Posted on 06/28/2009 1:24:17 PM PDT by appleseed
We have accumulated probably 3-6 months worth of stuff thus far, a good chunk of it being dry and canned goods, but more and more I am eying that deep freeze and all the food in it, because although there have been discussions of a generator purchase, we still don’t have one and I am very wary of the possibility that a power loss will render most of it useless. Another motivation is the fact that dried food lasts for so much longer and loses far less nutrients than canning, and I would like to use or save every bit of every vegetable currently growing in our yard.
Therefore I am looking to buy a smallish yet efficient food dehydrator and before I blindly buy one off something like walmart.com, I’d love to hear recommendations from others. I am looking to spend between $50-100. What can you all tell me?
Second question - any good online how-to resources for food dehydration? Or books? This is an entirely new area for me.
And while I have you all - speaking of that generator...what should we look to buy for a family of five in a largish colonial (it’s not huge, but it’s 2700 sq ft)? Keeping in mind of course that we would be limiting our space and consumption in such a situation.
Self Reliant/Survivalist ping list
On any other day I’d tell you to ask Billy Mays, but...
We have an Excalibur by Parallexx
http://www.veggiesensations.com/exde35decosh.html
I think a person with a little knowhow could build one for a lot less. (heater and fan in a box with trays) but, this one works well (9 years) and has a 10 year warranty.
Makes great jerky!
We have an Excalibur by Parallexx
http://www.veggiesensations.com/exde35decosh.html
I think a person with a little knowhow could build one for a lot less. (heater and fan in a box with trays) but, this one works well (9 years) and has a 10 year warranty.
Makes great jerky!
I’ve been thinking about getting one of these.
http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/dehydrators.aspx
We just bought a portable 6500 surge watts (5000 watt running) propane generator with electric start.($800.00)
Propane can be kept forever as opposed to the short life of gasoline.
If you’re looking to power your entire house you will need something a lot bigger and a lot more expensive.
Here’s a chart to help you determine what appliances/devices you will need to power in the event of an outage.
http://www.yamaha-motor.com/outdoor/generator/sizing.aspx
The American Harvest/Nesco Gardenmaster Dehydrator
I found this here. Don’t remember who posted it.
http://www.rc4systems.net/Downloads/Food-Dehydration/
A chainsaws one dangerous son of a gun.
I cut my pants at my thigh back in the winter and didn`t touch the skin.Scared the crap outta me
Got me one of those ballistic nylon safety chaps
Well, while you still have power and an oven you can get a lot of stuff done now:
Dehydrating Your Own Food:
Dehydrating your own food is easy. Contrary to what many people believe you do not need a fancy food dehydrator for this. Native Indians have been dehydrating food for thousands of years using nothing more then sun and smoke. Although this method works great I prefer a more modern device - an oven. You can turn your oven into a food dehydrator quite easily. Simply turn it onto it’s lowest setting and prop the door open slightly. Food can be placed on cookies sheets in the oven, and will dry completely overnight. Using all three racks in my oven I can dehydrate enough food in one night to feed four adults on a weekend trip.
You can turn almost any meal into dehydrated food. Simply prepare it as you usually would. Once it’s cooked spread it out on a cookie sheet and dehydrate it in your oven. To ease dehydration and preparation on the trail cut all pieces as small as possible. Generally speaking you’ll want meat to be cut into pieces no more then 1cm x 1cm. Vegetables should be cut as small as possible, or even grated. Frozen vegetable mixes are often already cut to the right size. You can prepare dehydrated foods whenever you wish and store them in the freezer. Foods stored in this manner are good for years.
Once the food is dehydrated place it into a Ziploc bag. This bag will both store your food and provide you with a container to rehydrate it in. When your done the meal simply rinse out the bag and place it in your pack. You can then carry it back home and reuse it.
Cooking Dehydrated Food:
If using commercial food follow the instructions on the package. If preparing your own follow these steps:
1) One to two hours before the meal add some water to the Ziploc bag containing your food (note: keep rice, pasta’s and potato’s separate. Don’t add water to these items).
2) Kneed the food gently to work in the water. Keep adding water and kneading the mixture until it is dehydrated.
3) Cook any rice/noodles/potato’s that are in the meal.
4) Next heat your rehydrated food until hot - there is no need to cook it. You may need to add a small amount of water during this step.
5) Mix the rehydrated food with your potatoes/rice/pasta and serve.
By following these steps you’ll have a properly rehydrated and great tasting meal every time, while preserving fuel.
I have a L’Equip that’s running right now drying plums and green beans. The drying time is much longer than the listed times in the instruction manual. I went online to various forums to get better idea of drying times.
Of course, I live in a swamp and it is very very humid so that might account for the differential in drying times.
I like it. It has six trays, quiet, and also equipment for fruit leathers.
I have a NESCO with six trays, and it works just fine. I think if I had a garden that produces a LOT of produce, I might invest in something bigger, but this one is fine. Since dehydrated foods shrinks up to itsy bitsy pieces, make sure you have screens that will keep the food from falling through. I know with NESCO you can buy mesh screens to fit on the trays.
I have the 9 tray Excalibur (for about 10 years now).
I would buy another one.
My first dehydrator (mid to late 80’s) was an American Harvester; the racks cracked the first time I used it (cracked during use, not cleaning).
Called the company and they told me cracked racks would still work fine (yeah, as long as I didn’t try to clean them). I was NOT happy with their service or product. I chunked it and got the Excalibur and have NEVER had a problem with it.
The racks and the mesh screens are easy to clean.
http://www.excaliburdehydrator.com/product.php
I HIGHLY recommend this book:
http://www.amazon.com/How-Dry-Foods-Deanna-Delong/dp/1557884978
Here’s a kind of a strange one, but it works and is free. Doesn’t even use any energy.
Place food on racks over drip pans. Hang in your car parked in a sunny place with one or two windows very slightly cracked. Dries things out quickly if food slices are thin.
Makes your car smell like whatever you’re drying, of course.
I’ve also used this technique to dry my cell phone when it fell in the sink. Worked like a charm.
BTW, what’s your reason for believing dried food loses less food value than canned? I suspect it varies with the nutrient in question.
How to dehydrate and store food PART 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxVpIHre2ao
Most everything you’ll need to know. Not a real professional production but it’s still chocked full of info. She uses the 9 tray Excaliber.
http://www.excaliburdehydrator.com/
Ditto on the 9 tray Excalibur! Had this a couple of years, don’t remember the one before. Put a bowl of water in the bottom, set at 99F, put in fertile eggs, turn twice a day, keep the water full, 21 days later you have chicks! Did that for years until we got an incubator.
Keep in mind that most items "drip" when dehydrating -- meats drip grease, fruits drip sugar, etc. So, (1) keep that in mind when stacking things for drying, and (2) line the bottom of the oven with heavy-duty aluminum to catch all the mess.
Get books on food presevation from the library, or do a Google search -- there are plenty of instructions online. Experiment a little at first -- pineapple rings, sliced tomatoes, some sliced beef -- and you will learn a lot.
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a bit off topic but this place caters to Amish and such if you are worried about living without power or limited power it is a interesting place to look
enjoy
I'll address this since those are my words...just what I've read. That the canning process by nature leaches out the nutrients while drying preserves them within the food.
For example, from this link -
Because drying does not violently heat food, it does not destroy as many of the nutrients as canning or cooking.
You're probably right though, probably determined by the type of food being dried.
Thanks all, for your responses thus far.
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