Food Excalibur Dehydrator - what is your feedback, favorite recipes etc?

[Melodi]

Well, I probably won't be getting the air fryer for awhile; that's because while looking for a cheap extra dehydrator I saw that one of the Irish sites had a massive sale on the 9 tray Excalibur (no timer but that's easy to add on from the hardware shop).

I counted the pennies, read the reviews and decided that this was better than continuing to buy a string of cheap knock offs.

I also suspect that the sale was on because until recently you couldn't buy ANY dehydrators for home use over here, so people are not used to the concept and certainly not going to pay the original prices. I got the first cheap dehydrator that was at Lakeland (UK fancy cooking company) to replace my old Wallmart one (with a converter unit) that died.

The cheap one now has one totally broken tray, a second that is cracking and we are pretty sure the others will soon follow.

It was great compared to nothing but I've always wanted an Excalibur and the price slash plus free shipping made it about the same price as on-sale in the US (as opposed to twice plus the cost, which is what they used to be over here).

Anyway, since I've done the deed; anyone has suggestions, experiences, cautions, favorite recipes etc?

I got two of the mats (because they were about 12 dollars each); I'd have gotten nine but that would have been way too much to spend right now, and I figured there might be other solutions like silicon mats I already have or parchment paper for some things (if I really like the mats there is a commercial company with packs of 5).

I already had to disappoint vegetarian roommate by telling her we WOULD be making jerky in it, not having to do 48 hours in the small one was one of the reasons I got it; but I explained that we could try always lining the shelves and/or have special shelves (we shall see).

One of the things I plan on doing with it is just too dry a lot of the fruit and veg in the organic box which these days tends to go off if I'm not home; plus we have a lot of tomatoes planted this year.

I may even finally try fruit leathers etc - I gave up with the cheaper machines as it just made a mess.

Anyway, this should be fun along with the Instant Pot for now; anyone got anything to share?

 

[Genevieve]

I like mine. I've had it for years now and its still working well. I don't have the timer either but just use a small digital one on the counter next to it.

I knew a woman who used glad storage/ or freezer bags cut open to dry sauces and fruit roll ups instead of the mats

You can dry not only fruits, veggies and meats but yogurt too. Just drop them in a dollop and dry them for a snack

I like drying a pineapple ring with a maraschino cherry in the middle. They're really good

I think I'd rather have a dehydrator than some "air fryer" whatever that is. I'd get more use out of the dehydrator

 

[Melodi]

Thanks, that was my thoughts on the air fryer thingy (a nice kitchen gadget that lets you fast-fry mostly with hot air and very little oil) the prices were not that different and I've wanted a really good dehydrator for years. I can try the freezer bags (no glad bags here) I also have silicon mats that may fit. If we end up doing a lot of fruit leathers and sauces I can buy more mats later. Like the timer I figured it would be fairly easy to work around.

I used a hardware store timer on my cheap models; if it isn't heavy enough for the 9 tray one then I can just do as you did and get a good countdown timer that people can look at and just turn the machine off when it beeps.

I like the Yogurt idea; I'm especially looking for things that husband or I can take while he's on rotation (mostly being a pre-intern in various hospitals all over the country).

 

[kyrsyan]

I love mine. I love that style. I have 2 Harvest Maid (really, really old ones like Excalibur) and 1 Excalibur. I've never worries about a timer or the silicon sheets. I do put silicon mats on the bottom because it is so much easier to just pull and clean those if anything drips. I use parchment paper for everything else.

I dehydrate lots of stuff. I experiment. I ignore the "do not dehydrate" lists. Some things I dehydrate for the dehydrated state. Others will get used in recipes and "rehydrated". My son loves watermelon candy, actually any dried melons. Actually any dried fruit. He has sensory issues with fresh fruit.

In comparison to other styles I have found their dehydrators to be much more effective and efficient. Every once in a while I will find that I need to rotate trays. Normally with something that was super "juicy" to start with. But even that is a simple process.

 

[summerkitchen]

I have the nine tray Excalibur. My favorite thing so far that I've dehydrated is tomatoes. I dehydrated them skins and seeds included, grind them up and use them to thicken sauce, soups etc., rather than using canned tomato paste.

 

[Melodi]

Thanks for the great ideas and feedback, I'll remember to always put a sheet down on the bottom or bottom tray because that is a very good idea; we were just talking about dehydrating tomatoes at dinner tonight.

Unit should be here in the next few days (it is out to UPS); I may have not understood quite how big it is but housemate and I are looking at ways to make a space for it.

