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bitt
Raw Newbie
Ok, so I have read eveywhere not to eat foods cooked past 116 degrees. However my dehydrator instructions say that food can stand up to 150 degress. I don’t want any bacteria to grow on the food if I leave it in there for a day or so but I also want the enzymes to be intact. None of the recipes ever day what temperature to dehydrate at. So I am at a loss. My husband is concerned and doesn’t want me to get sick (as if I am not already sick enough).
Thanks for the help! I would like to get started tonight!
Comments
i’ve heard this: wet food can withstand higher temps without losing enzymes. start the dehydrator at 135 or 145 for a couple hours (depending on how wet the food is, shorter or longer). i usually do 1-3 hours, depending on what the food is. then, turn the knob down to 115 for the rest of the time. note: this is a debatable method, some raw foodies think otherwise, but some agree with this method.
Ditto to Winona. I’ve followed these practices for some time without incident. There is an evaporative cooling effect which allows for the higher temp for no more than 2 hours with wet foods. Then you turn the temp down to finish out the process. If you google for dehydrating information you will find tons of good information that address your concerns!
I have a ServSafe certification and I can tell you this. 40 to 135 is the temp that is most frequently supportive of bacteria. That is the actual food temperature. So you can start it at 145 and the outside will get warm, but the inside will stay cooler. According to food safety info, anything left out for more than 4 hours will grow bacteria inside these temps. It also needs protein and moisture to support bacteria. So far, I have dehydrated things for hours at low temps and have not had an issue. The only time that I actually got food poisoning was from a restaurant. I have a raw food delivery service and am FANATICAL about food safety. That being said, you need to make your own decision and the above advice is very good. I hear it is Gabriel Cousens method, I have his book, this gives me the incentive to look it up. Best of luck in your healing process! Lisa
145 degrees is technically not raw. I usually dehydrate at 95 degrees. I look at it this way. Our human body temperature is naturally close to 95 degrees. When we are 105 degrees we are usually sick.
I could spend a lot of time explaining exactly why I reject the argument for turning up the dehydrator up to 145 for the first two hours. I believe the rationale behind that is faulty and the advice wrong, even if it is Dr GC giving it.
But, instead, I’ll just say…WHY do people want so very very much to turn their dehydrators up? Do we miss the stove so much? So something takes 14 hours to dehydrate rather than 18 hours….why take the risk? I’ve been making wonderful raw food meals for 15 months now, and I give classes. Not once has it ever been necessary to use the dehydrator at 145 degrees!
Yuna’s got it in one. I never dehydrate higher than 105, but am more and more experimenting with lower temperatures – not higher ones!
Yes but Yuna, by the time you eat the food, the temperature is just lukewarm, not hot. I read that the enzymes are only killed at temperatures about 145 if these temperatures are sustained for a long period of time. This will not happen over 1-2 hours when the food is just warming up. I know it’s a ‘hot’ issue (pardon the pun) but GC and his staff are very scientific about this sort of thing and I’m sure I read it at the excalibur site too. I’m happy to dry at 145 for up to an hour and up to 3 for very wet food and I feel that if I can lessen the time for drying, it is safer. But alas, each to their own on this issue. Do what feels right for you.
Ah sweetpea – I’ve just realised who you are!:-)
Yes, I think ‘each to their own on this issue’ is the best advice!
I’ll just say that I’d like to stay friends on this issue as your pie looks very good and I would very much like to eat it one day! (at whatever temp…)
Love, Debbie
Hi Sweetpea, yes, I agree with you and Debbietook that it’s best to do what you’re comfortable with. I would have to experiment myself to see if that temperature on food would give me a cooked food reaction. But, I am inclined to keep it safe. It’s the same reason I don’t blanche almonds and then peel off the skin.