From: gerald.belton@ozonehole.com (Gerald Belton) 
Subject: Food Dehydrators
Distribution: world
Organization: Ozone Online Operations, Inc. - New Orleans, LA
Reply-To: gerald.belton@ozonehole.com (Gerald Belton) 
Lines: 39

>Does anybody out there have one of those food dehydrators I've been seeing
>all over late-night TV recently? I was wondering if they use forced air, hea
>or both. If there's heat involved, anybody know what temperature they run at
>My wife would like one and I'm not inclined to pay >$100.00 for a box, a fan
>and a heater. Seems to me you should be able to throw a dehydrator together
>for just a few bucks. Heck, the technology is only what? 1,000 years old?

You can learn how to build a deyhdrator very easily from the book, "The
Hungry Hiker's Guide to Good Food," by Gretchen McHugh.  The heat source
is a 100 watt light bulb.  Basically, it's a vertical wooden box with
ventilation holes in the top and bottom (lots of them, you want the air
to flow).  The light bulb goes in the bottom, and wire cake racks are
spaced every 6" starting about 10" above the bulb.

Or, at a slightly higher cost in electricity, you can do what I do:  Use
your oven.  (NOTE - I do this in an electric oven; some gas ovens may
not have a low enough setting).  Put food to be dried on cookie tins or
racks in the oven.  Set oven to 140 degrees (the lowest setting on my
oven - if yours goes down to 120 that's probably even better.)  Stick a
wooden spoon or something across the front corner of the oven and close
the door on the spoon so that it stays open about an inch - this allows
for airflow.  Leave the stuff in the oven for 6 to 8 hours; check it
often, since this dries it much faster than the dehydrator.  If you are
using cookie sheets instead of racks, turn the stuff over halfway
through.

If you want more info, e-mail me since this isn't really the right sub
for this stuff.

gerald.belton@ozonehole.com


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