inexpensive food dehydrators?

[Heather]

Hi, I'm new to the forums. I've been canning for a while, but now would like to start dehydrating. I looked at the Excalibur dehydrators, but they're a little pricey to start off with. Do you have a suggestion for a beginner dehydrator, so that I can get a feel for it?

 

Thanks

[Cat]

Heather! "Gardening, cooking and knitting nut." I LIKE that!!

 

 

You can use your oven, if you're careful. Is that a possibility? I *think* the gas with a pilot light is best.

 

 

Or I've heard of people using their *cars* when the food isn't really strong (like onions would be). Parked in the summer sun, the windshield area and the back window areas can dehydrate quite nicely!

 

 

Those suggestions are if you want to try dehydrating to see if you like it, before investing the money in a machine.

 

 

Other ways to get a cheaper machine are to check thrift stores (Salvation Army, Goodwill, etc.), garage and yard sales, and by asking friends and neighbors who might "know somebody" wanting to sell/give away one.

 

 

I have an Excalibur and like it.

 

 

 

[Leah]

I started out with an American Harvest 32 years ago, still use one. (I'm on my second unit.)

[MommyofSeven]

I second the American Harvest. I got mine at Walmart for about $40, after scouring ebay trying to find a cheaper one.

 

Mo7

[goatherder]

When I was a kid we used to dehydrate food by putting an old, clean sheet over a piece of metal, putting the food on it, covering it with a layer of cheesecloth and letting the sun do the drying. You can also use old oven or refrigerator racks to lay the food on. Cover them with cheesecloth or other clean cotton fabric so smaller pieces don't fall through. If you decide you really like dehydrating using solar power, you (or hubby) can make a solar dryer that's a bit more permanent.

[moonstar]

I have a Nesco, American Harvest that I bought online for about $60.00 and I love it. Today, I had a couple of banana's that were getting old, a couple of apples and some pineapple that needed to be eaten or dehydrated, so it is in the dehydrater now. It is a good way to put back some food, and minimize waste. I am trying to buy the frozen veggies on sale for about a 1.00 a pound and dehydrate and vacume seal for prep items. I just keep mine setting on the counter top, and that helps me to use it more frequently.

 

[Leah]

I keep mine with 4 trays on a little table in the library.

DD picked some chamomile in the driveway for me to dry today. Last week I dried hamburger rocks.

 

If you leave it out somewhere you will use it a lot...

[Violet]

I agree, the American Harvest, but get the 500 watt one. You need one with a good fan, heat source, and an adjustable thermostat to be a good one. The Ronco type are ones we do not recommend. There is another brand that is also not good. No fan in it either. Foods can mold before they dry in them. Also, you cannot safely make jerky in them, even though the makers claim you can.

 

[Heather]

Thank you so much everyone. I've seen some that looked like some plastic racks without anything else. I will avoid those. I'll have to try the oven and sun first though.

 

Thanks again,

 

Heather

[Cat]

Heather...

 

How old are the kids??

 

 

Turn it all into a science lesson!!!

 

 

 

[Heather]

The kids are almost 6 and almost 3. That would be a great science lesson!

 

Heather

[Adam_MA]

I'll add another vote for the American Harvest. I agree with the selectable thermostat as well. I have 12 trays for mine, with the fruit roll trays, and the mesh screens. Mine gets plenty of use.

 

I did see a little video online of a guy who used some of those 1" paper filter elements for a furnace to make jerky. He put the meat into the pleated sections of the filter, and strapped them to a box fan with bungee cords.

[anna]

My son built mine out of plywood in high school shop. He apologized for not having a knob for the door. I glued a wooden spool on for a handle and its still there. BTW my son graduated in 1979. I've replaced the screen on the trays once but that's it. The heat source is 4 light bulbs in the bottom of the box but I have to unscrew 2 or it gets too hot. The trays are wooden frames with fiberglass screen. Its pretty big maybe 3' square and 3' high. It holds a ton of food. The only thing I have to do is remember to switch shelves around top to bottom so things dry evenly. I'd like to add a small fan to circulate the heat but so far have not. If you're interested in building your own I imagine you could find plans on the Internet.

[Girl Next Door]

I'm thinking a fan made to go into a computer would be cheap, easy and small. Just a thought.

[Canned Nerd]

You would probably have to change the design of the dehydrator if you wanted a fan, in order to circulate the warm air and not just push it out and draw cold in.

 

[Ambergris]

I have sketched out a larger dehydrator, and picked up the kind of solar-powered fan they sell to ventilate parked cars. Haven't actually built it, though. The last big dehydrator was damaged, and instead of being repaired was scrapped out because I didn't make a big enough deal of keeping it for a rebuild.

[Insurance]

Welcome to the boards Heather!

 

I was just getting ready to ask this same question. I actually had a dehydrator ~ which I hated. It did a very poor job, so I gave it to Goodwill. I am now in the market for new one myself.

[Suz]

I bought my American Harvest on Amazon last year for under $40 and that included shipping.

 

How about posting a request on freecycle? free is good

[mellissat]

Well I am new here also. Have been canning for a few years. After reading on here I just need to find a good dehydrator. I have the want to provide more for the family. I am thinking of trying one from walmart to start with

 

 

[Cat]

Oh, my... I tried looking up "Homemade dehydrator" on my favorite search engine, Dogpile.com...

 

I couldn't believe how many sites there were!

 

Some use lightbulbs in a tin-foil-lined cardboard box, others were more elaborate.

 

One place said that your local county extension agency will have plans. (?)

 

One is a wood-fired outside building! http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/hooker41.html

 

If you do make your own, be sure to test it for temperatures, etc. so you know what you have.

 

Have fun!!

 

http://www.dogpile.com/dogpile/ws/results/...=7?_IceUrl=true

 

 

 

[Violet]

Yes, we have plans for making a dehydrator available in the extension information.

 

[PureCajunSunshine]

I'm a true-blue-'til-the-day-I-die Nesco Junkie. This dehydrator is one of the cheaper models, but it is a great workhorse that refuses to quit! My tower of a gazillion trays dries evenly, thanks to the good design and powerful little fan inside.

 

Tip: Do you have something messy to dry and you are short on those special pliable plastic trays? Cut baking 'parchment paper' to fit! It also works well if you are drying things that will shrivel small enough to fall between the 'cracks'.

 

Parchment paper is sold in some of the better stocked stores, near the aluminum foil, waxed paper and plastic...If you can't find it there, look near the flour and baking goods.

 

Depending on what I use them for, I can reuse the same sheets many, many times.