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Rick
03-15-2008, 06:13 PM
I'm in the market for another dehydrator and I'm looking at the 5-Tray SMALL GARDEN-Excalibur 26 hour Timer #3526T for my wife and me.

http://www.excaliburdehydrator.com/Dehydrators-37-cat.htm

I was wondering if anyone had an Excalibur and what you thought of it?

nell67
03-15-2008, 06:20 PM
for 50 bucks more,I'd go with the larger one,I hadn't seen these before,but I think I would like them better than the one I have,and I like my $5 yard sale dehydrator.

Rick
03-15-2008, 06:39 PM
15 square feet of drying surface is just way too much for me. The 8 square feet will probably be more than the two of us need.

Chicago Dan
03-24-2008, 01:42 AM
Rick,

I don't know what kind of volume you are looking to process but even with my little city plot I find myself wishing I had more capacity. Even with different herbs ready for processing on different days and rotating shelves etc. I still find it a bit of a hassle and I don't even mind combining different herbs on different shelves etc. Of course there are efficiency issues. I would rather get it all done in fewer runs then having many smaller batches.

Then again I am also drying part of my large raspberry crop into fruit rolls for the kids and that window is not open for too long.

Personally when my unit gives out I'm going to get a big as the wife will allow.
Then again overkill is part of my nature.

canid
03-24-2008, 02:33 AM
...Then again overkill is part of my nature.

i hear you there.

Rick
03-24-2008, 07:41 AM
I ordered the five tray Excalibur. We'll see how sorry I am on the size.

Rick
03-24-2008, 10:53 AM
Mitch - My wife and I used to dehydrate foods when my son was hiking the AT but we got away from it after he finished. Since I'm getting back into it I'm in the process of pulling out some old recipes and information we had used then. I came across some information I thought you might like since you do ultra light backpacking.

A 1 pound 5 ounce can of fruit cocktail when dried reduces to 3 ounces and tastes like fruit candy.

A 13 ounce can of cream soup reduces to 3 ounces dried.

A 6 1/8 ounce can of water-packed tuna dries to 1 ounce.

A 1 pound 9 ounce jar of spaghetti sauce when dried to leather reduces to 3 ounces and will yield about 2 cups of sauce.

1 pound lean ground beef dried weighs 5 ounces and equals 3/4 cup.

A 30 ounces package of frozen vegetables when dried weighs 5 ounces.

1 pound of fresh tofu equals 3 ounces dried (Bleeeck!)

4 cups dried cooked brown rice = 1 pound
6 cups oatmeal = 1 pound
3 cups powdered milk = 1 pound
3 cups raisins = 1 pound
4 cups granola = 1 pound
6 cups home-dried bananas = 1 pound
8 cups home-dried tomatoes = 1 pound
8 cups home-dried peaches = 1 pound
2 1/2 cups home-dried celery powder = 1 pound
4 cups applesauce leather cut into 1 inch squares = 1 pound


Hope that helps.

crashdive123
04-01-2008, 08:03 AM
Having never used a dehydrator before....I've read about the one you're getting Rick, I've read about the homemade ones posted someplace else on the forum. My question is, for a first time user how are the carousel dehydrators that are available at the big box stores?

Tahyo
04-01-2008, 08:19 AM
I'm going to jump in here on this one but admit right off the bat that I personally do not use one of the carousel dehydrators.

I have been using an Excalibur brand for almost 10 years (before that, the oven). I've used it for jerky the majority of the time, but have used it to dry fruit, herbs and my wife has used it to dry a few flowers here and there.

The heating element and fan are at the back of the unit, which theoretically you shouldn't have to turn or move your trays around. I do anyway and would like to think that by doing so things dry evenly as well as a bit faster.

When I did my research on getting a dehydrator, one of the reasons I did not go with a carousel type was the fan was at the bottom and the top tray was going to get limited air flow.
My oldest son uses a carousel style and has no complaints, but he does not use it near as much as I use mine.

