Food dehydrators

[Wonko]

Does anyone use one?

Are they worth the effort?

Are they worth the money?

Are they easy to clean/maintain?

Is the food easy to prep, before using the dehydrator, and store, afterwards?

and.....Does it actually taste good, is it easy to eat etc.?

In short, is it worth all the mucking around with it for a moderate/severe pwME (with slightly iffy teeth)?

 

[geraldt52]

I've used them for years, and very much enjoy them...though it is much easier to open a package of dried whatever that someone else dried than it is to prep the food and dry it yourself. I've done all sorts of things, but in recent years I mostly just do beef jerky. This one is the best I've had, by far: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000G20TC...t=&hvlocphy=9032312&hvtargid=pla-329863403167. There are no moving parts, and it makes no noise whatsoever. I've had others that are more aggravating than they are worth.

 

[Old Bones]

In short, is it worth all the mucking around with it for a moderate/severe pwME (with slightly iffy teeth)?

In short -- no, at least it wasn't for me. This is the dehydrator I have: http://www.cookstore.ca/excalibur-9-tray-food-dehydrator-black-3900b.html?

I bought mine while attempting to use a raw foods diet to deal with autoimmune illnesses added on top of my long-term ME. I used it a lot for the first few months, but for the past several years it's been sitting in our basement. So, definitely not worth the money I spent.

It was easy to clean and maintain. But if you are preparing a large quantity of food at a time (eg. using several trays -- in my case 9), you need a very large kitchen with a lot of counter space. Otherwise, it's a logistical nightmare loading the trays, and periodically re-positioning them as the food dries (since the trays in the middle opposite the fan dry faster than those at the top and bottom).

The food took a long time to dehydrate (even in a dry climate such as ours), and the larger the batch, the longer the drying time. Based on my experience, preparing food this way was a full-time job.

I did like many of the items I dehydrated -- fruit leathers, crackers, flatbreads and bars. Actually, I liked some of them so much they were eaten in no time, which led to more time-intensive food prep and dehydrating. The time and effort involved was not sustainable.

Also, if you're living in a small space and are sound sensitive, you may become irritated by the fan constantly running. My dehydrator wasn't particularly noisy, but we did install it away from the main living area of the house because of its size, and sound.

Most of my diet these days is raw, but using a much quicker and easier appliance. Every morning, I run a huge mound of up to 15 different vegetables, herbs and fruits through a slow juicer, and then add the pulp back. I include a couple of scoops of Collagen Peptides for protein. It's delicious, and would be a very good choice for your "slightly iffy teeth", as long as you are able to digest raw food (which dehydrated would be as well).

Good luck finding a food prep/eating plan that works for you, @Wonko. After many trials, it seems I finally have.

 

[Wonko]

@Old Bones

Thank you, that's exactly the sort of information I was looking for

 

[TigerLilea]

I had one years ago but decided it was too much work and not worth it.

 

[Daffodil]

I also considered buying one but figured I wouldn't use it after a while like everything else I have here taking up space. it looks like it would take up a lot of space, too. but I do want to find a cheap source of dehydrated veggie chips...I doubt there are any though

 

[tudiemoore]

Loved looking at the dehydrators--I have been interested in one to do a moderate amount for use and keep on hand.
I have enjoyed a meal or two a friend prepared.

Beautiful piece of equipment, Old Bones. I have a fondness for kitchens and kitchen "stuff"!
Seems it would take an eternity to prep the food for such a big guy--
Would you let me know what/how you add the pulp back to your juice? Just stirred in seems like it would be too thick?
And how is a slow juicer different?

I have wondered what my body, or anybody's, would be like if we only ate foods that were only food!

 

[Wonko]

I have wondered what my body, or anybody's, would be like if we only ate foods that were only food!

This has been tried before, most of the people who have tried this are currently deceased.

I am sure there is no connection.

This leaves a group of (until fairly recently geographically isolated) people who ate foods that were only food, having been given the choice it seems that they would rather eat foods which are not only food.

This leaves an even smaller group of people who currently eat food that is only food, the jury is still out on that one, but........it's probably only going to go one way.

We're all doomed, and rightly so, let the squirrels inherit the earth, if there's any left (by which I mean 'the earth' not squirrels, obviously there won't be any squirrels left)

As someone should have explained to me when I was younger; it takes a village to raise a child but at least a moderate sized civilisation to make a lasagne. It's all about pyramids or some such thingie.

edit 2 - edited to remove most of the previous edits

 

[Old Bones]

Would you let me know what/how you add the pulp back to your juice? Just stirred in seems like it would be too thick?
And how is a slow juicer different?

@tudiemoore I apologize for not responding sooner. Without the "@" in front of my user name, I wasn't alerted that you had directed questions towards me.

The juicer I use discharges into two wide-mouth beakers, one for the liquid (juice) and one for the pulp. For breakfast, I merely stir all of the pulp back into the juice. At which point you are correct -- it is no longer juice, but rather a thick "slop" that must be eaten with a spoon. The benefit of doing this compared with eating the produce whole is that it involves a lot less chewing. With no natural appetite since ME, there's no way I'd sit down for the length of time it would take to chew that much food. The "slop" goes down easily, and tastes delicious -- very rich and a bit sweet with a whole banana, half an avocado, an apple and wild blueberries to counter the bitterness of some of the vegetables.

This is the juicer I use: https://www.hurom.com/products/hh-elite-slow-juicer . Another name for this type of juicer is "masticating" as described here:
https://juicers-best.com/pages/masticating-juicers

Here's a brief explanation of the differences (much more information on the website):

"The primary difference between the two types of juicers is the speed at which the juice is extracted. The masticating juicer is usually a single gear juicer that uses an auger to extract juice from the fruits and vegetables inserted at a slow and efficient manner. This process helps to maintain the vitamins, enzymes and trace minerals that come from the natural produce as there is less heat in the juice extraction process. Centrifugal juicers extract juice faster but are slightly less efficient. They yield on the average less juice."

Another benefit of slow-juicers is low noise. My previous high-speed centrifugal juicer absolutely screamed, whereas the Hurom has a gentle click sound as the auger turns. I hope this helps.