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Has anyone bought (had experience with) the Stockli from the organic gardening catalogue (or other food dehydrator)? Was wondering what sort of things that you dry and how long it takes to dry, etc...

I've used and recently bought a l'equip model with six trays rather than the oven, for the first time last year. It takes about nine hours to dry a batch of tomatoes, I've not tried other fruit or veg in it - yet. When I froogled the cheapest was
http://www.juiceland.co.uk/cat--Food-Dehydrators--Dehydrators.html. They also sell on ebay.
There seem to be a number of different types, some have thermostats and timers, and have different guarantee periods :)

I've been thinking of getting one for drying tomatoes if I ever manage to crop enough that is. And apple rings and herbs. I didn't realise they were that expensive though. What other things can be dried in it?

You can make fruit leathers, which are excellent for school lunches/hiking trips.

Use ripe fruit & reduce to a pulp in a blender. Only add liquid if needed for blending. Some fruits blend better if cooked gently first in a little water/juice e.g. rhubarb, apples. Sweeten with honey if required (sugar will crystallise out), add spices e.g. cinnamon/mixed spice, vanilla.

Pour 1/4" deep into plastic trays lined with clingfilm. Dry at about 100F for approx 16-18hrs until pliable, another book says 135F for 6-14 hrs. Roll up cigar fashion.

Store in airtight container in cupboard (1 month+), fridge (4 months), freezer (12 months+).

Possible combinations include: apple & raisin; pear and apple; peach, banana & ginger; cherry and coconut; strawberry & rhubarb; banana & pineapple; grape & apple; plum and apple with cinnamon... whatever you like!

Eat as is; tear off a bit and simmer in juice to produce a nice sauce for porridge or rice pud; unroll & fill with cream cheese/peanut butter then re-roll for a swiss roll effect.

You can dry lots of things in a dehydrator. I've a little book called 'The Dehydrator Cookbook' by Joanna White which covers the basics. It's a U.S. publication so the quantities are in cups, but it's quite easy to get a set of US measures. It gives simple instructions for drying temperatures & times for:

apples - sliced & leathers
apricots
artichokes
asparagus
avocados
bananas
green beans
beet
berries
broccoli
sprouts
cabbage
melon
carrots
celery
cherries
citrus fruit
corn
dates
aubergines
garlic
ginger
grapes
kiwi
leeks
mango
mushrooms
nectarines
onion
parsnip
pears
peas
peppers
plums
potatoes
radishes
rhubarb
spinach
tomatoes
watermelon
courgettes
meat jerkies
fish jerky
herbs
yoghurt (supposed to be nice rolled up with a fruit leather)
nuts
flowers
croutons
potpourri

That's quite a list and lots of things on there I would have never thought about drying! Thanks Gadfium :)

:o :o :o
crikey gadfium! what sort of dehydrator do you have, or do you use the oven?

Thanks and wow for the info.  ;D

I got one from Ascott, it is square, about the size of a microwave and takes a lot of food. It has 2 heat settings, and is quiet in operation.
I do tomatoes in it, plum ones cut in half lengthways. Have also done fruit leather, but I do use sugar and cook it with the puree first, it doesn't crystallize when I do it. I use teflon sheets cut to fit the trays as I find it comes off these more easily.
Herbs were straightforward too, but you need to put mesh on them or they blow away if they dry and you're not around!

That's the one I've been looking at jenny, the one from Ascott. I might add that to my wish list. What are teflon sheets or where can I get them from? Or do you mean a teflon baking tray cut down to size?

Teflon sheets are like fabric coated with teflon, to use instead of greaseproof paper etc. Similar to this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TEFLON-NON-STICK-COOKING-LINER_W0QQitemZ4467570672QQcategoryZ20649QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Lakeland also sell them :)

thanks, I've never seen those before :)

Ordered 2 books from amazon now  ;D

OMG!!!  I thought I had every kitchen appliance available. i had never heard of a food dehydrator until now. how amazing! went straight onto ebay, there is one at £35 but with 6 days to go. i am not going to settle until i've got one!!!!   

also found this really good link, its got recipes, and pictures!

Cant wait to get one, gonna have so much fun!!!!!  home grown, homemade stock powders etc!!! fantastic!!

www.dehydrators.co.uk

Haven't got a dehydrator (yet), so I use the oven to dry a few things.  The dehydrator is one of those things on my 'I would like' list... hence the book purchase... it would be especially useful for making fruit leathers, which I have developed a taste for, but are sooooo expensive to buy.

Mary Bell's book was published in 1994 and she says that she had been experimenting with food dehydrators for 20 years! So, in the US, there were food dehydrators for at least 30 years? Why have I only seen it advertised in the OGC and was it Kitchen Garden Mag October 2003?

It was while I was in the southern States that I found out about food drying... as I guess, I would hazard that it is much more part of their culture because of the climate. So the dehydrator, there, is a natural extrapolation of the traditional ways of drying certain vegetables & meat. 

The UK's climate seems to have leaned us more heavily into smoking or pickling or root cellars/clamps as preserving methods... so we aren't aware of the multitude of drying possibilities, and hence there is no market (yet) for a decent availability of dehydrators.

You can get some from Germany/Austria - but (again) the Austrians & Bavarians have a long history of using a multitude of food preservation methods, and their supermarkets still reflect this... you find stuff in the local Spa that would only appear in a Health Food shop in the UK, and I always come back with goodies stuffed in the suitcase: pickled garlic, wonderful mueslis,  teas...

You could build your own,

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/hooker41.html

my food dehydrator has arrived, except that its at a neighbours cos i've been at work, and the neighbour is out!  ::)

Cant wait to get started with it, its soooo exciting, like xmas!

Thanks multiveg for showing me the light!  :D i had never heard of one until you thread!

will let you all know how i get on, when neighbour gets back!   :)

Quote from: littlegem on July 04, 2006, 17:38:17
my food dehydrator has arrived,

What's your first choice going to be??