If the Excalibur I have now broke tomorrow, I would immediately order a new one, but a bigger model.

nell67
04-01-2008, 08:44 AM
Having never used a dehydrator before....I've read about the one you're getting Rick, I've read about the homemade ones posted someplace else on the forum. My question is, for a first time user how are the carousel dehydrators that are available at the big box stores?

Craxh,I bought a used carousel at a yard sale for $5,without a guide with it,so I keep an eye on whatever I put in it,and I have to rotate the trays from top to bottom,to ensure that everything dries fairly even,I would go with the one that Rick linked to if I bought a new one.

Rick
04-01-2008, 08:53 AM
Crash - We had a carousel type years ago when the boy hiked the AT. The heater is generally on the top or bottom with those so you have to move the trays around to get even drying. That was a pain in the ..... They don't have a timer either. So if something needs to dry for 6 hours you can't put it on in the evening or you have to get up and shut it off in the middle of the night or it will over dry to food. If the heater is on the bottom then they are just harder to clean. The foods drips down on the fan assembly until it starts to dry out.

Many with the heater on the bottom don't even have a fan on the theory that hot air rises. Again, you have to move the trays.

The Excalibur is pretty nice. I've done some fruit and the yogurt leathers (like fruit rollups) and it was just a set and forget. Sweet. The fan and heater are in the back so each of the trays received the same heat level. It also has a thermostat so you can dial up the temperature you want. That's important because meats can take longer than vegies if you only have one temperature. Sometimes a lot longer. With a thermostat you can set the temperature lower for fruits and higher for meats. More like your oven.

The carousels work but it's more work for you.

crashdive123
04-01-2008, 08:56 AM
Thanks Tahyo, Nell and Rick.

wildWoman
04-01-2008, 01:42 PM
We just use the oven in our propane stove for drying, with just the pilot light on. Good option if you don't have electricity although for proper drying temperatures, you should turn it on to a low setting every now and then. However, it's worked fine for us with just the pilot light, as long as stuff is spread out enough and checked for spoilage.
Once we wrestle our wood cookstove into the cabin, we'll see how that works for drying. Unfortunately a small simple model without the warming/drying closet.

bulrush
04-01-2008, 02:26 PM
$200 for a dehydrator? I think I'll just make one for $20. A lightbulb or 2, a biscuit fan, and some woodworking and screen and I'm ready to go.

Rick
04-01-2008, 02:43 PM
Wait a minute. Aren't you the same guy with 25+ knives?:rolleyes:

Rick
05-03-2008, 10:49 AM
I was just reminded of another tip on drying foods and thought I'd pass it along. This also ties in with the thread to make your food dollars stretch. Fruits like bananas and grapes don't last very long. They can go bad if you don't eat them right away. Rather than let that happen I toss them in dehydrator. So instead of throwing the last couple of bananas away I turn them into banana chips.

I just dehydrated my first celery stalk. It dehydrated down to about a half cup in size!!!!
I was amazed. This was a huge celery stalk that required four trays for drying and now it fits in a small plastic container.

crashdive123
05-03-2008, 04:23 PM
*in his best Elvis impersonation* Thank you, Thank you very much.

Alpine_Sapper
05-03-2008, 04:42 PM
I was just reminded of another tip on drying foods and thought I'd pass it along. This also ties in with the thread to make your food dollars stretch. Fruits like bananas and grapes don't last very long. They can go bad if you don't eat them right away. Rather than let that happen I toss them in dehydrator. So instead of throwing the last couple of bananas away I turn them into banana chips.

I just dehydrated my first celery stalk. It dehydrated down to about a half cup in size!!!!
I was amazed. This was a huge celery stalk that required four trays for drying and now it fits in a small plastic container.

