Heads up on low price food dehydrator

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Aldi's currently is selling a Crofton brand food dehydrator for $19.99. It has five trays and runs 125 watts.

I think this would be an inexpensive way to try out heat assisted food drying if you've never done it before.

My similar bottom-of-the line dehydrator, "American Harvest Snackmaster Elite" from Walmart, cost 2.5 times the Crofton one, I think. Mine only has four trays, and one more sure would be nice. Not sure, but I think I might get just as much drying space with my four trays, though, because I think mine has a large diameter than the Aldi's one.

The American Harvest runs 300 watts and I'm pretty sure it heats close to 180 degrees (no heat adjustment), which is a bit high for some uses. However, I don't think the Crofton model has a fan in it. The Crofton one might take longer, but I think the results could be better, especially on thickly sliced fruits.

[riverwed070707]

Curious, what is the benefit of using a dehydrator over just doing a low temp in the oven? I have a recipe for fruit leather I've been wanting to try out and it just calls for cooking it in the oven. Didn't know if there was something I am missing.

What all do you use your dehydrator for?

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

We dry seasonal fruits and vegetables, make jerky, and fruit leather. The gridded trays allow airflow while not allowing small bits to fall through. My kitchen is so small that leaving the oven door ajar to vent humidity is a hazard. I can set the electric dehydrator out on my back porch, avoiding an extra load on the A.C. I definitely like the oven better for jerky, but I usually do that during cold weather when the heat added to the house is nice.

Probably for me the next kind of dehydrator really should be a box of screen trays for solar drying.