 

[Martinhouse]

I am the only person I know who didn't like the Excalibur and returned it for a full refund.

I mostly use dehydrators for drying greens. The first time I used the Excalibur, I filled it full of clean torn kale greens. When I opened the door to check on them, they blew out and all over the floor. I was rather dismayed that the unit didn't turn off when the door was opened. And the alternative was unplugging it or messing up the timer setting and that was unacceptable to me.

My Nesco American Harvester dehydrators have always worked very well, and I make affordable mesh tray liners out of needlepoint mesh from the Walmart craft department. I do "cook" these mesh liners for a long time at a fairly high temp, to hopefully cook out a good deal of the toxic plasticizers, although I suspect the expensive ones that Nesco sells are just as toxic.

I admit that dehydrating foods that have some substance to them, some weight, dehydrate very well in the Excalibur.

Melodi, I hope your new Excalibur works really well for you.

 

[Melodi]

Thanks, everyone, it is now set up and I may even get a load in this evening (our electrical rates are much cheaper at night and a lot more expensive than in the US) my vegetarian housemate is very excited even after I had to explain that we would be making jerky in it.

Getting the uber model; I got the big book for it for free (in addition to the small guide) and I now know why my vegetables were coming out like cow's product; because the cheap dehydrator we had didn't adjust temperatures and was always on "high" so the stuff got really hard and in an icky way (which the book talked about). It made great jerky but not much else and was way too hot for husband's dried herbs.

I know that Nesco was the next most recommended brand and I can see why you wouldn't want your greens blowing all over the kitchen, I will tell Nightwolf to pay attention to that when drying herbs, especially the leafy ones. That is exactly the sort of information and feedback I was looking for...

Oh and there was a sale on Air Fryers so I got one of those too, it is a cheap model but we can play with it and if we like it get a better one someone when I haven't just blown the bank on the dehydrator - but if it works out, we are hoping the dehydrator pays for itself in a few months of less food wastage and if things continue to do well, we may have a bumper crop of tomatoes to process.

Going down now to see if I'm awake enough to chop some fruit for a first-run..if not this evening then tomorrow.

Melodi

 

[Melodi]

At 10 minutes after midnight it was full (boy does it hold a lot) and if all goes well we shall have various varieties of dried fruit in the morning; I didn't do anything fancy just apples, peaches, and bananas for a start.

This isn't my first experience of dehydrating, but it is my first with something this large and with the ability to vary the drying temperature.

 

[Taz]

Melodi...you bought the top of the line!! I bought my first Excaliber in the 70s. I bought the current one about 10 years ago. I think the thing that I made that really excited me was dehydrated sliced potatos for scalloped potatos, and also did the same with grated 'taters' and made a bucket full of hash browns. Now if you want to make something sweet, but natural, slice a banana length way and then cut in half or qtrs. Dip in Frozen concentrated orange juice and then dry. To die for. I think that book you got will tell you how to do potatos. My taters are 10 yrs old and I just checked them today and they are fine. Good luck and happy drying. Hugs

 

[Melodi]

Thanks, Taz, I wanted to try potatoes but they had turned out so badly in the cheaper (Lakelands) dehydrator I was afraid to try again - also do you cook the hashbrowns as is or rehydrate them in water before frying/cooking?

We made the banana slices in lemon juice (I'll try orange next time) and once more discovered that housemate and I have very different expected outcomes; I like my just dry enough to be safe but still flexible; she wants fruit hard as a rock (so I turned up the dehydrator after I took mine out, seemed to work fine).

I liked the bananas and apples, haven't tried the peaches yet but housemate likes them..

Our milk delivery was slightly sour this week (it was hotter than usual for Ireland) so I just made a huge IP pot full of yogurt and I want to try the mixed yogurt/fruit leathers - also I can try making some with carob (I may do the drops) I can't eat chocolate and after two decades, carob is finally relatively easy to get here but there are few sweets (especially low sugar/honey ones) as they all use cocoa these days (great for those who can eat it, but for me, not so much).

I was too tired to do veggies last night (I wanted to heat the raw milk yogurt to 180 since I wasn't sure what had made the sour taste) but today I may be done zuke chips, beat chips and a few other things.

Taz your type of feedback is what convinced me to go for the larger and best home model; because it was on-sale (I don't think the Irish get dehydrators) it was only twice the price of the tiny "no longer made in America" model and I thought - "if I use this, it will pay for itself pretty quickly" especially as husband will jerky but his issues are with pepper (black pepper or spicy peppers) so most commercial jerky is out (especially the weird stuff they are starting to sell here).

