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Best Food Dehydrators?

KYH mentioned a food dehydrator on another post, I am wondering if any of you out there have one, and what you believe to be the best to buy.

I plan on getting one, and doing dried tomatoes so that I may can them in olive oil this summer.

SUN-DRIED TOMATOES IN OLIVE OIL...YUMMY:p

I am going to cheat so they won't be sun-dried, but that's my little secret!

Thanks, Cathy
 
I've got 3 - all different brands - no problems with any of them. The first one I got was American Harvest - that was many years ago - and I still use it. The trays are wider than the others I have. At first I was reluctant to buy a different brand than the American Harvest - but they all work the same.

I even purchased the extra trays.
 
You do know that storing dried tomatoes in any kind of oil at room temperature is dangerous?

I have two Nesco/American Harvestor dehydrators, one is getting so old it has turned yellow from age and is very brittle. Fortunately I find new trays on occasion and keep on truckin'. It has the heat and fan at the bottom. My other one has the heat source/fan at the top, but not the fine mesh screens, so it gets used for jerky and other items that tend to drip.

There's not too much that hasn't been dried. Most of the time it is onions, celery, carrots, mushrooms, and tomatoes.
 
I don't think there is such a thing as "best." Merely different types and styles. The one that meets your needs is the best one for you.

That said, I have used all sorts, from the American Harvest to the Excaliber. And I've settled on the American Harvest. In fact, when mine finally gave up the ghost after 12 hard years I replaced it with another.

These are the bottom-fan models (there are reasons they are preferred). My replacement was the same model number, except they had improved it, and it went from 8 tray capacity to 12. Certainly not a problem.

Unfortunatley, Nesco is moving away from the bottom fan versions. There is only one model like that now, with a 30 (that is not a typo) tray capacity---and a pricetag to match. The rest are top-fan models.

When chooseing one, some things to consider:

1. Tray movement. With many machines you have to shift the trays around, to assure even drying. That means developing a timing and rhythym so that everything becomes the bottom shelf for equal amounts of time.

2. Capacity. Can you add additional trays? This might not seem a big deal, at first. But drying food is addictive, and the more you do it the more you want to do it. From a time & cost basis, it's better to do one batch of 6 trays than two batches of 3 trays each.

3. Flexibility. Can you vary the spacing between trays? If not, you are stuck with one size of food, or else, as with the Am. Harvest, will have to modify the trays themself.

4. Tray configuration. Are only standard trays available? Or are there other formats---with smaller or larger holes, for instance, or solid to make fruit leathers---available. Note: Merely having them available is not a reason for deciding on a make/model. If you never make fruit leather, who cares if they offer a tray for it?

Let me add, too, that thermostatic control is the second best thing to useless on a dehydrator. Forget instructions to the contrariy---low and slow is the way to proceed. I never work at more than 115F. And the fact is, much over 145F and you're in danger of cooking the food rather than drying it. There are other permanent changes the higher you go. At 165F, for instance, the volatile oils (including capcaicin) in chilies cook off, and they wind up tastless.

The guidelines provided for what temperature to use for what food type are to protect the manufacturer from liability suits. But they are not the best settings for a quality product.
 
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Thanks CanMan & KYH I appreciate the info. I am looking forward to my dried goodies. And CanMan I will store my dried tomatoes in the fridge:) Personally I hate food poisioning:eek:

Cathy
 
Hey Cathy,
I have a Nesco professional grade dehydrator. I got it for the same reason you plan to get one. I want to dry tomatoes. I have used it to dry store bought crappy tomatoes and garlic so far and it has done well. I cannot wait to try it on fresh tomatoes soon.
 
You know what I was thinking about doing? I really was going to just use my car to dry tomatoes. Seriously, you leave your parked car in a blazing parking lot for 8+ hrs everyday while you're at work and it is a dry heat (you could leave the window cracked a little for air circulation) by the time you kick off from work...BINGO...your tomatoes are dried and ready to be Pasteurized and Conditioned for storing. The chart I read on-line says 8 to 10 hrs to dry tomatoes. My main concern though is that the car would probably be far too hot, but I am going to temp it and see! What a cheap food dehydrator it would make!

I am always open to suggestions and your in-put forum friends. So what do ya' think about my idea?
 
I don't know which would be worse, the food picking up the flavors of sweat and overheated vinyl or the car acquiring a new flavor to mix in with the existing aromas. :)

I've left a lot of food in my car before (stray french fries, etc) and nothing ever got dehydrated, though it did seem to transform into something else unidentifiable. Maybe if it was left "outside" the car on the metal -- tried that and a bird flew down and grabbed it, leaving some poop in trade.
 
