Dehydrator

[okra]

Has anyone purchased a dehydrator which they would recommend?

How often do you use it, what have you dried and was it worth the expense as some seem quite expensive.

[Green Aura]

I've got an Excalibur 9 drawer. It's one of the most expensive, but I got mine off Ebay secondhand. It's worth keeping an eye out because it's good - size and temperature control being the main things that are missing on cheaper brands, I think.

I've used it mainly for drying herbs, fruit and veg for storage and proving dough. Because of it's size you can get loads done in one go and, as long as they're not particularly pungent, you can do different things at the same time.

[okra]

I've got an Excalibur 9 drawer. It's one of the most expensive, but I got mine off Ebay secondhand. It's worth keeping an eye out because it's good - size and temperature control being the main things that are missing on cheaper brands, I think.

I've used it mainly for drying herbs, fruit and veg for storage and proving dough. Because of it's size you can get loads done in one go and, as long as they're not particularly pungent, you can do different things at the same time.

Thanks seen Excalibur 4 and 5 draw and 9 draw would you recommend the larger one?

[diggernotdreamer]

I have the Excalibur 9 drawer and have used it to dry onions that I didn't think would make it through winter storage, herbs, every year I dry lots of tomatoes for storing in oil and it saves me a fortune on buying from the shop, because I refuse to buy out of season tomatoes. I dry banana's and pineapple for the grand children. At 600watts, it costs me about 15 cents an hour to run. It all depends on how produce you have that you want to dry

[Odsox]

I've actually got 2 !!
I bought a round Stockli which was/is great and reasonably priced. But then our apricot tree started to produce more fruit than the 3 Stockli trays could handle.
So this year we also bought a 9 tray Excalibur, and that handled the glut nicely. But it's horses for courses, the Stockli has deep drays and the Excalibur has very shallow trays, which is OK for most things but useless for drying peas as they roll off when moving the trays in or out, but peas are no problem in the Stockli.
Good job nobody wanted the Stockli when we advertised it.
Ours are used for apricots (obviously), home grown grapes for sultanas, peas and haricot beans for proper drying and also for next year's seed, tomatoes, both sliced and puréed for powder, mushrooms when they're cheap and also bananas and pineapples when they're cheap too. I've also dried strawberries and cherries which are fine in a dried fruit salad, but I don't think I will do them again.

I have also used the Excalibur for making yoghurt.

[okra]

Thanks for the responses, after some more research I think we will go for the Excalibur 9 tray model. Looks like dehydration options are endless, strawberries, soup mixes and sultanas are just some we are looking forward to trying.

[okra]

Purchased an Excalibur 9 tray and so far have dehydrated pineapple, apple, banana, yacon, peppers, lemons and clementines. It's brilliant - thanks for all the advice.