's to a speedy re-hydration!
VeggieGirl

[rawpriestess]

YEP, Veggiegirl is right.

When you eat dehydrated foods you must drink tons of water, so if you are going to eat two sandwiches, you need to drink enough water to hydrate yourself, PLUS reconstitute the foods you have eaten.

[MoniDew]

BE SURE YOU ARE DEHYDRATING, NOT FERMENTING in that dehydrator of yours! Many people think the lower the temperature, the better, and that is just not so. Too low, and you could be breeding a lot of fungus and bacteria in there, MAKING YOURSELF SICK. Turn up the heat for the first little while and get everything started off well, then turn it down, and dehydrate the rest of the way. You'll feel better right away.

...I learned this one the hard way myself. :( :rolleyes: :o :)

[Autumn]

If you've been eating mostly fresh fruits, veggies and nuts, the heavier, dehydrated food may be a bit of a shock to your system. Perhaps starting off with something a little less concentrated (maybe the onion bread OR the eggplant bacon, but not both), and a little less quantity, in order for your system to get used to the heavier food, would allow you to enjoy your dehyrated foods without feeling poorly afterward.

It's all trial and error. :)

[Cinnamon]

I find that the dehydrated foods are very rich for me, my digestion doesn't seem to like most of the recipes I've made. I am sticking with fresh fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds with the nut pates (which I can digest just fine if I don't eat too much!), and raw desserts. When I do make a dehydrated recipe I only eat a small amount and freeze the rest in small quantities!

[Kris]

"BE SURE YOU ARE DEHYDRATING, NOT FERMENTING in that dehydrator of yours! "

Interesting that you mention this, because I have a question about it. Every single thing that we have put into the dehydrator has come out bitter. Even sweet delicious cookie dough that went in tasting fantastic came out with a strange flavor and bitter aftertaste. I can't figure out why...could it be the result of fermentation? Nothing has really dried properly either. Even after two days, the cookies were still soggy. We have done everything on 105 degrees as it was labeled the "living foods" setting. Would starting at a higher temp help get rid of the bitterness??

[MoniDew]

"BE SURE YOU ARE DEHYDRATING, NOT FERMENTING in that dehydrator of yours! "

Interesting that you mention this, because I have a question about it. Every single thing that we have put into the dehydrator has come out bitter. Even sweet delicious cookie dough that went in tasting fantastic came out with a strange flavor and bitter aftertaste. I can't figure out why...could it be the result of fermentation? Nothing has really dried properly either. Even after two days, the cookies were still soggy. We have done everything on 105 degrees as it was labeled the "living foods" setting. Would starting at a higher temp help get rid of the bitterness??

Oh, yes! Bitterness is a definately a big clue here!

You know, the Excalibur people gave Viktoras Kulvinskas (Raw Foods in the 21st Century) several dehydrators to run their testing for them, and he FREQUENTLY comments that you must, must, must start your dehydration process on the highest setting (130o) then turn it down after a few hours. This allows a seal to form around the food, trapping the bacteria and fungus away from the food. Not to worry, the food will not reach an internal temperature of 130o for several hours. So in about 6 or 8 hours, turn it down to 103o or whatever your magic number is.

[rawpriestess]

I dehydrate at 115 degrees on my dehydrator, just because the air is that hot, doesn't mean the food will get that hot, think of your stove, when you place a roast in at 350, and you put a thermometer in the roast, it gets to about 160 or so, never to 300 or even close to 350, same with veggies.

So, I do breads and cookies at 145 degrees for the first 2 hours, then turn down to 115, I have never once had anything come out fermented, unless I wanted it that way, and was making cheese. at 95 degrees.

Also, I know it's not cooking the food, because I have placed food thermometers in the foods, and they are at about 100 degrees, when the temp is set at 145. So that might help you out.

I learned this from Igor and his famous crackers. The Boutenkos are wonderful.

[levamssg]

I dehydrate almost everything at 105 for the entire time ... and it all comes out fine ... vege burgers, cookies, apple slices, etc. Lately I've been doing granola with soaked almonds, pumpkin seed, sunflower seed, along with chopped apple, and cinnamon. Chop all the stuff up, mix together, dehydrate overnight and you have yummy crunchy cereal.

Perhaps some of the lighter foods would work better for you.

[LNdolls]

Thanks for sharing the technique of starting the dehydrator higher and then turning it down - that may be why I had problems with dehydrated foods.
Best,
LN

[rawpriestess]

The veggie burgers, apples slices etc, that are about 1/4 " thick, work great at 105 with no challenges, it is when you use grains and especially breads that are thick like 1" or 2" thick, then you really need to be watchful for fermentation, etc.

Although some people like pumpernickle breads etc, and like the fermentation.

[swiddweas]

I have found that eating the onion bread somettimes makes me feel nauseaus, even smelling it while it's dehydrating is nauseating to me at times. Don't know the reason.


Patty

[Kris]

Interesting. The bitterness was discouraging me from dehydrating things -- felt like a waste of time, money, and energy as we either felt bad from eating stuff or threw it all out. But I will try again, starting at a higher temp and then lowering it. I never realized the food temp in the regular oven is so much lower than the air temp. I've been vegetarian since I was a child and have never cooked meat for myself, and none of my muffins ever needed an internal thermometer. ;) This is all very good to know!