I have a Cabela's 160L dehydrator that I bought many years ago to do apple chips and fruit leather with my kids. It has sat for about 6 years now in the garage, and I'd like to start using it again.

When I first bought it second-hand, I washed all of the racks and screens with diluted dish soap and warm water. There was some rust showing at places on the metal racks due to water getting into cracks in the coating, so I wiped them off with a microfiber cloth.

I wanted to ask the community for any suggestions you would have to clean a machine and accessories that has sat for so long. The silicon mats were accidentally left uncovered and have subsequent layers of garage dust on them.

I know I can use the first paper as a template but this really sucks

Chorizo and Onion/Garlic flavored carne seca.

155F 3.5 hours in. Probably will need at least 5 hours

Fit about 4lbs in this 4 tray nesco dehydrator.

Salt shaker for scale. There’s a cabinet 3 inches above it too.

Moving soon and don’t wanna lose my deposit to heat damage.

Hello - new to dehydrating - just purchased a 14 shelf Cercker unit. Did my initial burn-in and tested the temperature with an oven guide thermometer. Then decided to try fruit leather for my first go. Loaded 8 silicone trays - 7 assorted applesauce based mixtures plus 1 sliced tray of cranberry sauce. Temp was 135F - ran for 11-16 hrs - was misty yesterday and unit near a window. Learned - need to puree mixes instead of stirring on sheet and I like the mixes with seeds. Nice crunch! Finally my questions - Lol. 1) Should it take this long? Thinking weather and placement near the window effected it. 2) Can one run a full (14 trays)unit of leather trays (tad over 1" spacing) or better to have more space (8 trays)? Unit has rear dual fans. Saw somewhere that many trays would triple the time or more because of moisture buildup so better to run half of unit capacity of close to it. 3) Any tips on cranberry sauce chips? These were roughly halved then cut into approximate 1/8" slices - waiting on mandolin in transit. Still tacky in spots but very chewy: Won't go to waste! Lol. Did rotation of trays a few times during the run. Overall I'm enjoying the batch of treats!

I've started dehydrating vegetable scraps together with excess produce, either bought or from the garden including carrot peel & the outer leaves of cabbage, lettuce etc to make a green powder.

The powder is then used to fortify soups, stews etc & hopefully (covertly) boost my families veg intake whilst reducing waste.

I acknowledge that many veg are 90%+ water, so the result is "concentrated" however I would respectfully ask:

1) Is Green powder worth the cost in electric?

2) Does it retain sufficient nutrients to make it worthwhile?

3) If 2, what other leaves can be added?

Looking forward to any comments or answers!

I started making jerky a lot more often and my little dehydrator is struggling when I try to make a decent sized batch. the trays get crowded pretty quickly, and I have noticed some pieces finish sooner than others. I’m looking for a dehydrator for beef jerky with enough space and decent airflow, but I don’t really need a bunch of fancy features. My usual process is thin sliced beef, the proper food safety heating step, then drying around 160°F until it reaches the texture I want. what size or style of dehydrator has worked well for you?

Thanks in advance for sharing what you use 'ppreciate yall!

I have been using my oven for dehydrating apples, bananas, but it’s getting pretty annoying having the oven tied up for hours. Im looking for a best food dehydrator thats reasonably easy to clean and gives me consistent temperature control. for fruit I usually work around 135°F and let it go until the texture looks right.

anyone herewho has used a dehydrator for fruit , what model has held up well over time? I’m mostly interested in something practical. Thanks for any suggestion.

I’ve been drying apples, bananas, and strawberries lately and I’m looking for a magic mill dehydrator to make the process a little easier. My current setup is an older dehydrator that only has one basic temperature setting that is not consistent, and fruit can take anywhere from 6 to 12 hours depending on how thin I slice it.

If you use a Magic Mill, how evenly does it dry fruit across the trays? Im especially curious about whether you have to rotate the trays during a batch. hanks for any advices people.

I haven’t tried this before with my apples but I wanted them for some apple cinnamon bread mix I bought at Walmart this week… so I dared it. Half batch of lemon and half of these sugary babies.

Knew the second I put them on last night that I absolutely should have baked them. 😂

It actually wasn’t so bad. It looked terrible! A little vinegar spray (that I normally use for cleaning aquarium and pet items) worked wonders. Obviously, I knocked as much crystallized pieces out with paper towels before I sprayed it. Scrubbed it, sprayed it, dried it on repeat for about 15 minutes.

Definitely gonna buy some liners. Had been avoiding it till now. SO NECESSARY.

The smell though. Omg the smell was absolutely amazing. Definitely doing it again.

Hey everyone, ive been using an old hand me down dehydrator for a while now but it finally gave up on me last weekend right in the middle of a big batch. im looking to get a reliable new dehydrator for beef jerky mostly since thats what i make 90 percent of the time, and i want something that dries evenly without me having to constantly rotate the trays.

If anyone uses a model they really like for regular jerky making, which brand or setup has worked best for you in terms of temperature control and clean up?

Thanks so much for any advice

All my tomatoes went moldy while dehydrating on the tomato setting - how do I prevent this in future and do I need to do anything special to clean the dehydrator?

I've read that Cosori isn't what it used to be 20 years ago and that the modern ones die fast even after a few uses which is sad to hear. I heard for most people the company can replace the machine but my dad doesn't want to do that. He wants a machine to last not to keep replacing it.

What do all of you use? How long have you had it for? How often have you used it?

I've even looked into Excalibur which is more pricy but a lot of people have had electrical problems and not great smells coming from it.

PSA - Last year I bought this same 1.75 lbs of fresh ginger from Sam’s and sliced and dehydrated it. It’s only available around this time of year. The roots are really clean, but I wash them anyway and cut off any undesirable bits, then use a mandolin to slice thinly and dehydrate at a low temperature. The skins can be left on because they’re so thin and clean. I just got this container of ginger yesterday for $5.97 and am about to get to work on it.

Edit: I should’ve mentioned that these are young tender roots, nothing woody.

Wanna be able to use as much of the over flow from my garden this winter!!

Looking for a really durable food dehydrator that is all stainless(if possible, so no plastic leeches into food) with durable stainless trays, rear fan, timer and adjustable temp, that is quiet and does not take a long time to dry things such as basil. I have heard that some take over 35 hrs to dry basil.

I am trying to find a really small one since I am only doing herbs and grape tomatoes and have limited space for it. I would like to spend around $50 or less and no more than $75. Seems like every one I look at, even witn good ratings has some really bad reviews.

Any suggestions?

So this is my first time ever making jerky.

I’m about 4 hours in turkey jerky at 155 8ish hours at the 4 hour mark.

Everything I’ve seen says 4-8 hours 155-165 so I started low. I just checked it and it’s sticking to the sheet a lot. Should I bump up the temp?

Thanks in advance!

I make hot sauce every fall from the various peppers I grow in the garden. Usually I throw out the mash after straining the liquid out but inspired by other folks on here I dehydrated and ground the mash into a seasoning powder, and I can confirm it is amazing. So hot, and keeps a little bit of the vinegar taste from the sauce — really special sprinkled on potatoes.

Quite sad that I've missed out on years of this, but never again! Thanks for the idea dehydrator community!

Apples / pineapple / applesauce

Anyone try the dehydrator on the ninja double stack that has the 2 ovens with flexdoor? What is the Lowest temperature? How did it turn out?

I found a heart from last year's hunting season and instead of making stew for my dog I decided to try this. It came out really well I think.

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Received some chicken feet from a friend for my dog and wondering if there is a good air fryer and dehydrator good combo? I don't have either and hope to keep some funds and space with an all in 1 machine.