Welcome to "what are food dehydrators?" This post is about two of the best dehydrator brands out there: Nesco and Excalibur.
Food dehydrators work by simply removing the moisture in foods with an air-circulating fan and a heating element. They have temperature controls ranging from 90°F to 160°F so you can choose the appropriate setting.
They are not silent-running—but they do run in the background. In fact, they create a good white-noise! Beats hearing the neighbor's barking dogs and street noise!
The dehydrators for home use are lightweight—so they're easily portable. The two dehydrators I own are made from plastic. One is black with molded panels that resemble leather-hide. The other model is a speckled white/gray sturdy plastic. One dehydrator has its fan in the rear and the other model has its fan at the top in the lid.
Both of my dehydrators are starter models. What's that? They are both 4-tray models. I decided to start small as there are only the two of us (hubby and I). If you've got a larger family, consider getting a dehydrator with far more trays. Farther down this page is info. on the two top-selling brands of dehydrators: Nesco and Excalibur.
Food Dehydrators have been around for a very long time. Read more on how they work farther down the page :-)
When I first saw
them about ten years ago, I thought they were a fad and who on earth would want one of those? (Turns out, I did!)
Foods can be preserved by canning, freeze-drying, smoking, or DEHYDRATING. To me, the easiest method by far is dehydrating! The simplicity of it appealed to me more than anything.
There are two sections below, covering the
Excalibur and Nesco dehydrators in more detail.
Click the big
links to learn more about the dehydrators we use:
There are two sections
below,
covering the
Excalibur and Nesco
dehydrators in
more detail.
Click the big
links
to learn more about
the dehydrators
we use:
For More on the Excalibur™
dehydrator on this site, click here
...see you over there!
Click the images above to read reviews and see them on Amazon.
* As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. The price you pay doesn't increase.
For More on the NESCO™
dehydrator on this site, click here
...see you over there!
Click the images above to read reviews and see them on Amazon.
* As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. The price you pay doesn't increase.
But it wasn't through kitchen-gadget ads on TV or online that made me take the plunge—it was due to the very real possibility of a world-wide food shortage in the next 10 years or so.
If you read up on super-power China, and about how much US debt
they own, and how China must sustain a double-digit growth rate... it
becomes obvious that to sustain a country that has four times the number of citizens than the US, there needs to be enough food in the world to feed China... and the rest of the world. (I wrote that last paragraph PRIOR to Covid-19... which has obviously made the situation worse; plus the war in Ukraine—a country that provides fertilizer, world-wide.)
The reason I'm preparing NOW is because of the (continued) threat of inflation—or more likely hyper-inflation... or even home quarantine (again!) because of vicious viruses running rampant.
And what about the possible collapse of our economy?
Every time more money is printed by our government, it dilutes the buying power of the dollars that are already in circulation. It takes MORE of your dollars in your wallet to buy things now than it did six months ago. Who knows what the food prices will be six months from now? It all sounds a bit scary?
Yep. BUT, if the people predicting all this are right... I'll gladly start putting food away NOW, here and there, if/when it goes on sale—before inflation sky-rockets—take it home, dehydrate it, and store it! (Again, this page was written pre-Covid pandemic and war in Ukraine).
What's sad is that 'both sides of the political aisle' love to spend taxpayers' money.
And if the people predicting all this are wrong? I'd rather look silly later on than be starving later on.
This way, we can help friends and relatives who did not
prepare and thought that food-shortages in the USA just could not
possibly happen! But it DID happen... Covid-19 took everyone by surprise.
Thanks for stopping by to learn about: "what are food dehydrators."
Susan Gast began Easy Food Dehydrating in December 2010. Read Susan's story of what sparked her interest in all things related to "food dehydrating."
She is featured on Mother Earth News blog, and on Solo Build It (SBI) who host this site. Read her first SBI interview, and her second SBI interview.
Since 1980, Susan's involvement in publishing - in one form or another - led her to create a "review site" of products related to the publishing industry. Visit ePubTechReviews today, also hosted by Solo Build It. Susan also runs her namesake site SusanGast.com on Solo Build It that showcases the books she has written since 2010.
Do you want to send Susan a quick message? Visit her contact page here. She'd love to hear from you!
If you want to check out dehydrator reviews before getting one, then please visit Dehydratorjudge.com for in-depth "Best Food Dehydrator" reviews.
Also read a more about the history of dehydrating food on their website here.