# Got My Excalibur!!



## catsraven (Jan 25, 2010)

Got it today I'm so excited! My old dehydrator is one of the cheap ones. It will dry only small amounts at a time and it dose not hold small things. The Excalibur will hold corn and peas. Now I can dehydrate anything YAYYYYYYYYYY


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## Salekdarling (Aug 15, 2010)

Awesome! Have fun!:2thumb:


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## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

OMGosh ... you will LOVE it ... the only thing wrong with mine is that it is too small. 

Wonder if I could talk the hubby into one of their commercial dehydrators?? :2thumb: Man do I covet one of those ...


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

The 11th commandment: 

Thou shall not covet thy neighbors dehydrator.


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## catsraven (Jan 25, 2010)

Iv dried corn, carrots, peppers and celery so far. Cant wait to harvest vegies from my garden and start to dry them.


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## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

UncleJoe said:


> The 11th commandment:
> 
> Thou shall not covet thy neighbors dehydrator.


 If my neighbor had that thing I would be her BESTEST FRIEND IN THE WHOLE WORLD!! 

The hubby says it is sad the things I have on my wish-list compared to what was on it when he married me. (Yep ... I was a sheeple ... and a -- gasp -- liberal to boot!  It took him a while, but now I have both feet firmly planted on the dark side!! :2thumb

Opps ... sorry for the minor hijack ...

Catsraven ... you need to dehydrate some hamburger meat. It worked really, really well and the reconstituted stuff is perfect for casseroles, etc. I am gonna be real interested this time next year to see how it is ... I plan on opening a jar every month for the next 12 months to see how it does over time.


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## sherldoe (Feb 25, 2011)

Please bear with me on this one.....this is my first post to this forum. I have been trying to find a preparedness forum that was not excludively men(well almost exclusively). I have just begun dehydrating(got my Excalibur too!) and I believe it's the way to go. Anyone do it on a regular basis?

Sherldoe from Texas


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## GXLancer (Mar 13, 2011)

And I always thought an excalibur was a sword:dunno:


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## CulexPipiens (Nov 17, 2010)

GXLancer said:


> And I always thought an excalibur was a sword:dunno:


Excalibur Food Dehydrators Official Factory Website - Commercial Dehydrators & Living Foods Dehydrators For Raw Food Dehydration


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## CulexPipiens (Nov 17, 2010)

BadgeBunny said:


> ... you need to dehydrate some hamburger meat. It worked really, really well and the reconstituted stuff is perfect for casseroles, etc.


Is this done, I assume, with raw hamburger meat?


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## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

sherldoe said:


> Please bear with me on this one.....this is my first post to this forum. I have been trying to find a preparedness forum that was not excludively men(well almost exclusively). I have just begun dehydrating(got my Excalibur too!) and I believe it's the way to go. Anyone do it on a regular basis?
> 
> Sherldoe from Texas


LOL ... that was the draw for me also ... *Andi and her knitting/crocheting thread ... You will LOVE it here! Welcome aboard!! :wave:


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## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

CulexPipiens said:


> Is this done, I assume, with raw hamburger meat?


Oh, good heavens, NO!!

First of all you buy lots of ground meat (whatever kind you want -- beef, turkey, pork) ... the leaner the better. I have only used meat that is 90% leans so far.

Crumble and fry, stirring fairly constantly so your crumbles are small and uniform. Large chunks of meat will not dry properly.

I have dried meat that I did not rinse in a colander after cooking and meat that I have rinsed under running water in a colander. The meat that I rinsed seems to have dried more quickly. I am assuming that is because I have removed even more of what little fat is there. I am also assuming that you could buy fattier combos of meat and then rinse it but that seems like seems wasteful to me.

Then put the meat on paper towels or lintfree towels and blot dry. Spread in a single layer on the dehydrator trays and dehydrate until hard and crunchy.

Store in glass jars after vacuum sealing (I use the lids that FoodSaver makes with my FoodSaver). I suspect that if you add a 02 thingee it will last even longer but I don't have enough put back yet to start doing that. Until I have about a years' worth already in the cabinet it seems silly to use up my o2 absorbers on meat I am gonna open well within "normal times".