You can also cut your banana's into chips and freeze them. Works great for smoothies/protein shakes, adding to oatmeal, or for banana bread. If you thaw them they are kinda mushy, but since you pulverize them for all those uses anyway shouldn't be a problem. :)

Rick
05-03-2008, 06:00 PM
"Okay, Banana. Youse was told not to talk. Now we're gonna pulvarize you. Any last words?

Mmmmm. Mmmm. Mmm. Mmmmmm. Mmmmm!

"What'd he say?"

"Nuttin' stupid. Bananas ain't got no mouth."

buttercup
06-03-2008, 11:09 AM
"Okay, Banana. Youse was told not to talk. Now we're gonna pulvarize you. Any last words?

Mmmmm. Mmmm. Mmm. Mmmmmm. Mmmmm!

"What'd he say?"

"Nuttin' stupid. Bananas ain't got no mouth."


you have a very interesting sense of humor . . .

Rick
06-03-2008, 11:26 AM
Bizarre. I think that's probably the proper adjective.:D

buttercup
06-03-2008, 12:49 PM
I thought of bizarre and I almost used strange but thought interesting would cover it.

Ken
06-03-2008, 12:52 PM
And may I :D add:

Absurd, Bizarre, Comical, Cranky, Curious, Demented, Disoriented, Disturbed, Eccentric, Erratic, Freakish, Goofy, Harlequin, Harmless, Idiosyncratic, Jumbled, Kooky, Laughable, Loopy, Misguided, Nutty, Odd, Outlandish, Peculiar, Quirky, Rotund (saw that pic in "Show Yourself" :p) Sad, Screwball, Singular, Strange, Tyrannical, Unnatural, Unusual, Vocal, Void, Weird, XXX, Yapping, Zany.

Rick
06-03-2008, 01:21 PM
Let's see. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes..........

Rick
06-03-2008, 07:12 PM
Some of you are getting back into dehydrating like me and some of you are just starting out so I thought I'd share some info.

I dehydrate five white onions today about the size of tennis balls. I chopped them up to about the size of commercially dehydrated minced onions. Some pieces were a bit larger but I didn't have any pieces larger than my thumb nail. I dehydrated them for about 8 hours and wound up with 2 cups of minced onions.

Now I don't have to worry about keeping them in the fridge to preserve them. I put them in a 2 cup Tupperware container with a screw type lid and put them in my spice cabinet.

Dennis K.
06-04-2008, 12:34 PM
$200 for a dehydrator? I think I'll just make one for $20. A lightbulb or 2, a biscuit fan, and some woodworking and screen and I'm ready to go.

Save yourself the woodworking - Try replacement air conditioning filters. Stack the food on the filter, another filter on top, repeat 'til you have 6, 8, 10 or so. Bungee them together, attach the whole set up to a box fan.
AC Filters will keep the dust & bugs out while your food dries.

Rick
06-04-2008, 12:41 PM
Man, that would take a looooong time with our Midwest humidity.

Dennis K.
06-04-2008, 12:47 PM
Good point. Depends on the local conditions. YMMV

rawfood09
03-17-2009, 05:54 AM
I ordered the five tray Excalibur. We'll see how sorry I am on the size.

Wondering what your feelings on with this dehydrator, i'm a single person, and will have a small garden going this year. Is this size more than enough for you two? And what are the pro's and con's to this unit that you have found?

Rick
03-17-2009, 06:58 AM
So far, it has worked out just fine. I've had several sessions in which I've filled all the trays up but I haven't been sorry I bought the 5 tray. I canned and froze quite a bit last year and I dehydrated a lot, too.

On the pro side, I like the thermostat control and the timer. I set the temperature and time and pretty much forget about it. It's pretty quiet. The only thing you hear is the blower fan running. Clean up is a snap and it's pretty simple and straight forward. The user manual is pretty comprehensive, too. Finally, it's backed by a company that is been in the business a long time.

