I am really thinking of getting one. I would love to hear from you
about which brand you have, the price and how you use it and if you
recommend it.

I'm particularly in drying jerky and fruit and some herbs.

I want one that is not large or bulky and not really expensive.

what say you?

On Jun 7, 10:39*am, ImStillMags > wrote:
> I am really thinking of getting one. *I would love to hear from you
> about which brand you have, the price and how you *use it and if you
> recommend it.
>
> I'm particularly in drying jerky and fruit and some herbs.
>
> I want one that is not large or bulky and not really expensive.
>
> what say you?

We've had a Harvest Maid aka American Harvest for years and years. We
use it for drying herbs, and we have dried tomatoes in it. Jerky is
possible from ground meat. It is round, with the heating element and
fan on the bottom, with many stackable trays. I see similar models on
eBay -- the current ones made by Nesco seem to have the heating
element/fan on top,, except for their top of the line model.

On Jun 7, 10:54*am, spamtrap1888 > wrote:
> On Jun 7, 10:39*am, ImStillMags > wrote:
>
> > I am really thinking of getting one. *I would love to hear from you
> > about which brand you have, the price and how you *use it and if you
> > recommend it.
>
> > I'm particularly in drying jerky and fruit and some herbs.
>
> > I want one that is not large or bulky and not really expensive.
>
> > what say you?
>
> We've had a Harvest Maid aka American Harvest for years and years. We
> use it for drying herbs, and we have dried tomatoes in it. Jerky is
> possible from ground meat. It is round, with the heating element and
> fan on the bottom, with many stackable trays. I see similar models on
> eBay -- the current ones made by Nesco seem to have the heating
> element/fan on top,, except for their top of the line model.

Why ground meat for the jerky???

On Tue, 7 Jun 2011 10:54:21 -0700 (PDT), spamtrap1888
> wrote:

>On Jun 7, 10:39*am, ImStillMags > wrote:
>> I am really thinking of getting one. *I would love to hear from you
>> about which brand you have, the price and how you *use it and if you
>> recommend it.
>>
>> I'm particularly in drying jerky and fruit and some herbs.
>>
>> I want one that is not large or bulky and not really expensive.
>>
>> what say you?
>
>We've had a Harvest Maid aka American Harvest for years and years. We
>use it for drying herbs, and we have dried tomatoes in it. Jerky is
>possible from ground meat. It is round, with the heating element and
>fan on the bottom, with many stackable trays. I see similar models on
>eBay -- the current ones made by Nesco seem to have the heating
>element/fan on top,, except for their top of the line model.

I've owned my American Harvest dehydrator for many, many years. I
don't even remember when I bought it.

I have 15 trays for it and 10 roll-up mats for it also.

I've dried so much stuff on this thing that I wouldn't guess at the
total weight.

It works perfectly and seems to last forever.

Like spamtrap's, it has the heater and fan at the bottom. One hell of
a machine!

On Jun 7, 11:34*am, ImStillMags > wrote:
> On Jun 7, 10:54*am, spamtrap1888 > wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Jun 7, 10:39*am, ImStillMags > wrote:
>
> > > I am really thinking of getting one. *I would love to hear from you
> > > about which brand you have, the price and how you *use it and if you
> > > recommend it.
>
> > > I'm particularly in drying jerky and fruit and some herbs.
>
> > > I want one that is not large or bulky and not really expensive.
>
> > > what say you?
>
> > We've had a Harvest Maid aka American Harvest for years and years. We
> > use it for drying herbs, and we have dried tomatoes in it. Jerky is
> > possible from ground meat. It is round, with the heating element and
> > fan on the bottom, with many stackable trays. I see similar models on
> > eBay -- the current ones made by Nesco seem to have the heating
> > element/fan on top,, except for their top of the line model.
>
> Why ground meat for the jerky???

From the Nesco website:

To make jerky from ground meat, choose 85% to 90% lean meat. Beef,
venison, buffalo and turkey are the most popular choices. Ground meat
jerky is easier to make, dries faster, and is less expensive and
easier to chew than jerky slices. Add one package of jerky seasoning
mix and cure per pound of ground meat.

On Jun 7, 12:38*pm, spamtrap1888 > wrote:
> On Jun 7, 11:34*am, ImStillMags > wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Jun 7, 10:54*am, spamtrap1888 > wrote:
>
> > > On Jun 7, 10:39*am, ImStillMags > wrote:
>
> > > > I am really thinking of getting one. *I would love to hear from you
> > > > about which brand you have, the price and how you *use it and if you
> > > > recommend it.
>
> > > > I'm particularly in drying jerky and fruit and some herbs.
>
> > > > I want one that is not large or bulky and not really expensive.
>
> > > > what say you?
>
> > > We've had a Harvest Maid aka American Harvest for years and years. We
> > > use it for drying herbs, and we have dried tomatoes in it. Jerky is
> > > possible from ground meat. It is round, with the heating element and
> > > fan on the bottom, with many stackable trays. I see similar models on
> > > eBay -- the current ones made by Nesco seem to have the heating
> > > element/fan on top,, except for their top of the line model.
>
> > Why ground meat for the jerky???
>
> From the Nesco website:
>
> To make jerky from ground meat, choose 85% to 90% lean meat. Beef,
> venison, buffalo and turkey are the most popular choices. Ground meat
> jerky is easier to make, dries faster, and is less expensive and
> easier to chew than jerky slices. Add one package of jerky seasoning
> mix and cure per pound of ground meat.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

but I don't want to make ground meat jeky, I want to make whole muscle
into strips jerky, can you not do that in a Nesco??