I made a tacos the other night. Hubby didn't know the difference.  I reconstituted a 1/2 c of meat with 1 1/2 cup of water and then let the taco seasoning and water finish it off. That made plenty for two people and the dog.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

BadgeBunny said:


> LOL ... that was the draw for me also ... *Andi and her knitting/crocheting thread ... You will LOVE it here! Welcome aboard!! :wave:


Cool ... I didn't know that.

sherldoe - :welcome:

catsraven - Awesome! I have been looking at them ... you will have to let us all know how it works out for you. (So I can tell my husband! )


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## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

*Andi said:


> Cool ... I didn't know that.
> 
> sherldoe - :welcome:
> 
> catsraven - Awesome! I have been looking at them ... you will have to let us all know how it works out for you. (So I can tell my husband! )


Yep. And that was BEFORE you were Queen of All You Survey!! :2thumb::beercheer::lolsmash:


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## catsraven (Jan 25, 2010)

sherldoe I dont use it every day but I do use it often. Just did some peaches and tomatoes. Im in lerv with it lol.

*Andi tell your husband its worth every penny! Not only dose it dry very well, it also dose an enormous amount of food! I filled a one gallon mylar bag with half a load of corn.


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## CulexPipiens (Nov 17, 2010)

BadgeBunny said:


> Oh, good heavens, NO!!
> 
> First of all you buy lots of ground meat (whatever kind you want -- beef, turkey, pork) ... the leaner the better. I have only used meat that is 90% leans so far.
> 
> ...


OK. Thanks! I didn't think that raw would be safe... but then I started thinking jerky and smoking and figured it would be better to ask someone who's done it aleady.

I haven't looked into this much yet as I'm still saving up for one myself. We've got a big garden planned for this year and I'm planing (hoping) to grow enough to last us through to next years garden. I also have a good source for meat... basically free... I'm trading for some work I do for the farmer... and while we have a nice selection in the freezer, storing some in a way that doesn't require electricty is something I also have plans to work on this year. So, once I get mine it's going to get heavily used.


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## Clarice (Aug 19, 2010)

Good for you. That is on my list to get.


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## sherldoe (Feb 25, 2011)

Venison works great because of its lean character...And speaking of deer meat, I just dehydrated 8 pounds of it to make jerky . Looked and tasted professional. Excalibur dehydrator worked a LOT better than my old less expensive one, and I could have done more than just 8 pounds.

Cooked my first stew with dehydrated veggies and meat. Picky hubby couldn't tell the difference.


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## WFOO2 (Feb 17, 2011)

Interesting which model do you guys recommend for starting out . I'm good on medical supplies ( EMT here ) . But most of my long term stuff is mountain house , beans , rice , lentils ,MRE's , LRP, can good etc. This sounds like a good way to put up garden stuff and dry some meats .


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## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

CulexPipiens said:


> OK. Thanks! I didn't think that raw would be safe... but then I started thinking jerky and smoking and figured it would be better to ask someone who's done it aleady.
> 
> I haven't looked into this much yet as I'm still saving up for one myself. We've got a big garden planned for this year and I'm planing (hoping) to grow enough to last us through to next years garden.* I also have a good source for meat... basically free... I'm trading for some work I do for the farmer... *and while we have a nice selection in the freezer, storing some in a way that doesn't require electricty is something I also have plans to work on this year. So, once I get mine it's going to get heavily used.


 OK now you're just trying to make me jealous!!

And it's working ...  What a great deal for you!! Get the 9 tray one. I think you will be amazed at how much food it will dehyrdate at one time.



WFOO2 said:


> Interesting which model do you guys recommend for starting out . I'm good on medical supplies ( EMT here ) . But most of my long term stuff is mountain house , beans , rice , lentils ,MRE's , LRP, can good etc. This sounds like a good way to put up garden stuff and dry some meats .


Look here: ExcaliburDehydrator.com

I got the one with 9 tray one with the timer on it.


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

BadgeBunny said:


> I got the one with 9 tray one with the timer on it.


If you're anything like me, I'd heartily recommend the timer. I always think I can just stick something in the dehydrator and get it going, but it takes me WAY longer to prep it before I have it ready to go (cooking, slicing, blanching, whatever) - I never seem to be able to time the prepping of large quantities of food. So then I get it in the dehydrator only to realize that it should be finished somewhere in the middle of the night when everyone's sleeping...  A timer would be a lifesaver for me.


