Question about Excalibur

[jazzycd]

I just got a excalibur dehydrator and have a question. The book says to turn the dehydrator up all the way for the first 2 to 3 hours then turn it down below 120 to keep the food raw. They say that will cut the drying time in half and that it takes hours to get the temperatureto 145 so your food will still be raw. Whats your thought on that?

[sport]

If your food goes over 118 it is no longer raw

[littleangelbear]

Just received mine in the mail last week--Excalibur. I think the book that comes with it is just a guideline. I am going to start using mine tomorrow (was in the soak and sprout phase LOL first). I am just going to follow the directions in Alissa's cookbook myself :) I can update you and let you know how it goes...

The thing I keep hearing and reading is that dehydration is not an exact science...just have to practice and check on it :) It will be okay :)

[edie]

Dr. Cousens has been doing some studies on the temp thing and turning up the temp for several hours and then turning it down now seems to be ok. He talks about it in his book Rainbow Green Live Food Cusine... :confused: And it is actually important due to molds and stuff taking so long to dehydrate may not be good. I used to keep things at a low temp but I think once I got food poisioning so this makes sense to me... EDIE

[edie]

Dr. Cousens has been doing some studies on the temp thing and turning up the temp for several hours and then turning it down now seems to be ok. He talks about it in his book Rainbow Green Live Food Cusine... and maybe even better due to molds, etc. EDIE

[Revvell]

What is said in the Excalibur instructions is correct.

R.

[littleangelbear]

Used my Excalibur dehydrator for the first time yesterday...yay! I made flax crackers and they were done this morning :) What I love most about Alissa's recipes is that the dehydrated ones do not take very long in the dehydrator at all! I think the most some of them are is 24 hours. I haven't delved into this last detail though, but I really think most of them are done very quickly.

The Excalibur is wonderful and I dehydrated my crackers at 105 degrees F the entire time and they turned out perfectly. I flipped them halfway in and it was easy :)

The crackers taste great...that is going to be my lunch today with an avocado slice and tomato and onion :)

Yay!

[Rawkinlocs]

Yes, it is said that during the first couple of hours of having the EXCALIBUR (this may not hold true for all dehydrator brands) turned up to 145, the food doesn't actually get to that temperature (you can find out for sure if you have a thermometer to stick inside to food to test the temp. of it) but after a couple of hours, you should turn it down so that it doesn't get that hot.

I find I only need to do this when making breads or loaves or really dense things, esp. if sprouted grains are used.

[Raw_Medic]

I thought I'd post this exerpt from Cousens book: "...recent research by The Excalibur Dehydrator Company suggests that it is actually better to begin the dehydration process at 145 decrees F for the initial stage of the drying process. The reasoning is that as the food is dehydrating, it literally "sweats out" the moisure it contains. This moisture inside the dehydrator reduces the food temperature as much as 20-25 degrees.
This information changes how we think about the entire process of food dehydration. It means that the safest way to dehydrate is to begin drying at 145F for a max of three hours for foods with a high water content. After this the temperature is set in the "normal" range of 110-115F through the completion of the drying process. By doing this we are inhibiting bacterial growth by reducing the time food spends in the dehydrator. The longer that a food is in the dehydrator, the more potential exists for the enzymes to be destroyed, even at lower temperatures. Low-temperature dehydration for sustained time, as practiced for years by the live-food community, may not be safe because sustained low-temperature dehydration encourages bacterial growth and fermentation. At the Tree of Life we feel that the new approach is both safer and more efficient."

He also goes on to say that this technique is only for use with the excalibur because due to the design the excalibur eliminates hot spots that other dehydrators may not.

Hope this clears up any confusion!

Ursula

[jazzycd]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate your replys. I think I will try turning it up for 2 hours and then set it at 105 unless it's something that doesn't take long. First I have to find space on my counter for it. I didn't realize it would be so BIG. :eek: Jazzy