Printable View
I am wanting to purchase a good dehydrator to make wafer like breads, crackers, chips and of course all the other essential drying you can do. What I would like to know is what dehydrators others have tried and liked the best especially for making the above things and even drying. I also don't want to have to rotate trays. Thanks for any info you can offer!
Kelly
I have been wanting one too...but I have never actually used one.
The thing is, we don't eat sugar, gluten or yeast. Basically, no bread :( With a dehydrator there are many ways to create your own wafer like bread and crackers out of different ingredients. This would really increase what we can eat and would be really helpful. A lot of raw vegans would probably use dehydrators for this purpose I would assume.
Kelly
The Excalibur dehydrators are the best you can buy for your home. They come in 4 or five tray units. The reason they're so good is that the fan blows the hot air horizontally across the trays. This allows for even drying on each tray. The trays are also square which is great because you can just line up your food as opposed to the awkward circular units. They also have an adjustable temperature knob for whatever you are making.
All that said I am in no way endorsing the use of this product and have not been paid to talk it up. They're just awesome. ;)
But they cost between US$100-150. Yikes. Worth it though if you dry a lot.
I was considering going raw for a bit and I assume these would be necessity. Anyone know?Quote:
burl
Not a necessity at all. That said they sure are nice to have around. The raw thing is a whole new discussion.
I forgot to add that you could make your own dehydrator for very little. I talking under US$10. They work just as well as the units you could buy.
how?Quote:
burl
you can also dehydrate using your oven on it's lowest setting with the door open a bit and leave it going all day.
BJJNick check out these sites:
http://www.alpharubicon.com/prepinfo...torstryder.htm
http://www.backpacking.net/makegear.html
Quote:
burl
awesome! thank you.
awesome! i always wanted to learn sewing too :) uhm, just talking about the websites, nothing about the dryers rofl.
But btw I think we can eat bread, as far as I know sourdough is fine!
Yes, there is vegan bread around (although I don't think one can assume sourdough is, one probably needs to check the ingredients that a particular baker uses).Quote:
rxseeeyse
But if people are trying to eat only (or mostly) raw food then they may want unbaked alternatives to bread.
oh yes. that's so true. thx harpy for pointing that out :)
I never thought about checking the labels before...on anything I assume to be vegan...but it is true that one can assume nothing :D
But honestly, sometimes even the cover says it's vegan the stuff inside tastes like meat= =...I bought a sticky rice ball at a chinese take-out place a couple days ago and the stuff inside really taste like meat, although the cashier promised me that is fake meat....= =
Hi rxseeeyse - Over here they often put stuff like whey in bread, and I think that could apply to sourdough bread too. However, it's probably not worth getting tied in knots about traces of non-vegan ingredients, certainly when you first go vegan, as there is a risk of getting discouraged.
But with staples like bread one can usually identify some sources of vegan versions and then keep buying the same ones which takes a bit of the hard work out, until they change the formula of course :D (I gave up the unequal struggle and make my own in a machine!)
Nice~~~
I guess my case is a bit generic, but I gave up buying muffins and making my own muffins now xD.
about whey, I'm so amazed to find out they put those stuff in chips too...so to say, unless originial flavour, every other flavour seem to have milk products in them = =.
Yes it's a pain isn't it? There must be a lot of whey to get rid of!Quote:
rxseeeyse
yea, definately :)
A dehydrator has been on my list of things to buy for years but I haven't done it yet because I never cook or make food so I know it would just go to waste. I just wish everyone else around me had one and liked to make stuff for me.
I live off grid, so I have to make one. It's on my to do list, I will let you know how it goes!
Although, I did see one on Amazon... that's the lazy me talking lol!
Cedar (or anyone) - do you think it would be possible to make those nice flaxseed crispbreads/crackers in a low oven with the door open, please? I'm developing a bit of a taste for them so it might be good if I can make my own, but buying a dehydrator just for that seems like overkill. On the other hand the oven method sounds as if it would waste a bit of energy - though OK in winter I suppose as you would heat the house at the same time!
For Christmas I was given a 9 tray Excalibur dehydrator. I was eying it for a while and I think it's great. I haven't made any crackers with it yet, have just been drying fruit and veg and I'm loving it!! I find the dried fruits are absolutely delicious, much nicer than the shop bought ones. I powdered the dried veggies and added to soup, hummus and a dipping cheese, delicious! :p
I think it's good to go for more trays because when it's on it's easier to do a lot in one go, but I guess if you're not sure you're going to use it that much it's cheaper to buy a smaller one or build your own to try it out.
Does anybody know where could you order an Excalibur dehydrator in Europe with normal price (read: only a bit more expensive than in US). Thanks. :)
Mine was bought on UK eBay at the time
i am intregued with these.... can anyone give me an example recipe of what you'd make in one of these please? i can't get my head around how dehydrating food makes crackers etc??? (sorry if i'm slow, new concept to me).
thanks.
hmm i found this: http://www.fresh-network.com/acatalo...hydrators.html
so how big are these? are they size of your regular oven or something that stands on your worktop?
I use mine for drying fruits, making yoghurt and fruit leathers. Just last week I made flax crackers for the very first time and they were fantastic! You basically cook things in the dehydrator on a very low temperature for a long period and you lose most or all of the water content. Oh and I've also dried raw veggie puree's then grind them up as a powder to use as bouillon.
I have a 9 tray Excalibur which I use to dry home grown Tomatoes, I looked at all the others but it was the Excalibur that seemed the best and holds the most, it's easy to clean as well, and has loads of temperature options, and without looking I think a 24hour timer which is important for me.
Go for Excallibur. First we had a smaller and much cheaper dehydrator, but that required that you frequently shuffle the order for the trays and it took ages to dehydrate anything. Then we bout the 9-tray Excallibur (just the one without the timer, timer is not really necessary I think), and it was SOOO much better. Much bigger capacity, much faster action and no need the change the order of the trays.