Heads up - Cheap Dehydrator

[Banjobill]

I have been looking for a cheap dehydrator and have found these on QVC:

http://www.qvcuk.com/ukgasp/framese...mNumberRedirect.asp&country=uk&txtDesc=823860

I have not used one, so dont know what they are like, but at just over £32 delivered, I figure its worth a go

 

[Toddy]

Cheers :You_Rock_
I've been looking for a reasonably priced one of these for ages.

atb,
Toddy

 

[moduser]

That link isn't working for me

Is it a direct link to the product? I assume it is.

David

 

[Toddy]

I got straight through to the de-hydrator.

Bought it too

Maybe that's why you can't get through

I've just checked again and the link goes straight to the right page.
Try again?

cheers,
Toddy

 

[moduser]

'tis alright Mary, with a little bit of lateral surfing I found it. Bought it as well

We can compare notes when they arrive

David

 

[Ed]

Thats got to be the find of the week Cheers banjobill


Ed

 

[spamel]

I've just got one of these today, my wife picked it up from Soltau for €17.99!! I've just finished posting a picture of it in another thread!!!!

They get quite warm, I haven't done anything in it yet as I had to go and watch the Corps of Royal Engineers band that came to Beat the Retreat, and very good they were. They got cut short by bad weather, but I digress!! I will crank it up tomorrow and try to dehydrate something, also, they are a lot bigger than they look!!

 

[spamel]

The trays can be put on to allow thick or thin stuff aswell, they are adjustable by placing them so a raised piece of plastic sits on to the rim of the other tray. Quite a good idea really!

If any of you do try and jerk meat on these, tell me how it goes please!

 

[Toddy]

I want to try fruit leathers, does it look suitable Spamel?

cheers,
Toddy

 

[spamel]

You may have to explain fruit leathers to me, my idea was just bung everything and turn the machine on until it was all dried out!!

The trays have two depths, 1.5 cms and 2.5 cms. Apparently, if you put lemon juice on sliced fruit, it stops it going brown, or so the instructions say. I didn't read them first though, so I had brown apples in no time!

 

[fast celt]

another Cheap link Link

 

[Toddy]

You may have to explain fruit leathers to me, my idea was just bung everything and turn the machine on until it was all dried out!!

The trays have two depths, 1.5 cms and 2.5 cms. Apparently, if you put lemon juice on sliced fruit, it stops it going brown, or so the instructions say. I didn't read them first though, so I had brown apples in no time!

Fruit is pulped into a sort of jam, spreadout thinly and dried into a thin flexible sheet like thin leather. The desiccator needs to have either solid base trays or special non stick linings for the fruit to be spread out onto.

Cheers,
Mary

 

[spamel]

The holes in the trays are about 5 mm wide and vary in length the further from the centre you go. I'm not sure how viscous the fruit is after you have pulped it, you may have to put them onto a sheet of baking paper to stop the fruit falling through the holes if it is too mushy!!

 

[moduser]

Mary,

A piece of fine muslin should do the job

David

 

[Tony]

So, has nayone had it delivered yet and used it??????

 

[Toddy]

Not yet, no
And I've got masses of stuff to try too
Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Banjobill]

So, has nayone had it delivered yet and used it??????

Mine came yesterday so I tried my first Beef Jerky.

Round to Asda on my way home for a joint of silverside, which I sliced very thinly and then marinated it. I tried three recipes:
1. Soy, chilli and garlic
2. BBQ (with Worcester sauce)
3. Chinese five spice and soy

To be honest, I should have let the beef marinate for longer. It soaked for about three hours, when I should have left it overnight. But excitement got the better of me

The leaflet said allow a minimum of 9 hours, so I set it up and let it run overnight.

Got up this morning to three trays of Jerky

Far from being 'underpowered' if anything, it was a little too dried. Next time I will try the beef a bit thicker. And the taste: absolutely delicious
I packed some to take to work with me, but eat it on the drive in!

So all-in-all, I am very pleased with it, especially considering the price.
The only slight downside is that the QVC website listed it as coming with '50 recipes', in fact it was a leaflet with about 7 recipes But, as I will only be making jerky or fruit leathers, this is not a problem.

 

[janiepopps]

Hi Banjo, that sounds great!

Any chance you could let me know the Wattage of the machine. Id like to find out if its going to be cheaper to run than the homemade jobby.

Cheers & ta

j

 

[Banjobill]

I have had alook on the QVC website, but it doesn't give any details.

IIRC, its 125w. The little fan doesnt make too much noise either!

 

[Toddy]

I'm patiently waiting for mine to arrive.....sounds good though.......looking forward to this new toy

Jerkymeister gave soem tips for recipes iirc.


Cheers,
Toddy