Dehydrater substitute

[Mikeoffoco]

I am looking to dehydrate some of my veggies like tomatoes and kale but I do not have a dehydrater. Are there any alternatives to a dehydrater I can use to make veggies crunchy without cooking them?

[MysticTree]

Veggies are already crunchy . Dehydrating tomatoes doesn't make them crunchy ... do you mean you want to make crackers? If so, you need a dehydrator or access to some serious sun with ventilation.

[DandelionPuff]

Some ovens can go low enough in temp, I think. If you can get yours to go down to 115 degrees, then that is a dehydrator....
My oven won't go lower than 250, though.
You can also try sun-drying things. It won't suck up as much water as a dehydrator will though.
I hope this helps!

[Norie]

I've read some people put their oven on the lowest setting and leave its door open but I've never tried this and not sure if it works.

[Revvell]

Some ovens can go low enough in temp, I think. If you can get yours to go down to 115 degrees, then that is a dehydrator....


No, it's not. It's still an oven. A dehydrator has a fan. I've yet to see an oven that does ... unless convection ovens do?

[Revvell]

Dehydrating tomatoes makes them chewy, not crunchy.

[Adam4man]

I've heard that using the oven on low with the door slightly open works, however it sucks up lots of electricity, and warms your house (not a great thing in the summertime). I saw an episode of Good Eats a long time ago where Alton Brown makes a make-shift dehydrator. Just found a link for it: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5912487412723519389
He uses it to make (meat) jerky, but it might work with veggies.. Let me know if you give it a try!