On the con side, it does take up some room. That's to be expected but if your space it limited it is something to think about. The blower is pretty robust so drying small light items can tend to blow around a bit. This isn't a big problem but be aware of it and keep your light items like herbs a bit larger. If you think the size of commercial parsley, that's the size of stuff that bets blown a bit. It's expensive. It's a lot of money but it is a quality unit with good features and I don't see any reason that it won't last for a long time.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy the unit again. It seems to be right sized for us and does a great job.

I hope that helps.

How about setting up your dehydrator in the Introduction section and tell us a bit about yourself?

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=14

Alpine_Sapper
03-17-2009, 07:36 AM
For those considering the round carousel model, I was recently given the "Snackmaster Jr." It's the one that comes with four trays, and is expandable to six. Considering it was free I couldn't turn it down. I'm actually really pleased with it. I will definitely be upgrading to a model with a timer and temperature control, and the fan in the back on the excaliburs sounds nice, but the carousel beats the oven any day of the week. Due to the storage conditions (outside in Texas for a few years, in the back of an non working vehicle) I thought it may not function correctly, but I've been using it 4-5 days a week since Christmas and have had no issue. I did have to pick up an insert for each tray, as I've found that most of stuff that I dehydrate for backpacking/storage foods are wet, like spaghetti and taco meat, etc.

gryffynklm
03-21-2009, 10:05 PM
Edit:It looks like Bulrush posted the same idea earlier.

Alton Brown made beef jerky on the Good eats show on the 3-20-09. The episode is called Urban Preservation II. He describes a simple cost effective way to make a dehydrator. It uses furnace filters and a window fan. I'm going to try this with vegitables. Here is the script from that particular part of the show.

From Good Eats, Alton Brown

SCENE 16
The Kitchen

So, if we want to mummify meat, we will need an arid, relatively cool, and very windy environment. Can we make that in our kitchen? No problem. Simply lay out your strips of drained and dried meat on top of the ridges of standard home furnace filters available at your local friendly hardware store for, I don't know, something like 99 cents. Then break out your – BLOWHARD 4000! [a box fan descends from above] Thank you, thank you. Now you may remember the Blowhard 3000 from our herb show. It's an excellent herb drier. But that was the 3000. This one's better because it's the ... it's the 4000. There. Okay. So, here's how you do it.

AB: [unhooks the box fan, the hook rises] Thank you.

First, stack the filters thusly right on top of each other and then top that with one empty filter. There we go. Then, lay down your Blowhard 4000 and stack thusly. Then connect the bungee cords so that the hooks are just around the sides of the fan into the grate. Nice and secure.
Now personally, I don't mind the house smelling like dried meat products. But if you or anyone in your home does mind that, just plug up your fan and kind of prop it up in your kitchen window blowing outward so that the smell goes out to someplace where it will be enjoyed, you know, like dogs, cats, and other critters and what not. Now the time on this will depend on your fan, on the density of your filters, and how thin you cut the meat. I usually start checking on it after about eight hours, but usually my batches take up to twelve. And don't worry, your patience will be rewarded.

If possible use cellulose rather than fiberglass based filters.

Now, the only downside to this method is that you're not going to want to use these furnace filters in your furnace. I probably didn't have to say that. Now I realize this jerky is not very attractive. But believe me, this is the best stuff you will ever lock jaws on. As for storage, well, I would avoid zip top bags. These things have a tendency to hold moist air right up against the surface of the meat. That'll partially re-hydrate it and it'll be pushing up mold within a month. If, however, you use something nice and open, with plenty of room and air in it, well, this stuff will keep for about 40 years.

Rick
03-21-2009, 10:21 PM
If you're going to try it I would use veggies that have less liquid in them. Celery, onion, herbs as opposed to something like tomatoes or cucumbers. The less water you start with the easier it will be to dry them. That should give you a decent idea of whether it really works and how well. If you start with tomotoes you might decide to give up after, say, 12 hours when they need 15 to dry with this setup. Those numbers are just made up, of course. I have no idea how long it will take in this rig.

crashdive123
03-21-2009, 10:30 PM
gryffynklm - also - make sure you use the pleated paper filters, not the fiberglass ones.

