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saraw
Raw Newbie
I’m starting to think that I don’t enjoy dehydrated items so much. I do like the onion bread, but even that now is not so good to me anymore. It seems that all dehydrated food has an odd smell to it, and it completely changes the way that food tastes, and I’m not sure if I am liking it or not. I”ve been really wanting to make some flake style cereal or something, but everything I make tastes weird to me, and according to my husband, I eat some pretty odd things. So, is it my dehydrator? I have one of those old ronco round food dehydrators.
Comments
I know exactly what you mean. Go look at the last post on the thread “Freeze-dried nut butter”. I mentioned that before the food is dry, mol and bacteria can grow and that may be why your food has strange qualities. I get the same thing as you do, I have a L’Equip rectangle dehydrator that’s not that bad, not that good. Also, the dehydrator tmperature is WAY to high. CHeck out the post.
Stick with the fresh food, like coconut ice creams and fresh nuts and fruits and limit the dried food!
My flax crackers rock, my burito wraps rock, still love the onion bread and love macaroons. So i guess what i am saying is my dehydrator is precious to me and I still love these things! Can’t wait to make some chewy banana chips and banana crepes!
It could be you dehydrator is not efficient at low temps. i would recomend trying out a better one. If the food is taking too long it may have a slight growth of bacteria or mold on it before it gets to the dry point. just speculating here!
I mostly eat fresh fruits, veg, and lots of greens, but I still need the variety and versatility of dehydrated things!
I love my dehydrator for the simple fact that it keeps me from throwing away food that is starting to go bad and it allows me to be creative with left-over juice pulp. Trust me though, I’d much prefer fresh, hydrated food, but when the device saves food from waste I’m all about it!!
Very good point!
I like my dehydrator too. Once in awhile I want a sandwich, a cookie, a pattie or a cracker. I don’t use it for all meals, but it’s nice to have an option.
i haven’t bought a dehydrator yet, i’ve been buying lydia’s organics sunflower seed bread to satisfy my crunchy needs. i also don’t have a juicer. but i think it’s brilliant to pair the waste with the dehydrator!
I’m really picky about what I eat that is dehydrated, my taste buds are so sensitive, right now the only dehydrated things that I eat are those I found I can’t mess up, like chocolate macaroons, granola, and corn chips
I also like things I don’t mess up. In other words, if it’s a good dehydrator recipe and I prepare it right, i like it. If I mess it up, I really really don’t like it at all – i toss it quickly.
I love dehydrated food. I have an excalibur, and even though I have heard good things about other dehydrators, I would rather shell out the money for one that works really well.
I love having my Excalibur around, but I don’t use it much. I can hang with the taste and texture of dehydrated food, but it does seem harder to digest w/o the water content.
When you dehydrate, I believe you lose some food energy, so I try to eat fresh as much as possible. :)
Hope this isn’t too much off the topic. I don’t have a dehydrator yet. Would like to get one soon but I have some concerns. I live in a very old house that is somewhat musty and moldy. My understanding is that the dehydrator pulls in air. What if the air it’s pulling in has mold in it…I mean granted most air has some degree of mold spores in it but I’m concerned about it getting in the food. Has anyone had this problem with the Excalibur dehydrators and does anyone know of a brand that would work to alleviate this possible problem?
Yes, it is your dehydrator. Those round dehydrators really aren’t for the raw life style – they are for dehydrating little bits of fruit and veggies. You need a “real” dehydrator than you will know how good dehydrated stuff can be. :)
Right now, I have a SausageMaker dehydrator. It is more powerful dehydrator than the Excalibur. It was mostly designed to do meat but it works great for raw food. It is pretty noisy since it is stainless steel but I prefer it to the Excalibur.
LimeLady – Right now there is no dehydrator that doesn’t use air (has a fan) but there will be some day. My bf is designing a new type of dehydrator that will use a new technology (not giving the secret way here) that will cut dehydrating time in half and is energy efficient as well. As far I know there will be no fan used – so stay tuned! :)
Queen fluff – I just put up a post about a round dehydrator. Someone offered to give theirs because they are not doing raw foods anymore. She only used it twice – what say you?
Thanks queenfluff. That’s great. I look forward to hearing about this dehydrator with the new technology. Glad to hear that your bf is working on it.
EnjoyRaw – i love my round dehydrator. the only drawback i’ve found is funny shaped food.
Thanks – hey it’s free so I’ll try it
EnjoyRaw – Sure go ahead and try it. But in my experience, every rawie who has had one of those has complained that they can’t make certain things in them (like crackers) and the shape it makes the process a bit awkward. Even the fruit takes two days to dehydrate! But it is free so go for it!
If you think you ever plan on doing some major dehydrating (say in like big batches), you will definately want to think about a regular sized dehydrator. It will be alot less hassle.
About that smell…I read in a Gabriel Cousens book about tackling that issue by dehydrating the first couple of hours at 145 degrees then lowering the temp. He swears the food won’t go above the max. desired temp to keep things raw. Wish I had the book here, I’d look it up exactly for you, but I hope this helps. I have a dangerously keen sense of smell and I was having the same icky feelings about my flax crackers until I tried this method.
I was lookin at Cousens’ book last night, and he recommends dehydrating at 145 for up to 3 hours, depending on how wet the mixture is. The temp insides the dehydrator can be up to 20-25 degrees lower, and I believe the internal temp of the food would probably be a little lower. However, he says this applies to the Excalibur only. You would need to check with the company that makes your brand for more info. :)