Thinking about getting a food dehydrator

I have 2 Nesco, American Harvest dryers that I have been using a lot for over 15 years. Super simple, very inexpensive, easy to clean, can be found at almost all dept. stores: Fred Meyer, Walmart, etc. They come with 3 or 4 trays, you can buy extras, I dry 12 trays of goodies at a time on each dryer. I just do fruits and veggies (grapes, apples, plums, peaches, tomatoes, peppers, etc.). We do all of our venison jerky and any other meats/fish in the smoker so I have no experience with their use for that but they do come with a recipe book that has jerky in it. They are a little noisy (kind of like a hair dryer) and make the house very humid (we live in a tiny hayloft apartment). Hope this helps!

 

I have a nesco FD50 snackmaster. I love it. I got it used at a garage sale years ago. I do potatoes and apples on it often.

 

We have one and use it for all kinds of vegetables and herbs. Had an overabundance of cherry tomatoes year before last, so I just cut them in half and put them on the trays. They were delicious. We ate them like chips, threw them in sauces, and just pigged out on them.

 

beef jerky & fish jerky
I was thinking of trying a shredded vegetable mix for winter soups.

 

I also use my to dry sweet pot. slices...the dog LOVES them!

 

I have two and make several batches of venison jerky every year.

 

I think you will enjoy having one! I love to do my cherry tomatoes- I add them to pizza all winter. The organic cherry tomatoes at the store are 4-5 bucks a pint!!! So, not only do they taste great, they save money! I would not say it replaces canning- but as appliances go, it is a handy one to have!

 

I use mine all of the time. I don't really like to can, so I dehydrate most of what we grow, and even things I buy on sale! Fruits, veggies, beans, corn, crackers, etc.

One of the easiest ways to get veggies into my kid is to take dehydrated veggies, grind them into a powder and sprinkle in something dark, like pizza sauce. I have a ton of canning jars, and label them. Keep in the dark.

You'll be addicted. And there's lots of info online for how long to dry. I usually go too long, which isn't bad. But somethings I dried 3 years ago are still ok, and they are just in baggies!

Enjoy!

 

Soo... what all can you dehydrate with these things?