Bizarre. I think that's probably the proper adjective.:D
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Bizarre. I think that's probably the proper adjective.:D
I thought of bizarre and I almost used strange but thought interesting would cover it.
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.
Let's see. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes..........
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.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by bulrush
AC Filters will keep the dust & bugs out while your food dries.
Man, that would take a looooong time with our Midwest humidity.
Good point. Depends on the local conditions. YMMV
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?Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick
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/f...splay.php?f=14
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.
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.
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.
gryffynklm - also - make sure you use the pleated paper filters, not the fiberglass ones.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Thanks Rick and Crash. Ya I had the same thought about the fiberglass.
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.