Food drying

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Carole B.
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Has anyone had experience of using a food de-hydrator? Having sold a litter of puppies(I know,I feel a right heel on the day they go,)I intend to use some of the money to buy one to provide an extra way of preserving the glut of summer fruits.I've tried the oven method but with it in regular use for other things drying fruit gets in the way. So if you feel they are/are not worth the money please share the info.!
Carole.
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Tigger
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Great minds and all that. I'm thinking of getting one of these too. When my inlaws lived in the Okanagan Valley in Canada, they found it to be a really useful piece of kit for their abundance of fruit.
Carole B.
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Hi Tigger,
It looks like it should be a really useful bit of kit but it costs a fair amount of money and I'd really like to hear from anyone who's used one to avoid buying a pig in a poke.How about a test drive article K.G.?
Carole.
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Chantal
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There was a big article about food drying in KG about 18 months ago. I'll dig the article out and tell you which issue it was.

Chantal :D
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I was given a food dehydrator last year and it is really excellent. ( Incidentally they are half the price in the US) When there was a glut of mushrooms from used compost, I was able to dry them; the same with runner beans, and apples dry beautifully. They make good sweet snacks then. Healthier than candy.
I have stored them in freezer bags inside old coffee jars in a cupboard, and they make excellent soup etc later when fresh stuff is hard to come by.
Cabbage dries down to a powder that is great also in soup.I would not be without this machine now. It has opened new horizons.
Guest

PS, Courgettes also dry beautifully for use later. You just need to remember with apples and pears to dip them in lemon juice first to stop them browning; makes no difference to taste, just the appearance. When peaches were on special offer, I dried a lot of them too. They take so little space when dry; you can freeze the dried things also.
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Chantal
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Carole

The article on drying veg "Food to dry for" appeared in the October 2003 issue of KG. If you don't have a copy, send me a PM with your address and I'll send you the mag, for some reason I have 2 copies of this one.

Chantal :D
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John
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Hello Carole
This was covered in TKG in Aug 05 but the article only goes over the oven method for drying.

John
Carole B.
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Location: Isle of Wight

Thanks Chantal and John,
what good memories you have.I dug out the 'yellow box'
from under the bed where useful mags go in their retirement and I do have the relevant copies so I will have a read,thank you both. 'guest' who uses one for fruit drying etc.can you tell me what make you have?
Carole.
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Stockli is the brand. I use it more for vegetables than anything else. As in
http://www.detoxyourworld.com/acatalog/ ... timer.html
I have people in Canada and the US and they all use them so much there. Someone sent me apples they had dried.....Which is how I came to know about them.
It certainly opens new horizons for preserving summer vegetables in a very small space. Fascinating to see how they dry out....
Cherry

A friend of mine uses his to dry meat - biltong or jerky - and the result is surprisingly very good. I am toying with the idea of getting one - will do a search on that place where all things are for sale!
Carole B.
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Posts: 379
Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2005 3:36 pm
Location: Isle of Wight

Has any one used a L'Equip Dehydrator? It looks to have a good capacity and I think I prefer the rectangular shape for sitting on the worktop but not if it's no use! It seems to be available from several places on-line.
Carole
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