He also really needs a lower salt version these days and since he eats entire roasts full in a couple of weeks at school; my homemade doesn't need the extra salt for preservation - simple soak in light soy sauce or light brine with other flavors will do just fine. I mean I will use more salt if get ahead enough for long term storage but just drying it really well is enough for less than a month.

Again thanks to everyone for their feedback; first try went very very well and I am impressed!

 

[nomifyle]

I have the nine tray Excalibur. My favorite thing so far that I've dehydrated is tomatoes. I dehydrated them skins and seeds included, grind them up and use them to thicken sauce, soups etc., rather than using canned tomato paste.

I dehydrate tomatoes too, we get way more than we can eat. What a good idea to grind them up, I dehydrated skins and seeds too. Have wondered what to do with them.

I have the nine tray also, and I love it. I ordered the silicone sheets from amazon to put on the trays so no leakage.

Good luck Melodi. I will be interested in how you like your air fryer, I have that and an insta pot kind of appliance, I've never used either.

Judy

 

[Melodi]

OK I adore my Instant Pot, I love the Dehydrator so far (I'm about to try tomatoes today, what a great time for the post) and I like the results from the Air Fryer so far; in fact I like them so much my next "toy" buy will probably be a full sized one.

My German Housemate made fantastically mixed pepper powder (hot and mild together) while I was gone last week and two jaws of Zucchini powder - I've already used the pepper mix and it is fantastic added to salsa. We haven't done the potatoes yet, that got side tracked partly due to time and partly because we need to blanch them or steam them a bit first, but I plan to get there. Husband is home for a bit so we may try beef jerky later in the week - that is the one thing that always worked in the cheap dehydrator too so I'm not too worried; but other vegetables and fruit I had so much trouble with do great with the ability to change the drying temperatures to suit the item. All in all, even if a family can only afford the smaller five tray version (but ask for the one made in the US) I would say get it; it will pay for itself really quickly in terms of food preservation and things you can use to as snacks.

The Air Fryer is wonderful, but it is a small cheap one from Lidle's and it only really holds enough for one person; so far I'm mostly made French Fries/Chips in it and last night I cooked a sausage too - really fantastic and I followed This Old Gal's Instructions from most things as I do with the Instant Pot - her information is free and out there; she's a wonderful source and I wish she was a forum member!

She suggests always (or almost always) using potato starch (called potato flour here) instead of regular flour for most "deep fried" coatings and that really does seem to work; I haven't tried anything double dipped yet but I soon want to make onion rings or squash which would have the potato flour inner coating and bread crumb outer coating.

I will say that if you or a family member love fried food (I do) but tend to avoid it for health reasons, this little gadget is a winner (I think anyone with kids may want one if you are constantly hearing "But Mom EVERYONE eats chicken nuggets") I've compared the results to my new fan oven (gift from Mother in Law) which is not top of the line but up there; the oven does a good job of oven frying and I will continue to use it for most batch cooking and/or full meals for now; but the Air Fryer is must closer to a deep fried taste even just using a small spray or coating of olive oil (note I am used to the taste of olive oil in my oven frying but sunflower oil and coconut oil are also recommended by This Old Gal - Peanut Oil for some things if allergies are not a factor).

While you do need SOME oil for the right "taste" especially for imitation deep fryer; it can be as little a few sprays of mist to about a tablespoon max; and if you are "roasting" vegetables you don't need any at all; larger models can do entire chickens that fake the ones from the deli counter pretty well (from what I hear). I just got some chicken to try making The Old Gal's Basic Chinese chicken (she has several versions, I want to try her Sweet and Sour Chicken but probably use lemon sauce instead).

I think all there gadgets were good ideas; the IP and the Dehydrator are extremely useful and I have to wonder where they have been all my life (especially the IP)...

The Air Fryer is fun but probably only worth it if you or a family member really likes fried food; there are lots of free and nearly Free Amazon books out there but I noticed a lot of them just have 101 silly ways to do things in your Air Fryer better done in the oven or on the stove top (aka not really deep fried or roasted).