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## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

goshengirl said:


> If you're anything like me, I'd heartily recommend the timer. I always think I can just stick something in the dehydrator and get it going, but it takes me WAY longer to prep it before I have it ready to go (cooking, slicing, blanching, whatever) - I never seem to be able to time the prepping of large quantities of food. So then I get it in the dehydrator only to realize that it should be finished somewhere in the middle of the night when everyone's sleeping...  A timer would be a lifesaver for me.


LOL ... Yep ... 

I am already saving up for another one. My garden is three times as big as it was last year ... and I don't intend to have to freeze any of it. Would really like to not have to can but I probably will. I have turned into a dehydrating FREAK!!  Wonder if there is support group for that??


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## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

Cool, from everthin I've read an heard yall gonna be happy with it! I been lookin at em an think our next one will be a Excaliber. I use our current one ever weekend all weekend so there a great investment!


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## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

BadgeBunny said:


> LOL ... Yep ...
> 
> I am already saving up for another one. My garden is three times as big as it was last year ... and I don't intend to have to freeze any of it. Would really like to not have to can but I probably will. I have turned into a dehydrating FREAK!!  Wonder if there is support group for that??


Yup yer already here an welcome fellow addict! Unfortunately there ain't no help fer the disease, just keep on dryin!


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## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

BadgeBunny said:


> Oh, good heavens, NO!!
> 
> First of all you buy lots of ground meat (whatever kind you want -- beef, turkey, pork) ... the leaner the better. I have only used meat that is 90% leans so far.
> 
> ...


Boil yer meat an then ya don't have ta wash it. Saves a step.


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

OldCootHillbilly said:


> Boil yer meat an then ya don't have ta wash it. Saves a step.


I was wondering about that, as I prefer to boil ground beef to can, too. I have a bunch of beef I was going to can this weekend, but now I've got to try drying it and testing it on the family with tacos!  Thanks you two. 

I love this forum. :kiss:


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## Centraltn (Feb 21, 2011)

> Please bear with me on this one.....this is my first post to this forum. I have been trying to find a preparedness forum that was not excludively men(well almost exclusively). I have just begun dehydrating(got my Excalibur too!) and I believe it's the way to go. Anyone do it on a regular basis?
> 
> Sherldoe from Texas


Yep darlin, you have found the right forum. There are alot of us gals in here. Welcome!


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## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

OldCootHillbilly said:


> Boil yer meat an then ya don't have ta wash it. Saves a step.


Hmmmm ... I wonder if the picky old hubby would notice. He likes the crunchy, dark caramelization you get from frying ...

(But that won't keep me from trying out your way! BWHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! )


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

sherldoe said:


> Please bear with me on this one.....this is my first post to this forum. I have been trying to find a preparedness forum that was not excludively men(well almost exclusively). I have just begun dehydrating(got my Excalibur too!) and I believe it's the way to go. Anyone do it on a regular basis?
> 
> Sherldoe from Texas


Sherldoe - this forum is probably 60/40 split male-to-female with quite a few couples on the board with their own accounts. I am not surprised that there are so many females on the board as many ladies prepare the "comfort" stuff for their families - in fact - I am surprised that there are not more!

As far as your question goes, I am not doing the dehydration-thing (yet) as I spend more of my time with canning and freezing. This summer I might spend the money on a dehydrator and a smoker to learn those skills.


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## CulexPipiens (Nov 17, 2010)

BadgeBunny said:


> OK now you're just trying to make me jealous!!
> 
> And it's working ...  What a great deal for you!!
> 
> I got the one with 9 tray one with the timer on it.


It's a good deal, but I still gotta do the work part! It's a good barter arrangement as I can do some stuff that he can't and he can supply something that I don't have the space or resources to do myself.

When we first setup the arrangement we looked at the services that I (and my wife on a related need) would be able to provide and what it would cost on average if he had to go hire for same. Based on that we worked out what we normally have bought from him each month in the past and worked out about how long we should get our stuff at no charge. Since then he's asked for a number of additional things so we're just indefinitely continueing the arrangement since it benefits both of us.

From our success with this we're looking into some other bartering arrangements where we can trade our skills for other stuff that we can use. Unfortunately the skills we're providing now only work as long as the economy and electricity is functioning.

The 9 tray model, 3900 I think, is the one I have on my wish list.


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## Idaholady (Apr 24, 2010)

Does the instruction book that comes with the dehydrator, have good instructions for drying meat too? Now, I'm really curious because my daughter gave me hers and I was just going to dry some veggies.

Gosh, it might be a whole new world out there now for me for drying more than veggies! Thanks for the thread.

