I just got my Excalibur Dehydrator. It is everything they said it would be. Drying times are just about what they say. Don't know yet about the energy cost. I got the 9 tray model. It holds a lot of stuff. Naturally, I have been drying everything in sight. You know how it is with a new toy. Just thought I would let anyone, thinking of buying one, it is well worth the money.

Anyone have any favorite recipes?

-- Carole Kington (kington@duo-county.com), April 02, 2002

Answers

I've been wanting to get one of those! How did you justify the cost, though? I have got to weed through all my kitchen gadgets and sell some of them, before my husband will stop looking at me cross-eyed when I want something else. I could have a hay day on Ebay, selling them all there.

Anyway, with the one I have now, I've done lots of Jerkey. I love to use it for that...and the way our energy prices are, it's cheaper to use electricity over gas, right now, anyway.

Keep us posted on all the uses you've discovered...maybe we can use that to our good in deciding if that really is one more toy we all need, too.

-- Wendy A (phillips-anteswe@pendleton.usmc.mil), April 02, 2002.

I make "vegetable strips" by using leather trays to dehydrate puree'd left over veg soup and cutting into strips.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), April 02, 2002.

this time of year, dehydrate potatoes before they sprout on you, same thing with onions....

otherwise..... depends where you are......

-- Beth Van Stiphout (willosnake@hotmail.com), April 02, 2002.

In season, I dehydrate *a lot* of paste tomatoes -- regular ones have too much water and don't leave enough behind when dried. I cut them about 1/4" thick with a kraut cutter (frame with a blade), pack them tightly but not overlapping on the trays, and dry. Takes about 24 hours to dry a full load, about 11 lbs of tomatoes to start with.

I store the chips in plastic jars and use them in any tomato sauce dish; I just crumble them (or chop or tear) and add them about an hour before things are done. My family doesn't like them much rehydrated by themselves, but will eat them dry.

I have a neighbor who dehydrates strips of squash and pumpkin sprinkled with pumpkin pie spice -- they're really good!

-- Marcia in MT (marciabundi@myexcel.com), April 02, 2002.

Beef jerky recipes...

http://www.greatjerky.com/beefjerkyrecipes.html

http://www.melborponsti.com/jerky/index.shtml

http://www.alljerky.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html

http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Village/7349/Beefjerky.html

http://www.jerkyusa.com/recipes1.htm

http://www.microwebtech.com/

http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/misc/jerky.html

http://www.recipesource.com/munchies/snacks/jerky/

http://www.leeners.com/jerkyrecipes.html

http://www.bowhunting.net/susieq/jerky.htm

http://www.heydude.net/beefjerkyrecipes1.html

-- Peace and Carrots Farm (wsm311@aol.com), April 02, 2002.

My daughter is hiking the Long Trail in Vermont this summer, then the Appalachian Trail next year. We are planning to dry meals. Here are some hard-earned links ;-)

http://www.recreate.com/Pages/articles/sfreeman.shtml

http://www.gorp.com/gorp/activity/hiking/hikhow_f.htm

http://www.camprecipes.com/

http://www.gorp.com/gorp/food/recipe.htm

http://www.thebackpackersguide.com/3day.htm

http://www.knapsack.org/peterson_intro.html

http://www.ziplink.net/~24601/recipes/bprecipe.htm

http://www.thecampingsource.com/Delicious_recipes.htm

http://www.northcoastco-op.com/hndbakpk.htm

http://sgtr0ck.tripod.com/food.html

http://science.csustan.edu/JTB/BOOKS/RECIPES/Hot-cocoa-mix.htm

http://www.excaliburdehydrator.com/gen1.htm

http://www.canadiancanoeroutes.com/SectionTechnique/MealsAndMenus/Dehy dratingF

ood.htm

http://www.aldhawest.org/Tips/tt_cook_food.htm

http://www.drystore.com/faq-dehydrating.shtml

http://www.ag.uiuc.edu/~vista/html_pubs/DRYING/dryfood.html

http://www.agen.ufl.edu/~foodsaf/gadry.html

http://www.geocities.com/lighttrailfood/dryingfood.htm

http://www.geocities.com/lighttrailfood/

http://www.geocities.com/lighttrailfood/meals.htm

http://www.aaoobfoods.com/carboardboxoven.htm

http://www.aaoobfoods.com/recipesandtrailfoodsII.htm

http://www.californiafishandgame.com/trailfood/TrailFood.htm

http://www.isd.net/stobin/d-cooking.html

http://www.isd.net/stobin/Cooking/bp-food.html

http://www.isd.net/stobin/Cooking/bp-food2.html

http://www.trailmonkey.com/grub.htm

http://dnausers.d-n-a.net/dnetIULU/fad.html

http://www.cachelake.com/aboutus.html

http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Cabin/3067/Pemmican.html

