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I bought mine a couple of months ago and just began using it last night. The first two items I made were a couple trays of banana crepes from Ani Phyo's raw food primer. I used three other trays for sweet potato chips. They were a bit chewy but my partner liked them. The crepes I may have overdried and so I broke them into pieces and put them in a container.
I have one. I love it and use it pretty often, but I don't really "make" much with it. It's mostly used for drying peppers and herbs that I grow. Sometimes I'll dry tomatoes and grind them into a powder that I use to flavor soups, hummus, bread, etc. I dehydrate morels that I find in the woods in the Spring and then grind them into a powder, or I'll rehydrate them in water. Dehydrated green beans and okra are good too.
I've had an Excaliber for years. Back when I was into raw food I used to make a lot of flax crackers, and tortillas and pizza with it. And I made dried fruit and veggies when the garden harvest was to heavy to eat it all fresh. I used the dried tomatoes all winter long.
Now that I live in Hawai'i I don't use it as often. For one thing I can buy really excellent dried local papaya and mango and pineapple at the farmers market now. And with electricity here costing 3X what it did on the mainland, I don't like to use it much.
But I found some plans for solar dehydrators on the internet and I'm considering which one to build, and then I'll probably do it again.
I had one. I sold it. It was very fussy, time-consuming and a PIA to clean up--all to make things I could buy cheaper.
I looked into a solar one and even made one myself. At the time, I lived in a high humidity area though, so by the time I dehydrated the stuff, it was spoiled or had mold. It took like 4 days.
Yum! That Kale sounds awesome. I think I'll try it!
I have one. Mostly I make jerky and dried fruits, so far. My jerky NEVER comes out the same twice, because I refuse to buy the pre-mixed seasonings. Sigh.
Oh, I did a bunch of sliced garlic once, it was great! Used it in a lot of stuff.
I use one to make venison jerky and sometimes fruits and veggies. Cabelas has some nice seasonings for dehydrating fruits and veggies that make for great snacks.
Yum! That Kale sounds awesome. I think I'll try it!
I have one. Mostly I make jerky and dried fruits, so far. My jerky NEVER comes out the same twice, because I refuse to buy the pre-mixed seasonings. Sigh.
Oh, I did a bunch of sliced garlic once, it was great! Used it in a lot of stuff.
My parents have one. They make banana chips, dried apples, and jerky regularly. My mother has used it to dry tomatoes for the winter. Their jerky never comes out the same twice either so don't worry.
My mom and aunt both have one. They are always making dried fruits - bananas, plantains, apples, pineapples, mangoes, peaches, and plums. They don't add any sugar or salt. I'd say pineapple is my favorite out of the bunch.
Be careful though -- the serving size is deceiving since they are much smaller than the real thing!!
Can anyone recommend a brand of dehydrator or a specific model?
What about round vs square machines?
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