Dehydrators - a personal view point
By Joanne Oliver
I first came across dehydrators on my herbal training course when many herbalists used the dehydrator to dry and preserve the goodness of freshly picked herbs. Even a mild research into living foods will lead to one view or another around the use of dehydrators. So I thought it was high time I mentioned this piece of equipment.
At the bottom of this short personal review of using a dehydrator are links to more information and inspiration around dehydrators that I found useful myself.
Yes I have had a dehydrator for about a year now – an amazing birthday present. I decided to invest in a dehydrator for the following reasons;
1. It was the start of winter and the warm comforting raw gourmet meals I had been reading about REALLY appealed to me!
2. Bread and wheat in just about any form are not good for me and the idea of ‘uncooking’ my own crackers, pizza and breads was very appealing. I had previously bought a bread maker and tried to make gluten-free breads, but the yeast caused me so many problems it was a very short-lived attempt.
3. My daughter loves crisps, crackers and bread sticks and I hoped to be able to convert her to raw alternatives and also to make fruit leathers, chocolate cookies and other tempting foods.
So these were my personal reasons for having a dehydrator in the first place and at the time I remember thinking that this sounded like the only way I could possibly even imagine surviving on living foods.
So what is the reality?
First they are an investment – mine was around the £200 mark. I read that it was far better to get the larger 9 –tray Excalibur version and did do this – more on this in a moment. I also read to try and find the deals that included the teflex sheets. The dehydrator comes with 9 plastic trays with big holes in them and also a fine mesh tray that fits on the plastic tray that you place your food on. Teflex sheets are used for ‘wet’ food that would drip through the mesh sheets – after a couple of hours of heating the food is dry enough to swap to the mesh trays. I found the teflex very useful, but at £15 a sheet is another expense to think about. However if you decide to buy raw crackers/cookies and other dehydrated goodies on a weekly basis you will find that you would get your money back easily within a year.
Second they are big, ugly and noisy. My friend keeps hers in her utility room and doesn’t find it so much of a problem – if you have an integral garage or store room that would work as well. Luckily I do have a large kitchen, but being a bungalow it is difficult to get away from the noise and your dehydrator could be on over-night or for 12 or more hours. Let’s just say that other members of my family complain. I have also found that some people find the aroma of the food very strong especially in small houses. Mine is a bit bigger than the usual microwave and looks like a big black box – not a thing of beauty.
They are not expensive to run in comparison to a conventional oven and I have had no worries leaving them on overnight. You will need to investigate the technical links below for more on this!
Back to the size. As of yet I haven’t used all 9 trays at the same time and have wondered if I should have bought the 5 tray cheaper version. Also it appears that I am only uncooking for myself most of the time. I also think I am still getting into using my dehydrator correctly – really I need to plan when I am going to use it – decide on the recipes and make sure I make enough to fill all 9 trays. This would be a winner all round. Because of the above mentioned noise – you really don’t want to be popping it on for hours on end any more than you need to. The huge bonus is that once dehydrated you can safely store the food for weeks in an airtight container or in the freezer. So if I was organised enough I could dehydrate enough for nearly a month with my 9-tray version at one go. Note; I wouldn’t mix sweet and savoury together though – onion and garlic can be strong. To be honest the savoury food is where I get most use.
Do I use it enough? From the above you can see that I am still on a learning curve with making sure I utilise all the space for the long time that it is on. Obviously the more I am into my living foods the more I do use it. One surprise was that I now prefer to eat my raw crackers, wraps and pizza bases rather than conventional shop bought. Two reasons; first I get none of the digestive complaints because I am avoiding wheat and gluten and it is great to know that they are healthy. Secondly I really do enjoy eating them. I never found a shop-bought gluten-free product that I enjoyed and I kept trying them all! I have to say that this has taken quite a few attempts. I tried quite a few different recipes that were just OK and made quite a few mistakes – I am not practical or hands on. But once I came across the famous onion bread I was well and truly hooked especially after I added my own modifications. So much that I include the recipe below.
Making the recipes. Couple of points I found that you could actually apply to all living foods, but especially if you invest in a dehydrator.
1. Keep trying. I would say that at least the first 3 or 4 attempts were less than encouraging. I am not a cook and so that may explain some of my disasters.
2. Learning to understand raw food terms and techniques helps. Meal and flour caught me out a bit at first – until I realised my cheap hand blender had a special attachment that ground flaxseeds and other nuts and seeds into fine flour. I also struggled until I obtained a food processor. Now you don’t technically need any of these to make lovely raw dishes – but I am telling you they really help. Many people have these lurking in the back of cupboards and can be bought second hand – mine are just basic cheap versions and I manage just fine now.
