Questions about my new dehydrator

[Queen Bean]

Hi

I used my Excalibur Dehydrator for the first time last night and it did a couple of strange things. I'm not sure where the instruction manual is, that's why I'm asking here. (I've had it since Christmas.)

1. I had the timer on zero, and after about ten minutes, it switched off. Do I need to set the timer for it to work?

2. When I switched it off this morning (after a restless sleep...it feels weird to have this on all night) it didn't turn off (i.e. the temperature was at zero, but it was still running as per usual). I had to turn it off at the plug for it to turn off.

After dehydrating at 105 degrees all night, my cashew, lemon, honey, date cookies don't look that much different to when I started, but still it's exciting to produce something. I haven't tasted them yet, so that will be interesting.

[DebB]

Hi

I used my Excalibur Dehydrator for the first time last night and it did a couple of strange things. I'm not sure where the instruction manual is, that's why I'm asking here. (I've had it since Christmas.)

1. I had the timer on zero, and after about ten minutes, it switched off. Do I need to set the timer for it to work?

Yes - you have to set the timer. That's actually how you turn it on and off.
2. When I switched it off this morning (after a restless sleep...it feels weird to have this on all night) it didn't turn off (i.e. the temperature was at zero, but it was still running as per usual). I had to turn it off at the plug for it to turn off.

How did you switch it off? With the timer? If so - that should have turned it off. I've never had to unplug it to turn it off.

I set the temperature at 105° (just where I like to set it...) and I never really mess with that knob.

After dehydrating at 105 degrees all night, my cashew, lemon, honey, date cookies don't look that much different to when I started, but still it's exciting to produce something. I haven't tasted them yet, so that will be interesting.

You'll have to taste them and check the texture. They should have done *something* in that amount of time.


You'll have to taste them and check the texture. They should have done *something* in that amount of time.

[Queen Bean]

Uh oh. It still pretty much has the texture of wet mixture, with a barely perceptible dryness on the top (maybe 5%)... ???

[Queen Bean]

Oh, DebB, I didn't see your other answers. Thanks for the useful information. I turned it off, by turning the temperature down to zero. Ah, hah. (It pays to read the manual, doesn't it?!) You know how the door just kind of sits there, i.e there's no catch, is that the way it is supposed to be? There was minimal result for it being on all night. I've since put them in the fridge. They are not really a cookie, but still taste quite delicious - the lemon and honey surprisingly strong in their flavours. I thought the dates would overpower the lemon for instance. Maybe I will get a better result by dehdrating flax crackers at 115. ??? The experimentation will continue. All I know is it is good to be able to make my own dehydrated food after paying exorbitant prices in health food shops. The jalapeno flax crackers I recently bought were bland and totally blah and they cost $13!!!! for about 80g.

[DebB]

Hi Queen Bean ~ I'm not understanding why your bars didn't dehydrate? Was the d. accidentally set to 0° overnight -- is that what happened?

Yes - you can certainly set the d. to 115°. I just keep mine on 105, it's where I like to leave it set - just me.

Yes, I know what you mean about the door. Do make sure though that it is in the 'groove' - it's easy to put the door on and it's not really where it should be. I always wonder what would happen if that door fell, it one of the little hookies would break off, or...? So, I usually sort of wiggle the door around after I put it back on to make sure it's going to stay put.

How thick were the bars you made? I'll give you an example. Yesterday I made banana crepes. Just out of bananas in the food processor. I took 1/2 cup banana batter and spread it out to 6-7". Those took probably 8 hours to be able to peel off the teflex sheet and still be pliable. They were spread pretty thin - not paper thin, but thin.

[Queen Bean]

Hi DebB

There was definitely a warmth on the outside and inside of the dehydrator, and the fan was going. I just had one tray going, and I used the bottom tray. Plus I took most of the others out, thinking that would improve the result.

My dehydrator door just sits on a ledge, there are no hooks.

The height of the cookie was between 0.5 - 0.75 cm (0.2 - 0.3") and the diameter was around 4 cm (1.5").

I feel if I make it any flatter or with a smaller diameter, it will no longer be a cookie.

I offered one to my boyfriend last night. When he touched it he recoiled as though I was offering him a slug to eat. He was expected a dry cookie, and this is still wet and sticky (although not so wet and sticky that it fell through the holes of the mesh tray). I could roll them into balls, flatten them, and they stayed in shape.

[DebB]

Well - I would say just keep on dehydrating them until they get to the texture/consistency you want. It sounds like it's working okay.

With the ingredients you listed - I'm not sure how "dry" they'll actually get?

As far as the hooks - on the inside of my d. door - about 2" in - there are 2 hooks that sit in the groove of the dehydrator. Maybe they've modified the design since we got ours?