On the other hand, the IP really DOES have a lot of different things it is suited for, which makes me think I might eventually get a smaller model especially if the husband gets one place for his last year rotation next year instead of all over the map and use it when I'm with him. A lot of people do travel with the smaller models; it would still really be too big to use on the bus except as a one trip down/one trip back but because it does so many things (including "baking" which is actually steaming) it is perfect for a travel RV or long road trip staying in motels that don't totally ban cooking appliances. There is a very little smell but there is a bit, the husband can tolerate me cooking brassicas in it and he gags if he smells them cooking in anything else (on the pressure settings at least).

One thing on the IP (and the Air Fryer to a degree) start with things that work WELL and are forgiving with long-term cooking and/or the steam baking option (IP) for simple cakes/puddings (this side of the water called puddings like "sticky toffee pudding" or "spotted dick"). Way too many people start out with expensive cuts of meat or large roasts for their first experience and are very upset if they do not turn out right - the IP's take some getting used to (as does any pressure cooker) and everyone's is going to vary a bit.

I started with things like beans, soups, stews and found they were good but tend to be a bit watery, though the sauteed and warm buttons make it easy to simmer them down (but you want to leave time for that). In general the family vote has been: stew is better long-cooked on the stove but is OK done much faster in the IP if left to simmer down some; also IP beans and stews do better with MORE, not fewer herbs and flavorings (organic stock cubes and the like) at least when used as a pressure cooker. The steamed cake was OK but we prefer the oven (so far) but I haven't made any traditional steamed puddings yet and I know husband likes those a lot (the UK IP Facebook list is having a blast with these); egg based dishes do really well if cooked to directions (too long they get rubbery) and vegetables are fantastic and cook very quickly.

Last time I made the weekly refried bean batch I did Pot in Pot cooking where you use another heat safe bowl/pan in your IP and it went very well and was easier to clean up; I could have cooked rice on top of the beans (and done the beans directly in the pot) if I had wanted to.

Overall if your going to get this thing, get the 8 qt IP because anything 8 inches will fit in it; and you will save a FORTUNE on things like extra pans and cookware that you have to buy specially for the six quarts (there's an entire industry out there) - I just get pans and pyrex bowels at the supermarket or Euro shop and they work fine.

Oh and I make Yogurt most weeks in the IP, I haven't tried the dehydrator yet but it will do that too; of course in the 1970's I made yogurt in old peanut butter buckets on top of a heating pad...but at my current age I prefer the IP lol

Best place for IP and Air Fryer recipies and she does regular baking too!
https://thisoldgal.com/

 

[nomifyle]

Thanks Melodi for all the good information. I cooked a burger in the air fryer when I first got it and DH said it was dry. I've not attempted anything else. I have the 8 and 10 qt. electric pressure cooker, got carried away around Christmas time and have yet to use them. Cooking as a chore before but now that DH is sick and doesn't really want anything to eat, its even more difficult. I've got hard cover cook books for both of these appliances, I just can't seem to get my act going with them. I feel encouraged by this thread though. Off to check out this old gal.

Judy

 

[Melodi]

IP is VERY useful when you don't feel much like cooking and you have a sick family member; stews and soups are easy and go quickly with the pressure option, like I said they can be a bit watery and need a few extra herbs or stock cubes (start with one) but they taste very good and can be made in an hour instead of five or six (but with that same "long cooked" flavor).

 

[Melodi]

More feed back, the dehydrator holds a LOT and is really cutting down on the food wastage from the organic veg boxes; we are having an unusually warm summer (for Ireland) and it is pretty easy to see that things are about to go from ripe to "off" in the next few hours and shove them in the Excalibur.

The other night I did carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, zukes and tomatoes all in one go (at the lower temperature until the other veg was dry and then turned up the last three hours for the tomatoes).

I found that a pot of water on the stove and a metal colander with handles were great for quickly blanching the vegetables before drying.

 

[Publius]

More feed back, the dehydrator holds a LOT and is really cutting down on the food wastage from the organic veg boxes; we are having an unusually warm summer (for Ireland) and it is pretty easy to see that things are about to go from ripe to "off" in the next few hours and shove them in the Excalibur.

The other night I did carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, zukes and tomatoes all in one go (at the lower temperature until the other veg was dry and then turned up the last three hours for the tomatoes).

I found that a pot of water on the stove and a metal colander with handles were great for quickly blanching the vegetables before drying.

The Peruviams use to air dry potatoes they ground to powder and small chunks on rocks and they would store it in clay pots, It was said it would last 5 years. Today its posable to shead potatoes and put in the degyrator then store it in an air tight zip lock bag or large canning jar and it may last for more than 10 years.

 

[Rabbit]

www.dehydrate2store.com is a very helpful site. I love my nine tray Excalibur and it is also great for making yogurt.