http://www.libertynet.org/susqatc/FOOD.htm

http://www.bullhorn.org/pct/food.html

http://peteandedbooks.com/36.htm

http://www.billbra.com/backpack/food/food1.htm

http://www.tahtonka.com/food.html

http://www.billbra.com/backpack/food/recipes.htm

http://www.tirelesstrekker.com/shopcart/cookware/space_savercup.htm

http://royrobinson.homestead.com/Cat_Stove.html

http://www.tilia.com/

http://www.backpacker.com/article/0,2646,1173_P,00.html

http://www.waltonfeed.com/self/upack/index.html

http://extension.usu.edu/publica/foodpubs.htm

-- Peace and Carrots Farm (wsm311@aol.com), April 02, 2002.

Here's a review my daughter did not long ago....

Excalibur Food Dehydrator, model #2900

Tester Info:

Name: Heather Martin

Age: 18

Construction:

This particular model is the biggest size they offer, at nine trays. The trays are made of the same high-strength polycarbonate that the U.S. Airforce has used for their jet windshields. This is strong stuff! The Excalibur website (http://www.excaliburdehydrator.com) brags that you can drive over these trays with a semi-truck, and they won’t break. I have never tried this, but I have laden these trays with garden veggies, with no problems.

Each tray comes with nine standard Polyscreen inserts, and one bonus Teflex sheet. The Polyscreen is for regular drying use, and the Teflex is special for drying saucy things, like homemade fruit leather.

The dryer is 12½" High x 17" Wide x 19" Deep. The surface area of the nine trays adds up to 15 square feet. If you need a visual, 15 square feet is the size of many tent vestibules!

On the top of the dryer is a color-coded temperature dial that corresponds to the color-coded temperature chart right next to it, for different things from herbs to jerky. The thermostat can be adjusted from 85 to 145 degrees. Right next to this is the self shut- off 24-hour timer. The timer is great for drying things overnight – you don’t have to worry about shutting it off in the middle of the night to prevent over-crispifying.

Operation:

This machine is built to run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week during the busy harvest season.

To help in your dehydration-fests, Excalibur includes the handy Dehydration Guide booklet. In it are operating instructions, recipes, temperature guide, and even instructions on how to dry photographs!

Operation is simple and streamlined. Trays slide in and out easily. You can remove one or several to accommodate foods in a variety of sizes. The door has no hinges to break. It is simply a panel with a lip that overhangs the top edge. This design allows space around the edges for moist air to escape.

Excalibur estimates it costs between 1 and 3 cents per hour to operate.

Problems:

No problems yet. This is an expensive dehydrator, and you get what you pay for. Should you have a problem, the factory warrantee is good for one year, with an optional (Read, costs more) additional 10 year guarantee.

Overview:

The important thing about buying a dehydrator is to choose the one that best fits your lifestyle 95% of the time. If you dry a large quantity of stuff in short bursts, this is the dehydrator for you.

Heather Martin

(Royalepain@aol.com)

-- Peace and Carrots Farm (wsm311@aol.com), April 02, 2002.

Hi Carole, I have two Excaliburs, a 5 tray & a 9 tray. I started with the smaller one but found I needed to dry larger amounts at one time. I make alot of fruit & vegetable leathers,jerky & 'instant pizza'(pizza seasoned tomato sauce)which works great for almost instant pizzas sometimes I make them in rounds of the size my pizza pans require. If you make homemade dough, just pop a seasoned round on the oiled dough, put your cheese on & by the time it finished rising the pizza leather has softened or you can rehydrate them & use in the traditional way. One hint: Never dry hot peppers indoors or open the door to take a peek with your face close to the trays; I did & accidentally inhaled the condensed hot pepper(habenero) oils & ended up with inhalation pneumonia!! That was about 5 yrs ago & my lungs have never been quite the same since. Have fun with it, it's hard to make a major mistake, just be sure your stuff is dry before storing and store in a cool place. It's a great way to get creative. Blessings, Kathy

-- Kathy Aldridge (beckoningwinds@yahoo.com), April 02, 2002.

I thought you would like to know,if you call excalibur direct,they have scratch and dents at reduced costs.Carole is right IMHO excalibur is the very best.

-- teri (dnsmacbeth@aol.com), April 03, 2002.