Food Dehydrator, Buying a Food Dehydrator, Choosing a Food ...
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Love My Excalibur® Food Dehydrator!
I have been using a dehydrator for quite some time. We just purchased our second Excalibur
® food dehydrator a few weeks ago. The only thing I use my canner for anymore is canning beef, chicken and vegetable stock.
Do not purchase a round dehydrator. They take too much babysitting. I highly recommend the Excalibur® with the optional timer. It is the best and worth every penny. We dehydrate so much. When produce is on sale at the store, I buy in quantity and dry it. When the garden is plentiful, the surplus gets dried. Drying saves so much space and you really do not need special jars and lids. We save peanut butter and spaghetti sauce jars. If you have Mason jars and lids you can use a vacuum sealer attachment and really prolong the life of the dried foods.
You can use a dehydrator to make yogurt, raise bread dough, dry herbs and spices, "bake" crackers and make granola. Once things are dry, there is no worry if the power goes out. As long as you have a water source, you can rehydrate foods. Louise
Before You Buy a Food Dehydrator
I would try a free or cheap route first, especially if you're just testing the waters. Try Freecycle, thrift shops, yard sales, and ask your friends if they know anyone who has one they don't use. If you end up discovering that dehydrating just isn't for you after all, you won't be out much money, if any. And if you do like it, you can always sell, donate or give that first trial model away and upgrade later if you so choose.
Another consideration is access to free or cheap produce. It won't save you much money if you have to buy expensive, full-price produce. On the other hand, if you garden, have generous friends with green thumbs, or know of a cheap source for fruits and veggies, you're ahead of the game. If your family eats a lot of beef (or other) jerky, that's another plus. And if you know a hunter, that's even better. My father used to make his own beef jerky, and it was delicious. Plus, you can control the flavor, the meat quality, and the ingredients.
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