Best Food Dehydrators?

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

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

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

Thanks, Cathy

[Mama Mangia]

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.

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

Thanks for the tip!

[CanMan]

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.

[KYHeirloomer]

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.

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

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

Cathy

[jglass]

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.

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

store bought crappy tomatoes

Amen Sister - 'aint nothing like a fresh grown tomato from the garden!

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

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?

[CanMan]

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.