dehydrator

[finallygettingit]

dabbling my toes in the prepping water...
can anyone recommend a dehydrator?
my freezer is full and I gave plenty of jam- bottling fruit I found lots of work and messy
I'd like another way to preserve fruit- in bulk!

I'm going to ask in the gardening topic as well

There are threads a while back about dehydrating. Might be worth a search through the board.

I am stewing and freezing. Also messy. And time consuming. Plums are quicker than apples.

There is a lot of fruit about this year.

thanks for that tip @BlackeyedSusan
I found my own post where I said I'd borrowed a dehydrator, made apple rings and then didn't eat them !

however now I have realised I could put them in muesli so I want to try again!

The Purposeful Pantry on Youtube is a good place to start, but its US based and not all of the machines or equipment are available here. Features to look for are a back fan if you want to dry very wet food like fruit leathers, and a thermostat. A timer is nice but not essential.
Dehydrating is expensive. You've got the cost of the dryer, the sheets you need to put different kinds of food on, the running costs, and the storage equipment. Fruit, tomato leather and green veggies will keep for up to 18 months if stored properly. I've got pumpkin, potatoes and mushrooms that are 3 years old and still seem to be ok.
Start with a smaller, cheap dehydrator, you can get a Vonshef from about £35 on Amazon (check the size, some of them are tiny), and see if you actually like to eat the food once its been dried. The flavour tends to be good but a lot of people have a problem with the texture, if thats the case you can grind most foods in a blender and use them as powder.
Dehydrators tend to keep their second hand value so you can sell your dryer if you don't get on with it. If you decide to upgrade to a bigger machine its best to keep the smaller one, the big machines are completely uneconomical if you run them half full.
For long term storage try clip top mason jars, or airtight polycarbonate food containers (such as the Smart Seal containers they sell in Asda), and keep them in a dark pantry.

thank you 😍

I have one but after the first few weeks of getting excited Ive found I really don't use it. I guess if you grow a lot of your own food and cant eat it all then it might be useful but I suspect most people end up throwing away much of what they've dehydrated since unless there is a budgetary issue or a crisis why would you eat dried carrots rather than grabbing a bag of fresh

I use mine a lot in the summer/autumn with excess fruits. If I don't want to make jams I'll make fruit leathers or just dried fruit to use it up.

yes I made leather once using the oven but turns out I don't really eat it- but dried fruit is always handy

Dehydrating foods can be expensive due to current electricity prices. I’m on a tariff called Octopus Agile and dehydrate a batch of whatever food it is when the price per kWh is 2p or less. If you’re able to be flexible about when you put your dehydrator on, it could be a good option.

No matter whether you freeze foods or dehydrate them, it’s time consuming. It’s only worth it if the foods are definitely going to be eaten up, or given as gifts. If you’re looking for posh jam jars for gifting, the Lakeland ones are ideal, especially if you buy them when they’re offering their 20% discount vouchers.

This Christmas I made dehydrated orange and citrus slices with cinnamon sticks and cloves with my 11 year old to have as festive decorations, it was a fun activity and I’ve heard the decorations last for years.

If you Google search ‘top ten foods to dehydrate’ you’ll get loads of really practical ideas to help you use your dehydrator more. Apparently you can also restore biscuits/cornflakes that have been left open & gone soft 😀