Could you try it out for a couple weeks and write us up a review please?
Let us know how it worked out for you!

will do!

Could you try it out for a couple weeks and write us up a review please?
Let us know how it worked out for you!

i've been using mine for about 3-4 weeks, i've done many batches of tomatoes, and a large batch of peppers.

the dry times for them in the book that comes with it differs from another book i bought "the dehydrator bible" one says 9 hours for berry tomatoes, the other ones says 23. . .

9 hours isn't enough, and some i've left in for 36.

i may be drying them too much, my are crispy, and i think they should be "leathery" but i haven't found a leathery texture i like yet. too wet and they won't keep, too dry and they still work in a lot of recipes. one thing i know for sure, is the machine works GREAT!

i cooked with some of the dried food and it's great too.

i do know i have some more reading to do before i fully understand the whole subject, based on the size of a couple books i have, there is a little more to it then i know lol.
"Preserve it naturally" (Dehydration) by Excalibur
"The Dehydrator bible (with 400 recipes") by J Mackenzie, J. Nutt, and D. Mercer
i also have a small reference guy, it's the one that says the berry tomatoes need only 9 hours.

I have done a numerous amounts of dehydrating in the last few months. Mushrooms, corn, peas, chilli, spaghetti, tomatoes, pineapples, oranges, lemons, limes and jerky.

It is amazing how they turn out and ya the drying times are never accurate. You want the fruit to be pliable, but with no moisture, and the veggies dried to the same point. Too wet and they will mold in a couple of days time.

Let me know if you need any help!!

I haven't actually done a lot of dehydrating as I prefer bottling but...
I got hold of a dehydrator the size of a bar fridge from an auction for $150, they retailed for just over $1000 over here, we replaced the fan as it was stuffed for $176 and it ran like a dream 😀

I was mostly using it to incubate eggs though, I'd put a little tub of water in the bottom of it, load it up with 100 or so eggs, set the temp, time etc and off it would go.
Hatched out heaps and heaps of chicks this way!
The thermostat blew recently so I've got to order another soon as the chooks are back on lay again and we did a big slaughter last week for the freezer and have no more growers at present.

I have done a numerous amounts of dehydrating in the last few months. Mushrooms, corn, peas, chilli, spaghetti, tomatoes, pineapples, oranges, lemons, limes and jerky.

It is amazing how they turn out and ya the drying times are never accurate. You want the fruit to be pliable, but with no moisture, and the veggies dried to the same point. Too wet and they will mold in a couple of days time.

Let me know if you need any help!!

Although I want to try several things, the citrus stuff is my main goal. I cant stand the bottled lemon and lime juices so I figure having a stash of dehydrated citrus would be the next best thing for prepping purposes.
Pineapple is just plain great isn't it? 🙂 How does it store compared to the stuff from bulk barn,etc? That store bought stuff tastes great but its sugar coated and blasted with sulphites which kind of destroys the "healthy" aspect...

Congrats
I have been dehydrating for over 20 years now and love it. If you need some ideas on what and how to dry, try the backpackingchef or Mary Bell's dehydrating book. Both have wonderful ideas.

I dehydrate spinach and crush the dried out leaves. Then add to soup. Also did potato.

So after using the dehydrator a bunch I must say I'm pleasantly surprised! Its a lot of machine for the $$$

I have done oranges, lemons, bananas, apples and papaya so far. Veggies are up next.

Since it is a smaller unit you have to cut things thinner as was the case with the papaya "spears" and I'm finding the 4 trays a bit on the small side as far as quantity is concerned. Excaliber makes a 9 tray unit that I'm asking Santa for though 😉

On the plus side the thinner slices dry out faster but are a bit on the tough side if you don't keep tabs on the time (no built in timer). The stuff that gets a little too dried out is perfect for adding to hot oatmeal, especially the apples.

When I start drying veggies they will be stored in jars and can be added to soups or casseroles.

Its nice to have this little machine. I can buy/grow produce in bulk when its in season, dry it and store it.

As a plus, my trips to Bulk Barn are a now a little less expensive too 🙂

Congrats
I have been dehydrating for over 20 years now and love it. If you need some ideas on what and how to dry, try the backpackingchef or Mary Bell's dehydrating book. Both have wonderful ideas.

Would you say Mary Bells dehydrating or Dehyrator bible is the better book ? Or maybe even some other book .

I really don't need 3 books . I just want to get the best book

apple chips coated gingerly in cinnamon and glazed in honey lemon...very healthy, get them gummy and not entirely dry - used to make it for hiking trips when I was younger (if you have multiple trays you can also put stuff underneath to get dripped on with the excess from the apple chips...and it's messy)

I too have a new toy, a pressure canner! I have already canned 5 L of alphabet soup and 3.5 L of black beans. Canning potato leek soup this weekend. Excited and loving stocking my sehlves. As for a dehydrator, I have an excalibur and love it, although have not been putting it to use lately. Thanks for the "nudge" to get dehydrating too!

I dry just about anything I can get my hands on, within reason, of coarse. I have pineapple rings in as I write this. Will be doing onions later today. Dried onions are not as good as freeze dried ones, but still work in soups and stews. I tried rehydrating them so I could saute them...not so good, but still useable. Just my 2 cents worth.

My new toy arrived today !
Excalibur Stainless Steel 5 tray with timer and with new see thru front door.

The thing looks huge .
The thing is heavy too.

If I had alot of produce I could see the 9 tray , but this for me with small garden,
5 tray could be turned on more often during the week and so the labor intensive part of slicing
and preparing doesn't have to be done all in one morning .

I think I should start with bananas and carrots.
I had not thought of doing citrus fruit.

Do you just eat the citrus fruit in dry form or do you rehydrate when you want to eat. ?

I am considering this book : Complete Idiots Guide Dehydrating Foods
Anybody tried it ?

I purchased the Mary Bells off amazon, and I don't like it at all. It is from 1994 and has no temperature
guides beside any of the food items and hardly any have recommended thickness to slice foods.

http://www.amazon.ca/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Dehydrating-Foods/dp/1615642269/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top