LowKey
03-21-2009, 11:05 PM
Mmmm fiberglass fibers in yer food. Extra crunchy. Yum.

I have an Excalibur too. But the 9-tray model. While it will dry nearly a half bushel of apples at a time, I think the centrally located fan dries the center trays faster than the top or bottom. Maybe it should have been designed with 2.
Anyway, I love it. Thermostat, timer, set and forget - though I usually set the time for approximately half the drying time to turn and restack the trays.

I had done some research before buying and also had some friends tell me about their round units not working so well. Especially if grease or dip got down into the fan.

Anyone have a good jerky recipe that doesn't require a salt cure? Not that I can't eat salt but I do only rarely and in moderation.

Rick
03-21-2009, 11:07 PM
I saw the same thing on the grease in the round models. That and the fact that you have to restack the trays pushed me away from them.

I don't have to restack trays on the 5 tray model. There is enough air movement that all five dry the same.

LowKey
03-21-2009, 11:11 PM
Maybe 2 five-trays would have been the better answer. Except for the initial cost...
I noticed Bass Pro had the 5-tray model in-store, after I ordered mine. Thankfully shipping was no charge from Excalibur.

Rick
03-21-2009, 11:21 PM
The only reason I went with the 5 tray was the size. I thought it would be plenty for us. I'd read a number of reviews that said go with the larger ones but I chose to go with the 5 tray and I've been happy with it.

gryffynklm
03-22-2009, 09:59 AM
Thanks Rick and Crash. Ya I had the same thought about the fiberglass.

Rick
03-22-2009, 10:09 AM
I just didn't want to see you try it and give up thinking it wouldn't work when all you might have needed was just a few more hours. Veggies with less liquids will dry quicker and give you a faster result for your test, I think.

Nativedude
03-22-2009, 09:31 PM
Personally, I wouldn't use furnace filters. Wouldn't want to take the chance on any of the fibers (no matter what type they were) getting into my meat and then ingesting them.

The dryer racks I use for drying meat I made. There are 8 of them 26"x34". This is how they are made:

1.) 8 - 10'x1"x2" - cut to length (makes 8 racks) (1 - 10'er per rack).
2.) Glue & screw frames together.
3.) I used flat "L" brackets at all corners to re-enforce them.
4.) I bought 8 yards of "natural" (no dyes) cotton gauze material (Jo-Ann Fabrics - can usually find on clearance) cut into 8 - 1 yard pieces at the store (cloth is 54" wide).
5.) Wrap frames (on both sides) with material, pulling until taught, and staple around all four sides (on one side) and three sides of the other side. Leave one of the long sides (on one side only) unstapled. This is so you can put the slices of meat to be dried in between the cotton gauze cloth. (This also keeps the flies and other bugs off the meat while drying).

Stack them and begin your drying. . . .There you have it!

Rick
03-22-2009, 09:35 PM
My dad said when he was a kid they would lay the fruit on the roof of the house and cover it with window screens to keep the bugs off.

Nativedude
03-22-2009, 09:44 PM
Rick,

Was their roof wood or metal? If it was fiberglass shingles, do they have any strange ticks, twitches, shakes or alzheimers (from the shingles?!). . . .Uhhh, what's my name again. . . :lol: :confused1: :lol: :triage: :lol:

Rick
03-22-2009, 09:48 PM
That was in the 1920s. It would have either been wood shake or tin. I never asked but that's what most were around there. When I was a teen-ager I accused him of having all manner of things wrong with him. As I got older he seemed to get a lot better.:whistling:

crashdive123
03-22-2009, 09:51 PM
As I got older he seemed to get a lot better.That seems to be a fairly common occurance.

Rick
03-22-2009, 09:53 PM
You sure hope it works that way. It did with my kids. We'll see about the grandkids.