What do you know about dehyrators?

Nicole

Nicole

Anyone use a dehydrator? Whats your review of it and how much did it cost?

Ive seen em for 30$- thousands. Oh, and by the way the dehydrator would be used for peppers, not meat, so I think that makes a difference in what you need.

How long does it take to dehydrate a tray of peppers? .. blahh help! :hell:
 
I use this one.

http://www.excaliburdehydrator.com/9-Tray-Large-Excalibur-with-26-hour-Timer-3926T-28-37-regular-prod.htm

I use it for all kinds of things though, not just peppers. The things that were important to me:

- Capacity: I grow LOTS of peppers, and I wanted to be able to dry LARGE batches. 9 trays takes care of that for me.

- Timer: love to "set it and forget it". Don't have to worry about over-drying.

- Temp Control: I like drying low and slow - seems to preserve flavor better. You can also dry at a low enough temp and maintain seed viability.

- Air circulation: fan is mounted on the rear and blows air ACROSS the trays evenly, not through the trays from above or below.

Although pretty expensive, I have absolutely no regrets buying this unit. I've used it three years now, and it still works perfectly.

ymmv :)
 
Rear fan design is better for even dehydration (fan in rear spreads heat over all trays, instead of heat rising from bottom to top, where top trays will dry faster). A timer and temp. control is also good. Food-safe ABS plastic.

Recommendation: Good4u 10-tray.
 
thehotpepper.com said:
Rear fan design is better for even dehydration (fan in rear spreads heat over all trays, instead of heat rising from bottom to top, where top trays will dry faster). A timer and temp. control is also good. Food-safe ABS plastic.

Recommendation: Good4u 10-tray.
Click to expand...

Yeah....I always rotated my trays every 6 or so hours.....otherwise the bottom trays (near the element) dried much faster.
 
DownRiver said:
- Air circulation: fan is mounted on the rear and blows air ACROSS the trays evenly, not through the trays from above or below.
Click to expand...

Most folks take a quick glance at the Nesco and assume the heated air is blown down thru the trays of peppers, but that isn't exactly how it works. :)

The air is forced down thru a perimeter cylinder formed by the stacked trays, then the air is forced from the outer edge across each tray to a central return column.

The excalibur is a good dehydrator, but for the money the Nesco can't be beat, especially when you can buy 3 or 4 Nesco units for the same money. ;)
 
For the size and money I love the Nesco units, especially the ones with the motor on the top for easy cleaning.
I'm currently considering buying a commercial or at least a much bigger dehydrator. I've used a large Cabellas unit and it works great but I'm hoping to get one all stainless and FDA/ health Canada approved but these are always very expensive

Cabela's Commercial Food Dehydrators -Great larger unit and reasonably priced compared to anything else out there in this size
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...ellas dehydrator&cm_ite=netcon&rid=2146251080
 
I sold mine and will go commercial next. The plastic one with the heating element in it freaked me out. The element gets red hot, and the majority of the appliance is plastic. Seems weird. I'm sure they are safe, but still freaks me out seeing that element in a plastic housing (with some metal around the element). Stainless steel, next one for me.

Haven't seen any issues with that so I am not saying they are bad.
 
POTAWIE said:
For the size and money I love the Nesco units, especially the ones with the motor on the top for easy cleaning.
I'm currently considering buying a commercial or at least a much bigger dehydrator. I've used a large Cabellas unit and it works great but I'm hoping to get one all stainless and FDA/ health Canada approved but these are always very expensive

Cabela's Commercial Food Dehydrators -Great larger unit and reasonably priced compared to anything else out there in this size
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...ellas dehydrator&cm_ite=netcon&rid=2146251080
Click to expand...

Very nice unit for the price. Looks like a much better value than the Excalibur.
 
The problem is they come with chrome racks and to upgrade to stainless costs a few more hundred.
 
I don't even know if they offer it with that brand. They do offer screens though so food would not be directly on chrome.

Ovens have chrome racks because you don't put food directly on it. SS is better for that. Chemical leeching and all.

Here's chrome vs. SS pricing: http://www.sausagemaker.com/fooddehydrators.aspx
 
I have an Excalibur the same as DownRiver uses, it was more expensive than other similar models around. I'm very happy with it though, as THP said you get more even dehydration with the rear fan models.
 
I've seen the LEM before and considered it. Once in awhile they have an open box sale.
 
Definately use a Dehydrator that has a thermostat(temp) control.
Have used them without this, but found the temps get too high for drying Peppers and they seem to loose their colour.
I usually dry around 45 Deg.C heat and takes around 12 Hrs to dry halved and deseeded Peppers.

Micca
 
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