3. Adapt the recipe to your own taste preferences. There are many stories in my past when I tried to adapt conventional recipes and swapped normal ingredients for healthier versions – with many brave friends asking to come back again with take-away! But seriously, start by trying to follow the recipe to the letter and see how you like it. Then decide if next time you will tweak it a bit to make it better for you. This is so simple and yet really huge. It can take your journey with living foods from just OK to I really LOVE it. It helps if you print recipes and then add your own notes i.e. Yummy! Or too much sun-dried tomato.
4. Give yourself time. Like everything once you get the hang of it you can soon whizz batters up in no time at all. I found I do need little measuring cups and bowls and it does make quite a lot of washing up – or maybe that’s just me.
5. Ingredients. To be honest you can use very expensive ingredients or keep it more reasonable. These days most large supermarkets stock most of the ingredients you need – but if you want truly fresh, raw, and organic you may need to search the internet and perhaps buy in bulk. I do a bit of both. This is because of both price and lack of organisation – it can be frustrating to decide to make one creation only to find you have run out of one of the ingredients. Equally as much as I want the best quality I can, sometimes price just forces me to make cheaper choices. We all do the best we can – and that’s fine for me! Also raw food seems to be very good for swapping ingredients i.e. almonds instead of cashew nuts or sunflower instead of hemp seeds. So if there is a food you know you can’t eat there will be another alternative.
6. Final notes. I always start with the setting a bit higher for an hour or so as per the agreed safe way to dehydrate – to do with the speed at which the food reaches correct heat and reducing any bacteria growth- this also reduces over-all length of dehydrating time. It seems that timing can vary a lot so you need to see what works for you at first despite what the recipe suggests. Also the thickness and moisture content have to be allowed for when thinking about timing as well as how crunchy you want your finished product to be.
In Summary I wouldn’t be without my dehydrator and there is still tons of recipes and ideas that I haven’t even tried yet. But just for the crackers and wraps etc it is worth it for me.
I got my dehydrator from www.fresh-network.com and they have more information on the site – you can also obtain dehydrated crackers and other goodies to try yourself before investing!
The one place that really inspired me was www.thesunnyrawkitchen.blogspot there is heaps on this brilliant site – just put a search in for dehydrator and Carmella will talk you through it all step by step.
THE famous Onion bread with JO’s modifications
Original by Pansy taken from www.thesunnyrawkitchen.blogspot
2 1/2 lbs. sweet onions peeled – I use two red onions
1-cup ground sunflower seeds
1-cup ground golden flaxseeds
1/2-cup olive oil – I include a small avocado as per carmella and less oil with drop of water if required
3 oz. Nama Shoyu – I use a spoon of clearspring Tamari and then add Himalayan salt to taste.
I also add fresh rosemary from the garden and black pepper to taste.
Put onions in food processor with 's' blade and process until small pieces, (but not mush). I found it easier to spread the batter if onions were mush! Put in mixing bowl with the other ingredients and mix thoroughly. The flax will absorb liquid. Smooth onto teflex sheets* about 1/4" thick and place in dehydrator for 5 hours, turning over for another 3-4 hours or until dry and crispy. Either break into pieces or cut with a pizza cutter, and store in refrigerator in an airtight container.
*If you don't have an Excalibur dehydrator, any type will do - just use natural unbleached parchment paper instead of the teflex sheets.
I love this recipe so much I have a few different ways I use it. Some I allow to go quite hard like crackers and also use as crouton’s in salads or I use it softer more like a pitta or wrap and find it easier to use when pliable. This recipe really is famous and I am sure you will come across many variations and even come up with some of your own – please share!
Over the coming months I will be working with my friend Dawn on making and sharing some of the raw gourmet dishes we have been looking at. Dawn is not only far more practical minded than myself, she is also attending Russel James raw gourmet course – lucky lady! I thought I would interview her about the course, as I know so many of us would love to attend or at least know all about it!
If you visit my website you can see photo's of my very rustic creations! www.joanneoliver.co.uk
Hopefully I can continue to inspire you to at least incorporate a small amount of raw food into your diet. It can make such a difference to health, energy, emotional upliftment and even spiritual connection that it’s worth having a little play and experiment.
Thank you for reading this article - if you have enjoyed it and would like to read more about natural healing including spiritual growth please visit www.joanneoliver.co.uk and visit my blog plage.
Wishing you all success in your journey to health
This article was posted by Joanne Oliver