 

[Melodi]

www.dehydrate2store.com is a very helpful site. I love my nine tray Excalibur and it is also great for making yogurt.

Thanks Rabbit I just ordered the Kindle book, if I use it a lot I will send for a hard copy - and the site looks really good too!

 

[Melodi]

More feedback, using the book recommended by Rabbit (which is very good even in the Kindle version; I may get the hard copy) I dehydrated about 8 pounds of cherries this week; it only took up four trays in the dehydrator and broke down into about 1 quart of dried cherries.

However, at her recommendation, I used the lower 125 setting which made great fruit BUT also took 44 hours for the cherries to totally dry - which with the costs of power in Ireland really isn't viable for most things.

On the other hand, I have now a fantastic jar of my old favorite "cherry tea" which is a combination of black loose tea from the store and dried cherries (I used to buy this in a local tea shop as a teenager) I also added dried orange peel done in the same batch.

I think since both cherries and power are expensive here (although we've been getting them on massive mark down the last couple of weeks) that in future I will do one large load of dried cherries per year and next time I may put the temp back up to 135 as our climate is very humid which is likely part of the problem.

Most everything else I have dried so far has been done in between 10 and 15 hours which means over night plus a bit; and being a Nightowl I can get the stuff on about midnight and deal with it mid-morning.

The amount of food you can put in these is amazing and the way it packs down makes food storage much easier...I am very happy with this so far.

 

[summerthyme]

How did the cherries come out? Chewy, or crunchy dry?

Summerthyme

 

[Melodi]

The cherries went from tacky and in some cases still half filled with liquid to rock dry (which I gather was a better outcome for storage); they are almost too hard to eat as is but rehydrate pretty well. I did pit them (in fact I put my shoulder out doing it accidentally) so it wasn't because the pits were still in (I made a mistake like that a couple of decades ago with elderberries).

 

[Melodi]

Beef Jerky some of the best we ever made! Was able to do tomatoes at the same time (got three bags from the organic store at half price because they would have been history if not processed in 24 hours or less).

We started out with 9 pounds of meat, probably took off a pound in fat cut offs (on sale round roasts) and it only took up four trays in the dehydrator (and husband pounded the meat to make it more tender and it took up more room).

I am so very-very glad I took the risk and bought this, not to mention in terms of food storage, three medium sized bags of fresh tomatoes shrunk down to one sandwich bag size! And I didn't even cut them small (the medium sized ones I just cut in half, the large ones into sections).

We already have bought more mark down beef for the next round; I'm freezing most of it (you don't have to but it isn't a bad idea in our climate) so husband can take it to school rotations this year; he loves jerky but has trouble eating commercial stuff because of his sensitivity to black pepper and chile; not to mention there is only one company even making it in Ireland (just for the last couple of years) and it is extremely expensive (good but expensive).

Making it at home, I can control what goes into it, he like's Japanese flavor so I started with that one...next on the bucket list is to try fruit, salsa and Italian sauce roll ups/tear ups for sauces when traveling.

 

[summerthyme]

not to mention in terms of food storage, three medium sized bags of fresh tomatoes shrunk down to one sandwich bag size! And I didn't even cut them small (the medium sized ones I just cut in half, the large ones into sections).

That's what I really love about dehydrating. I bit the bullet and bought a smaller Excalibur dehydrator a couple years ago (knew I'd never have the money again, but just couldn't justify getting the larger one). It's been great... I use it for making yogurt, and drying "extra" stuff I don't want to take up jars to can. Tomatoes and peppers and onions all get dried by the bushel. I even put a couple 5 gallon pails of dehydrated tomatoes and peppers (I had bumper crops of sweet peppers the last couple years, and I've been growing more than I normally would for our use because I've been developing a couple of OP varieties of my own breeding... I'm on year 5 and they're actually getting pretty darned stable in form), sealed in mylar with O2 absorbers. Those are "deep preps"... in case things get bad enough long enough that we use all the canned stuff, and can't grow a fresh crop for some reason.

For the yogurt, the supplied plastic trays just weren't sturdy enough to hold a dozen 1/2 pint jars, so I had my neighbor who is a metalworker/blacksmith make me one... it's out of diamond expanded steel, and I just used duct tape on all the edges (which were rather sharp) At some point, I may rout out some wooden pieces and make a nice frame for it, but it works just fine the way it is.

Haven't tried jerky yet, but I'd like to...

Summerthyme