ImStillMags wrote:
>
> Why ground meat for the jerky???

At thanksgiving there are serving trays shaped like a turkey. Using
ground beef you can make jerky strips shaped like cows. It's food
*and* decor. Fun to do once to prove it works. Then back to strips of
meat for the better texture.

In article
>,
ImStillMags > wrote:

> I am really thinking of getting one. I would love to hear from you
> about which brand you have, the price and how you use it and if you
> recommend it.
>
> I'm particularly in drying jerky and fruit and some herbs.
>
> I want one that is not large or bulky and not really expensive.
>
> what say you?

You might want to ask at r.f.preserving, too. There are some folks
there who dehydrate stuff. FWIW.
--
Barb,
Hot Enough For You?, June 6, 2011; http://web.me.com/barbschaller

"cshenk" > wrote in message
...
> ImStillMags wrote in rec.food.cooking:
>
>> I am really thinking of getting one. I would love to hear from you
>> about which brand you have, the price and how you use it and if you
>> recommend it.
>>
>> I'm particularly in drying jerky and fruit and some herbs.
>>
>> I want one that is not large or bulky and not really expensive.
>
> I have a simple unit from Amazon.
>
> http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-American...ydrator/dp/B00
> 00665TM/ref=sr_1_13?s=appliances&ie=UTF8&qid=1307486266&sr =1-13
>
> or http://tinyurl.com/5sbwmhr
>
> I know there are fancier ones but we need no more than this to make
> jerky and dry a few veggie/herb items. We rarely use all the trays but
> we often use 3 or 4.
>
> All dehydrators are somewhat bulky so we store ours out of the way when
> not in use.
>
> There are several units in it's same range, all decent for general use.
>
> Don has to watch his sodium somewhat (no more than 2,000 mg a day with
> preference to 1,500 but lower isn't needed). He also loves jerky so
> this allows us to make our own without the huge salt-bomb the
> commercial ones all have. I also use it to preserve the odd herb,
> onion, tomato, bell pepper, hot pepper, or whatever I have enough bulk
> of to be worth it.

I make our bread and if there is any left over when I make a new batch, I
make breadcrumbs and dry them Very useful Good for croutons too!

--
--

https://www.shop.helpforheroes.org.uk/

"Mark Thorson" > wrote in message
...
> ImStillMags wrote:
>>
>> I am really thinking of getting one. I would love to hear from you
>> about which brand you have, the price and how you use it and if you
>> recommend it.
>
> I don't have one, but I've been wanting an Excalibur
> for a few years now.

That is the one I have and I have never regretted it. Not sure if I could
keep it if I didn't have plenty of space though. It is a very large piece
of kit.

> I did have a convection oven with a dehydrator mode
> for a few years. That piece of junk taught me that
> you should get a real dehydrator if that's what you
> want to do. Also, get one with low power. A high
> power dehydrator cycles on and off more frequently,
> so the lights flicker more often, the noise is more
> annoying, light bulbs burn out more often, etc.
>

--
--

https://www.shop.helpforheroes.org.uk/

In article >,
Mark Thorson > wrote:

> ImStillMags wrote:
> >
> > I am really thinking of getting one. I would love to hear from you
> > about which brand you have, the price and how you use it and if you
> > recommend it.
>
> I don't have one, but I've been wanting an Excalibur
> for a few years now.
>
I have an excalibur and I love it. We dry a lot of fruit in it as well
as make beef jerky. It's also perfect for making yogurt. It keep the
temperature just right and it's the only successful way I've ever made
yogurt.

marcella

On Tue, 07 Jun 2011 19:55:15 -0800, Mark Thorson >
wrote:

>ImStillMags wrote:
>>
>> I am really thinking of getting one. I would love to hear from you
>> about which brand you have, the price and how you use it and if you
>> recommend it.
>
>I don't have one, but I've been wanting an Excalibur
>for a few years now.
>
>I did have a convection oven with a dehydrator mode
>for a few years. That piece of junk taught me that
>you should get a real dehydrator if that's what you
>want to do. Also, get one with low power. A high
>power dehydrator cycles on and off more frequently,
>so the lights flicker more often, the noise is more
>annoying, light bulbs burn out more often, etc.

It's less laborious, costs less, and quality is far better buying
dehydrated veggies/fruits from a commercial dehydrator... those units
folks buy to use at home are toys r us crap, all of them... they will
raise your electric bill by more than the value of whatever it is
you're dehydrating and will turn your good produce to essentially
garbage. Commercial dehydrators remove moisture quickly with gentle
heat and vacuum while preserving flavor, and control the rate of
moisture removal with computerized sensors. Those toys r us
dehydrators operate at too high a temperature and for too long.

"Kswck" > wrote in message
...
>
> "ImStillMags" > wrote in message
> ...
>>I am really thinking of getting one. I would love to hear from you
>> about which brand you have, the price and how you use it and if you
>> recommend it.
>>
>> I'm particularly in drying jerky and fruit and some herbs.
>>
>> I want one that is not large or bulky and not really expensive.
>>
>> what say you?
>
> Far and away, the best:
>
> http://www.excaliburdehydrator.com/

True, but it is large and bulky


--
--

https://www.shop.helpforheroes.org.uk/