That Crazy Bird!!! Did You Ever Get Sprayed When Sitting Outside And A Flock Flew Over? Yep Happened To Me Once, I Was Rather Taken Back To Say The Least!

You Know I Did Not Think About The Tomatoes Aquiring New Flavor From The Cars Interior, But I Did Think About The Car Beggining To Smell Like Tomato! Then Ther Was The Whole Drying Tray Thing, Now I Could Make Them But Then I Worry About The Type Material To Use To Place The Tomatoes On? If I Dip The Tomatoes In Citric Acid Prior To Drying Then I Must Give Sufficient Time So As To Not Let Juice Drip All Over The Back Seat....well It Was A Thought. I Am Trying To Be Thrifty And Use What We Already Have.
 
If I Dip The Tomatoes In Citric Acid Prior To Drying.....
And why would you do that? Tomatoes are already very acidic and do fine by themselves. For bananas, apples, and potatoes yes dip them in a lemon juice/water mixture to keep them from turning color.
 
I read to do that somewhere; I thought when I read it that tomatoes were acidic why would I need more, but assumed that they would???? I am so glad you let me know otherwise.

Thanks Can Man!
 
I'm thinking you're reading the wrong books, Cathy.

Certainly tomatoes do not need to be acidified. Actually, neither do apples and bananas if you don't mind them turning dark.

And what's that about pasturizing?

Ok, into my sermon mode:

Drying is the worlds oldest known form of food preservation. Once you dehydrate food to 3-7% moisture levels it remains in that state literally forever. You do not have to treat dried foods any other way.

Indeed, probably the second most amusing thing I've ever read was the statements from people who say they keep their jerky in the freezer so it won't spoil.

Huh?

Drying should be done at relatively low temperatures. I like to work at 115F, and have dried fish much lower, at 90F. The one thing you don't want to do is try and speed up the process by increasing the heat. To do so courts danger, Will Robinson, as you might cook the food.

What's the difference? With cooking the food undergoes permanent cellular changes. This can be accomplished with either heat or acid, as the case may be. With drying you are merely removing the water. There is no permanent change to the cell structure, and the food will rehydrate if allowed to soak.

As to the car as dehydrator, I know people who have done it. Top the best of my knowledge the food does not pick up foreign odors. But many food types you want to dry---tomatoes do come to mind---drip naturally.

The way to set things up is to take a cooling rack that will fit inside a sheet pan (well, half-sheet for most of us). Set that out in the front window (hey! Am I the only one who misses those great shelves that used to be under the back windows?) with the sliced foods arranged on it.

You can do the same thing in the backyard, btw. Only you'll have to keep two things in mind: Insect damage can be extensive, unless you cover the rig with cheesecloth or mosquito netting; and remember to bring the stuff indoors before dew hits it.

Let's never forget that people have been drying foods successfully for 10,000 years; long before there was electricity, and fancy dehydrators.
 
Excellent point KYH, and that was my exact reasoning to try and invent a way without buying yet another piece of equipment to keep up with!
I feel though that the car will actually be too scalding hot, but I am not ruling it out just yet.
I do appreciate all the info. Thanks, Cathy
 
Nix the idea - really.

It would be a waste of good tomatoes!

And don't forget - there's the good old fashioned oven that we used long before the electric dehydrators!
 
Mama,

I just gotta' make some dried tomatoes, I want to make some of those like you can buy in the store (Sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, they are delicious) but I sure do not want to waste tomatoes, so I just know I have got to do it right!

A long time ago I used the kitchen oven and made some dried veggies and they tasted pretty good. I am going to just give it a try once this summer just to satisfy my curiosity if nothing else. I may just wind up using the kitchen oven as you mentioned! I was really trying to look at all the alternatives one has in drying, and you must have been reading my mind because I had just about decided to go with the oven!

Thanks, Cathy
 
The only thing with the oven - if it's really hot outside, having the oven on can make it a bit more uncomfortable.

The oven has worked for decades - it won't fail you.

The oven was also the first slow cooker/crockpot - low temperature cooking freeing up the needed time to do the canning, laundry (on the scrub board). scrub the floors on your hands and knees, etc. Those wonderful good old days!
 
There are two potential problems with stoves, and a third if you have one of those new smart stoves:

1. The lowest setting, on modern stoves, is too high. My oven's low setting, for instance, runs at 170F. At that temperature you are cooking the food, not drying it.

2. Assuming your low setting is low enough (they used to run at 125F, which is fine), make sure and leave the door open a crack, so the evaporating moisture can escape.

3. Many of the smart stoves have a built-in "safety" feature. If the oven is on for X number of hours the oven assumes you left it on by mistake, and shuts itself off. Obviously, that won't work for drying foods.
 
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