Do you really need a timer on dehydrator?

[Ravenna]

I want to buy a dehydrator, Excalibur, and of course I want to pay less. I've never used one, so I do not know.

In your practice, is it really important to have a timer? As far as I read up to now, you have to check how process of dehydrating goes pretty often. And, since you are checking often, what is the purpose of turning it off when you planned it? or maybe you need to turn it of while you are not there?

Please, share your experience. I'm new to all this. Would be nice to start without regrets.

Thanks!

[walnutty]

I purchased my EX before they had timers on them and I have never felt deprived!

[drraw]

I have two Excaliburs and use one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Touch-C...ef=pd_sim_hi_2

There's a bunch of devices you can get at that you can plug the dehydrator into and program an auto-shutoff time. They are not necessary, but if you use it a lot it will probably pay for itself in electricity savings as well as not over-drying.

what is the purpose of turning it off when you planned it?

I use mine primarily for when I am planning to leave or need to keep it on overnight and don't have time to attend to it later.

--drraw

[Ravenna]

Thank you for your replies.

And I'm sorry about my language, have read my post today and even for me it was difficult to understand what I meant :) English is not my first language... thanks for understanding!

[CaraS]

I use my Excalibur all the time - got it before they had ones with timers. Now I wish I had 9 trays instead of 5 and there are definitely times I'd like a timer so I don't wind up with crackers instead of bread when I'm dehydrating overnight.

I never thought about those automatic timers to add but that's a great idea!

[Ravenna]

Thanks for your answer, CaraS!

I'm thinking, if I'm going to spend $230 + $22 for automatic shut-off switch, why not to pay $48 more and get the whole piece. So, I'm going to go with timer.

Thanks, everybody!

[Raw Angel Mom]

I would say YES, LOLL...... SO SO USEFUL. Some recipe cannot exceed the recommended time, you can just set the time and it will be done.