Posted by: nbaground on: January 25, 2010
Electric Food Dehydrators are available in all kinds of sizes and shapes varying widely in both quality and price.
A small, low cost food dehydrator that costs between $30 and $40 will have the heating source situated in the bottom of the machine and it can take up to 3 days in order to dry certain kinds of foods.
This might be just fine for the occasional use and it will be great for keeping your kids busy for a few hours.
If however you are trying to find a more substantial and reliable system to preserve foods either for snacks, camping, backpacking or survival situations then you must expect to pay more for a better model.
My husband always says - "Find the Best for the Least"
What you will be searching for is a food dehydrator that provides fast, even and wholesome drying of food.
Here is a list of the benefits and features that the more expensive, top of the range, electric food dehydrators offer.
A top mounted fan so that liquids do not drip on to the heating chamber.
1000 watts of electrical power providing a faster drying time for larger amounts of food.
Air flow structure that forces heated air down the exterior pressurized chamber, then horizontally over each individual rack for fast, even and nutritious drying.
Absolutely no flavor mixing.
Digital timer that is programmable for up to 48 hours of drying time.
Opaque exterior which blocks light to help retain more of the foods nutrients and vitamins throughout the drying process.
Expandable to meet your needs. You might to begin with buy a four tray system but discover that you could make use of more drying space. By having an expandable system it is easy to add more trays, for example 20 trays giving you 20 square feet of drying room.
The real question that you need to think about is, which of those features could I do without whilst still providing fast, even and healthy food.
My short list of essentials for an electric food dehydrator would be as follows: top mounted fan, opaque exterior, horizontal air flow, expandable tray system, variable drying pressures and also I would like a moderately fast drying system.
