Dehydrator - Nesco FD-50

TammyM said:

I'm looking to buy a dehydrator. This one sounds intriguing to me.
It's USD50, has 4 trays expandable to 12, no need to shuffle trays (so
they say), and an adjustable thermostat. I'm wondering if anyone
knows if this will also "incubate" homemade yogurt? Anyone have any
experience with this particular model who can offer an opinion?

I'm new to the dehydrating world <g> so if this is a dorky question,
please forgive.

TammyM

posted separately to rec.food.preserving and rec.food.equipment

I have the same unit and love it for what I do. I can't tell you about
yogurt but it does fruits and such great. It also does herbs great and that
is what I got it for. I also purchased 2 extra trays for mine one of which
is for liquids the other for spices/herbs.

--

Joe Cilinceon

TammyM said:

I'm looking to buy a dehydrator. This one sounds intriguing to me.
It's USD50, has 4 trays expandable to 12, no need to shuffle trays (so
they say), and an adjustable thermostat. I'm wondering if anyone
knows if this will also "incubate" homemade yogurt? Anyone have any
experience with this particular model who can offer an opinion?

I'm new to the dehydrating world <g> so if this is a dorky question,
please forgive.

I've been considering buying a dehydrator for quite
some time, and my needs/restrictions are probably
different from yours, and I've never heard of the
Nesco -- but that's never stopped me from offering
my $0.02 before . . .

My experience using an el cheapo (rhymes with
Toastmaster/Salton) convection oven with a
dehydrate mode tells me that a VERY IMPORTANT
feature is LOW WATTAGE. The reason is that
if you have a high wattage model (or a convection
oven), it will be constantly cycling on and off.
If you have a low wattage model, the cycles
will be much longer. Nicer would be to have
two power levels -- high for when you really
need it (to dry wet stuff like tomatoes and
oranges) and low (to dry stuff with lower water
content, or to finish stuff that started on high).

This is important for a few reasons. For me,
an important one is that I can't run two >1000W
appliances at the same time without risking blowing
a fuse. Another is that it is annoying to have
my lights flickering every few minutes when the
thermostat kicks on -- ever since I bought a
dehumidifier for my collection of fine antiquarian
books, I believe I have been replacing incandescent
lightbulbs at a higher rate because of these flickers.

What is also important is being able to run the
fan without any heat. Some things dry perfectly
well without any heat at all, and may be damaged
by heat. For example, herbs won't have as good an
aroma if dried with heat, as opposed to air-drying.

On Sat, 03 Sep 2005 21:08:27 GMT, Mark Thorson <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

TammyM said:

I'm looking to buy a dehydrator. This one sounds intriguing to me.
It's USD50, has 4 trays expandable to 12, no need to shuffle trays (so
they say), and an adjustable thermostat. I'm wondering if anyone
knows if this will also "incubate" homemade yogurt? Anyone have any
experience with this particular model who can offer an opinion?

I'm new to the dehydrating world <g> so if this is a dorky question,
please forgive.

I've been considering buying a dehydrator for quite
some time, and my needs/restrictions are probably
different from yours, and I've never heard of the
Nesco -- but that's never stopped me from offering
my $0.02 before . . .

My experience using an el cheapo (rhymes with
Toastmaster/Salton) convection oven with a
dehydrate mode tells me that a VERY IMPORTANT
feature is LOW WATTAGE. The reason is that
if you have a high wattage model (or a convection
oven), it will be constantly cycling on and off.
If you have a low wattage model, the cycles
will be much longer. Nicer would be to have
two power levels -- high for when you really
need it (to dry wet stuff like tomatoes and
oranges) and low (to dry stuff with lower water
content, or to finish stuff that started on high).

This is important for a few reasons. For me,
an important one is that I can't run two >1000W
appliances at the same time without risking blowing
a fuse. Another is that it is annoying to have
my lights flickering every few minutes when the
thermostat kicks on -- ever since I bought a
dehumidifier for my collection of fine antiquarian
books, I believe I have been replacing incandescent
lightbulbs at a higher rate because of these flickers.

What is also important is being able to run the
fan without any heat. Some things dry perfectly
well without any heat at all, and may be damaged
by heat. For example, herbs won't have as good an
aroma if dried with heat, as opposed to air-drying.

Good points, Mark, thanks for sharing. The one I'm looking at has an
adjustable thermostat, 95F - 145F. I think I'm going to give it a
try.

TammyM

On Sat, 3 Sep 2005 16:30:29 -0400, "Joe Cilinceon" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

TammyM said:

I'm looking to buy a dehydrator. This one sounds intriguing to me.
It's USD50, has 4 trays expandable to 12, no need to shuffle trays (so
they say), and an adjustable thermostat. I'm wondering if anyone
knows if this will also "incubate" homemade yogurt? Anyone have any
experience with this particular model who can offer an opinion?

I'm new to the dehydrating world <g> so if this is a dorky question,
please forgive.

TammyM

posted separately to rec.food.preserving and rec.food.equipment

I have the same unit and love it for what I do. I can't tell you about
yogurt but it does fruits and such great. It also does herbs great and that
is what I got it for. I also purchased 2 extra trays for mine one of which
is for liquids the other for spices/herbs.

Thanks much, Joe. I'm particularly interested in drying herbs, rose
petals, citrus rinds, and making yogurt, but, adventuresome soul that
I am, will probably make a run at the gamut <g>

TammyM