# Food Dehydrators and prepping



## survival (Sep 26, 2011)

What is the best, what is the best but in the range of $50 bucks? A few years back a friend got into this big time and did a lot of research on food dehydrators, but they are no longer in touch and I forgot exactly what he told me about them. There was one specific thing to watch for when purchasing them also (again I forgot), something about a moving part of something. Anyway, I saw GunsKnivesSurvival and Dreams posts in "prep of the day" and thought I'd post this. The one that Dreams showed from Amazon looked really good and is around $59 dollars.

Nesco/American Harvest FD-80 Square-Shaped Dehydrator

I'm wanting to do jerkey (of course), and all the garden foods that I have coming in this year. Dried fruits as well.


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## Dreams (Mar 27, 2012)

Best thing to do is read the reviews... I thought I had read that some of them have the fan/motor in the bottom, so drippings can get in.. where as some have it on top, avoiding this... Also, once I get the hang of things in the cheaper one, I want to go Excalibur... that has the fan on the BACK, so it would distribute evenly... if the fan is on the top or bottom, those on the opposite end take longer?

Im psyched about the Nesco though.. Guess Im just anxious to make my own dried fruits and jerky.    ... MMMMmm and dried veggies for soup..

***btw, can you dehydrate salad shrimp? or are they freeze dried?***

ok, forget that question.. although Im not really fond of hot sauce, this looks good, and wow.. I had NO clue you could do that with a dehydrator.. a full meal plopped in there and done.. Now Im even more excited..


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## amym505 (Feb 10, 2012)

I have been dehydrating small amounts in the oven, but now that the weather is warmer, I dehydrated some mushrooms on my roof yesterday. They came out pretty good. 
On my dehydrator wish list is an Excalibur. I found a Black and Decker Convection oven at Walmart yesterday for $40. It is small, but goes down to 150 degrees and will operate continuously without shutting off. I have heard that convection ovens are good for dehydrating.


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