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Dehydrator 101 questions

Hi everyone,

My beloved bought me dehydrator today and I'm confused already.

I thought the simplest thing to do would be to start with basic fruits. The instrustions state that I should start out on 130 degress. I have apples and plums now going at 95 degrees. Is this safe? I wasn't able to find the information on google. Maybe I should be dehydrating fruits at all? Good grief!

Also, I bought sweet potatoes for the dog to dehydrate later. I'm okay with setting them on a higher temp (the dog isn't quite raw yet and it saves buying her usual expensive "Bishon Fries" :) ) but could vegetables be dried at a lower temp too? Maybe dehydrated veggies are gross anyway?

One more, I saw the loveliest receipes for crackers on another discussion. What temp do they start at and approximately how long does it take?

Thanks everyone. I'm pretty new to this but so willing to learn. :) I'm so glad you all are here.

Have a wonderful day!

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by bitt on October 18, 2009 at 12:24am

There are a lot of debates about what temperatures to dehydrate at. Most people agree that enzymes are killed at about 115 degrees give or take. But lots of raw chefs have said that you can crank the heat up to about 135 or so for about an hour without getting the food to that temperature.

As for dehydrating apples, unless you slice them really thin it will take awhile to dehydrate. Things with a lot of water can take a day or two. My main mistake at first was taking things out too early.

For crackers, you want to spread pretty thin and dehydrate at 115* until really dry. Usually overnight then cut then maybe a few more hours. Plan ahead!

* I have a thermometer and even when I set the temp at 115 the air is still only about 110.

Permalink Reply by Ronda S. on October 18, 2009 at 10:52am

Hi Mari, I usually stick to between 105-115 and I don't start out higher and go lower, only for the fact that I tend to forget to lower it when I need to.. it's just easier for me to keep it one temp. :) Fruits are fine to dehydrate and veggies as well. I like to take squash and zucchini, add a little fresh garlic and salt and olive oil and dehydrate for a few hours and eat. It's yummy.. there are lots of other recipes though that you can make in your dehydrator such as crackers, breads, pies, cookies, cakes, and many many others.. I just put in pumpkin seeds that I took out of 3 pie pumpkins and they came out really well.. :)

What kind of dehydrator did you get? I have a Good4U and I like it.. just bought a tray blank for it so that I can add larger items like soups and I am very excited for that to come. :)

Permalink Reply by Mari Safari on October 19, 2009 at 11:16pm

Thanks ladies!

I bought a basic Nesco American Harvest dehyrator. I know the Excalibur is the one to lust after but I've been trying to keep the raw thing as quiet as I can. I have golf clubs and tennis rackets used twice, if you know what I mean. :)

Nothing came out delicious, that's for sure. My 'cracker' were a fiasco. I just mixed soaked flax, juice pulp and salt. The term I used to discribe them was "lawn clippings". I think I really need to look at reciepes. I only cooked once in my life (from the Help! My apartment has a kitchen cookbook) so I'm really new to the kitchen. Still optimistic though!

I think I need as few trays too. This only came with one.

Permalink Reply by bitt on October 20, 2009 at 1:48am

at first i tried to make stuff up too. then i learned to go to recipes that everyone LOVES. start there.

Mari Vigesaa said:

Thanks ladies!

I bought a basic Nesco American Harvest dehyrator. I know the Excalibur is the one to lust after but I've been trying to keep the raw thing as quiet as I can. I have golf clubs and tennis rackets used twice, if you know what I mean. :)

Nothing came out delicious, that's for sure. My 'cracker' were a fiasco. I just mixed soaked flax, juice pulp and salt. The term I used to discribe them was "lawn clippings". I think I really need to look at reciepes. I only cooked once in my life (from the Help! My apartment has a kitchen cookbook) so I'm really new to the kitchen. Still optimistic though!

I think I need as few trays too. This only came with one.

Permalink Reply by Ronda S. on October 20, 2009 at 10:54am

I agree.. I needed to stick to recipes at first.. my "original" creations were usually horrible and completely inedible, lol.. I'm just now getting to where I can play around more with stuff.. but I usually start with a recipe and tweak to my liking..

bitt said:

at first i tried to make stuff up too. then i learned to go to recipes that everyone LOVES. start there.

Permalink Reply by Mari Safari on October 20, 2009 at 11:00am

Lol. That made me feel better.

Anyone have a basic reciepe to start out? The more ingredients, the less likely I am to do it. The ones people listed on this site look intense!

Permalink Reply by Ronda S. on October 20, 2009 at 11:28am

Well, I just tried dehydrated apples and they were really yummy, so that's pretty simple, lol...

Also, if you are a mushroom lover then Karen Knowler's fried mushrooms are really good..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV1AVzYBBTI

I also love Ani Phyo's Mediterranean Dolmas. :) There is a bit more to it but it's not that difficult and I love the combination of flavors (00ps, just realized this doesn't use a dehydrator, but I am leaving it anyway because it's a good recipe)..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWvu0rKyWY4

Mari Vigesaa said:

Lol. That made me feel better.

Anyone have a basic reciepe to start out? The more ingredients, the less likely I am to do it. The ones people listed on this site look intense!

Permalink Reply by Cathy*A on October 10, 2010 at 12:32am

Julie: Thank you for sharing your banana recipes. I'm definitely going to give these a whirl. They look delicious!

Permalink Reply by Terri on January 21, 2011 at 11:08am

Dehydrating tip: do not use wax paper.....What WAS I thinking?? I was being my usual obsessive self - wanting make as much pre-prepared food as possible so I was never tempted to eat S.A.D food... I was dehydrating tortilla's and also making the Almond Flax Crackers....only the tortillas took up all my teflex sheets so I USED WAX paper...be warned everyone!! WAX WILL NOT WORK in the dehydrator!! All my lovely ALMOND FLAX MIXTURE STUCK to the wax paper. I was trying really hard to pull off the wax and salvage any portion. I could only salvage enough to TEASE my taste buds...I will be making the ALMOND FLAX Crackers again this weekend - they are DDDDelicious!! So, I know am a silly girl and just have to laugh and move on! Can't wait to find time to make these crackers again...hmmm....yuummmmm....can't wait....... I wasn't sure where to post this!

Permalink Reply by Terri on January 21, 2011 at 11:42am

YUM!! Thank you for sharing this, Julie!

Julie said:

Bananas are easy to dry and so yummy. I use bananas that aren't green but not too ripe either. Slice about 1/4" spread them around and set on 115 or so. I usually check them and at some time when they can be peeled off and turned over I do that. But if you forget thats ok too. I don't know how long I dry them, overnight is probably enough. You'll know when, they aren't gooey anymore. I put them in a big jar on the counter good for when you are having sweet cravings.

And along those lines I also mash up bananas (can be riper than the above ones) with chopped up pecans and cinnamon, even some raisins if you have them. I spread this thick stuff on dehydrator sheets in little pancake circles and dry @ 115. Flip and dry more. Take them out and roll up - they aren't real pretty but they taste just like banana bread! You can play with this recipe - maybe add a bit of grated zuchini (zuchini bread!) or grated carrot (carrot cake!) vanilla bean, crated coconut etc.