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Food dehydrator???

Can some one suggest a good one? Any advice is welcome! Thank you.

Comments

  • troublesjustabubbletroublesjustabubble Raw Newbie

    I need to know this too! I’ve been using my oven but it seems inefficient and doesn’t dry evenly enough. I need to stay within a budget too. So nothing crazy expensive:)

  • DreaDrea Raw Master

    I just posted something on a dehydrater that I’m curous about, please check it out and tell me what you think.

    The company is called best choice, you can find them on ebay. go to ebay put the numbers 150270065252 in the search and it will pop up. It looks just like a excaliber, same body and shelf style. Please check it out and tell me what you think because I’m tempted to buy one it’s $64.99 for a 6 shelf!

  • DreaDrea Raw Master

    Did you guys happen to check out the ebay dehydrators yet?

  • bittbitt Raw Newbie

    you can search this site for opinions. i think the excaliber one is good. the benefit of that one to the round ones are that you can make bigger flat things.

  • kandacekandace Raw Newbie

    I have a 5-tray Excalibur and love it. Splurge for a dehydrator with a timer – you won’t regret it!

  • DreaDrea Raw Master

    But thats what I mean, the one that I saw on ebay looks just like the excalibur. Read a couple of blogs up and check it out on ebay and tell me what yal think because the excalibur is kinda high.

  • beanybeeganbeanybeegan Raw Newbie

    I agree with kandace. Get one with a timer. I have two Excalibur’s a 5 tray and a 9 tray. Like having two ovens. smile I also have a 10 tray Garden Harvester )the round type) sitting in the basement collecting dust. This can not be used for raw even heating.

    My opinion on price. You get what you pay for.

    Have fun searching.

  • bittbitt Raw Newbie

    I have the one without a timer and it is ok too. I never had one with a timer so I guess I don’t know what I am missing!

  • I made a great solar dehydrator. I found plans online – it was pretty easy to build. It only cost me 5 dollars to make. I used salvage materials and only had to buy some small hardware. There’s no timer, but nothing beats free energy. :)

  • KhaasLadkiKhaasLadki Raw Newbie

    I agree with kandace (after asking her :D), you definitely want the timer! I haven’t had my dehydrator for a week yet, but I’ve used the timer every day so I don’t have to sit at home and wait for my stuff to be done!

    I also looked around and did some research on dehydrators before I bought one, and I went with the Excalibur 5-tray that has a timer. It was actually a little more than I wanted to spend, but I already think it was worth it! They’re having a sale right now so you can get a 10 yr warranty, 2 paraflex sheets, and free shipping on Excaliburdehydrator.com.

    From what I found out before buying one the round ones don’t work as well, and they’re harder to work with because you have to take each layer out to get to the next layer (whereas the square kinds you can just slide the trays out).

    Not only that, but these Excalibur ones are supposed to last forEVER!

    oh, I looked at your ebay thing: it looks okay, actually excalibur makes a white dehydrator but they don’t have a 6 tray and their trays don’t look like that. Personally, just because this is how I am, I would go for a ‘name brand’ over one that I wasn’t too sure about (but if you’re not like me that one actually looks nice!)

    I also found a 9-tray excalibur that’s $200, if you’re willing to spend that much it’s a great deal! The person said that it comes with 9 sheets and free shipping, as well. (and it has a timer! yay!) item no. 180266839111

    Good luck! Once you find a good one you won’t regret it – they’re soooo cool!

  • I looked on the one on Ebay and it is quite a bit smaller than the Excalibur. Also, it did not look like it had the mesh inserts that sit over the trays and I feel that could be a big problem. I got the 9 tray Excalibur without the timer for 209.00 but it had 9 teflex sheets and free shipping at www.rawveganbooks.com. I was very happy with their service and the fast shipping.

  • heathermarsbombheathermarsbomb Raw Newbie

    littlebirdie, did you get your plans from here? http://www.thefarm.org/charities/i4at/surv/sold…

  • WinonaWinona Raw Newbie

    I ordered my excalibur from the company directly. It was free fast shipping, came with teflex and mesh sheets, and they had great customer service. I got the 9 tray with timer. I love the timer – i pop in food before work, and set the timer to let it dehydrate. Food’s ready when i get home!

  • I am new here and just received my Excalibur dehydrator today… I’m thrilled! It’s much bigger than I thought, so I am not sure where the heck I’m going to put it, but I can’t wait to use it. I was using a dehydrator that I had for years for my garden, and I knew I wanted to upgrade and it would be worth the price for me. Oh, and since the timer was brought up, you can get the one without the timer and get an appliance timer at Home Depot or the like for a few bucks. That’s what I plan to do.

  • I bought my Excalibur 5-tray (new) on ebay for 179.00 and free shipping. There are many ebay stores that sell them.

    Oh, it also came with two teflex sheets.

  • From what I can gather, the white dehydrator uses each drawer as a door that seals it shut, so you cannot remove shelves to make room for taller items. If I am going to spend that much money, I want the convenience of a timer AND the ability to dehyrate tall items, tall bowls, etc.

    I wasn't sure how long I would be doing this RAW thing so I opted to try out a cheap Nesco for 40 bucks. Its working great for now. It has adjustable temps and I can get a timer thing that plugs into the wall. Also found trays with removable insides so its a hollow ring and I can now dehydrate taller items. So far I am happy, but yea, I want an excalibur one day if I stick with this.

  • derrycklderryckl Raw Superstar

    I picked up a Ronco one a few months back, *ridiculously cheap* (a bit ashamed to say - T@rget for $40), but no longer suited for me in the raw. It has a 100 watt heater, no fan, and the bottom trays get hotter than the top ones. When I checked the temperature, it was well-above the 120F mark.

    However, I have been doing a bit of work with it. A thyristor set (dimmer switch, cheap at hardware store) allows me to control the temperature, and a regular light timer seems to work too. At the moment, to others, it looks a bit bizarre, with thermostats, thyristors and timers, but it looks good to me.

    It is a definite "you get what you pay for" but I am a sucker for experimentation, so I'll stick with this one. For now.

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