Okay, I tried asking family and friends on my facebook page this question, but didn't get very good responses...lol. So, I'll ask here instead. I see from some past posts that some of you have food dehydrators. I would love to get one for making my kale chips and once I'm onto Phase 2 I want to use it for fruit and such.
So....what kind of dehydrator do you have? Do you like it? I'm in that market for a pretty basic one...don't need tons of bells and whistles, but I want one that's going to get the job done right!
do you think if I dehydrate kale chips I could keep them in an airtight container and they'd last for a few days at least? I just have no clue about how to dehydrate stuff...ha ha
Has anyone dehydrated sweet potatoes? To make a thin crisp/chip like snack? Oooh...what about zucchini??? Eggplant? My biggest downfall is salty crunchy stuff!! So, anything that would help satiate me in that way would make a huge difference! It's been SO difficult to say no to the carby, crunchy, salty stuff.
Basically....what do you guys make in your dehydrators that you love and make over and over?
I make my kale chips in the oven. I did see someone mention doing them in the dehydrator but I've never used oil in mine so no idea how that works.
I do make zucchini chips and we love them. Our favorites are basil-garlic, onion-dill and Mexican spice. Zucchini does absorb moisture really easily though so you need to either make just enough to eat or have a system to keep them fresh (I vacuum seal). I've experimented with carrot chips (good), turnip and daikon radish chips (not our favorites) and dehydrated tomatoes. the tomatoes are really good too. They didn't start out as snacks but ended up that way.
I do a lot of veggie dehydrating for food preservation. In the winter we live on crockpot soups and stews so I dry squashes, eggplant, peppers, and greens to toss in stews. I've also dried cabbage but that does just as well in my cold hallway.
Dried fruit makes me wish I'd had one of these things when my daughter was young. I've dried apples (lots!) with and without cinnamon, pears, peaches, nectarines, strawberries, and made homemade leathers all without any added sugar.
Raw foodies also use dehydrators to make cookies, crackers and wraps. Check out some of the raw web sites. Backpackers are another group that is very creative with dehydrator use.
I'm not that committed but I do dry enough of the basic vegetables to get us through the winter stew season (I taught a class for child care providers on this. I'm a little obsessed )
I store my dehydrated veggies (zucchini, tomatoes, carrots, peppers, etc.) in ziploc baggies in the freezer, and they keep forever. Apple rings store nicely in there, too, but never last long around my house. I attempted to make kale chips once, but I tore the kale into too small pieces, and they almost disintegrated. Next time I will put the whole leaf in there.
I have a Nesco American Harvest with 10 trays, and I love it.
I have a Nesco, which I bought at BB&Beyond, with a 20% coupon. What I liked was that they had the extra trays right there, so we have 9 or 10, too. I figured with Nesco that the extra trays, etc, would be around for awhile, too. I hate when I buy something then can't get accessories.
We dry peaches, pears, apples...plums...as far as fruit goes. I'm sure there are others. Oh, yeah, bananas.
I occasionally find organic produce on sale and buy whatever they have and make a soup mix.
You can google spicy kale chips and find a recipe which uses cashews, and red peppers, and is outrageously good. They don't take too long at all. I made these at Christmas and the family went wild. My sis said she'd buy a dehydrator just to make them, and yes, I think they'd store in an airtight container.
In India I had a 3 tier bamboo & chicken coop wire contraption... which worked great with the hot indian sun. I dried cherry tomatoes on it like there was no tomorrow... wow.. I never even knew there were electric drying gizmos.. lol... learn something new every day!
that's my kind of price Twnn Good idea on the BBB one...I'll have to find a 20% coupon...I'm sure I have one laying around here somewhere. I already looked on Craigslist in my area....nada. And of course now that I'm thinking about I want it NOW...ha ha
If you need a coupon (or multiples), PM me your address and I'll stick it in the mail-pronto. I have a bizillion of them, since they don't expire and I shop there alot.
I have an American Harvester, great machine. We use it for garden items and, apples, jerky and drying dog bones. We even made sweet potato chips for the dogs. Love it.
Hey - I just looked on overstock.com, they have a bunch of dehydrators on there. I'm not sure what the normal prices are, but I do know I just got an AMAZING food processor, about $100 off, with only 2.95 shipping. (and that thing weighs 22 lbs!!)
Dehydrator
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Next time I will put the whole leaf in there. 