And lastly, how do you utilize your dried veggies? Are they always in soups, casseroles, stir frys, just re-hydrated and served? 

I've never dehydrated anything...I guess I better get a book.


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## Centraltn (Feb 21, 2011)

Ive been playing around with the idea of using something about like a small 6' by 8 foot uhaul trailer just full of shelves that pull out easily for repositioning them as their contents dry. A small solar panel on the top.. about like what rvs use for recharging batteries(relatively inexpensive), and 2 little well placed dc fans.. one in the lower area and one on the opposite side in the upper area, just to keep the air moving. It should still get warm enough to dry fairly quickly without losing too much food value. You engineer types... can ya see anything wrong with that plan? I'm not real savvy about technical stuff.. but.. should that work? Any ideas on any changes that should be made to the design? I'd appreciate input!


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## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

Idaholady said:


> Does the instruction book that comes with the dehydrator, have good instructions for drying meat too? Now, I'm really curious because my daughter gave me hers and I was just going to dry some veggies.
> 
> Gosh, it might be a whole new world out there now for me for drying more than veggies! Thanks for the thread.
> 
> ...


Just a general owners' manual kinda thing. But there is a TON of info on the web. Try out Dehydrate2Store.com's site. They also have a bunch of YouTube videos.

You will be surprised at how much of the dried stuff you can eat right out of the jar. The hubby LOVES to eat dried potatoes  ... I dunno ... him and the dog sure do light up when there is a fresh batch drying.

I tried some okra that another person dried and it was really tasty. So I am planting a bunch of okra this year ...  And who doesn't like dried tomatoes?? YUMMY!!


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## Idaholady (Apr 24, 2010)

Thanks BB, I'll check out that site; unfortunately, I only have dial-up and can't view youtube stuff...


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## sherldoe (Feb 25, 2011)

Too cheap for the timer.....not paying an extra sixty bucks for it. I will just have to watch it or use a $5 timer


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## sherldoe (Feb 25, 2011)

Okay, BadgeBunny....I will be needing the address of your support group. I just dried some beautiful Iris blossoms that are sitting proudly on my table(no, I ain't Dolly Domestic)


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## WeThePrepared (Mar 30, 2011)

Where did you get it? I am in the market for one. I've looked at ebay, but I'm not sure...


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## Outbreak (Mar 20, 2011)

BadgeBunny said:


> Catsraven ... you need to dehydrate some hamburger meat. It worked really, really well and the reconstituted stuff is perfect for casseroles, etc. I am gonna be real interested this time next year to see how it is ... I plan on opening a jar every month for the next 12 months to see how it does over time.


After you have it dehydrated, what is the best way you've found to store it for say 1 year?


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## sherldoe (Feb 25, 2011)

MRE's are expensive. You can make your own dehydrating for almost nothing. My son camps and kayaaks a great deal(fishing etc.) I make MRE's for a lot less than anyone around here sells for. the only thing I know you really need from Mountain House is dried eggs, dried cheese and those types of things. Everything else, you can usually thumb your nose at if you dehydrate.


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

sherldoe said:


> MRE's are expensive. You can make your own dehydrating for almost nothing. My son camps and kayaaks a great deal(fishing etc.) I make MRE's for a lot less than anyone around here sells for. the only thing I know you really need from Mountain House is dried eggs, dried cheese and those types of things. Everything else, you can usually thumb your nose at if you dehydrate.


You can dehydrate your own eggs if your son is only going on a few weeks worth of trips. GypsySue has done them if I am remembering correctly. Not sure if I would dry them for long term storage, but for a week end or week long trip, you should be fine. Let me see if I can find her thread on it and bump it up for ya.


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## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

Outbreak said:


> After you have it dehydrated, what is the best way you've found to store it for say 1 year?


Not sure yet ... I've only been dehydrating for a couple of months now ... I do have a pint jar labelled and set back to open next year, and one for the year after that ... Anything I store for use past 2 years out I buy from the professionals (I particularly like Auguson Farms.)


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## Centraltn (Feb 21, 2011)

Summer Squash is a bugger to maintain for winter food, so blanched and then I dried it in one of those little round dehydrators. I then placed them in stacks in sterilized ball jars. I openned one a month for a full yr. They were not only delicious but sweeter than expected cause as you dehydrate out all that water- the sugars remain. I rehydrated some for eating as a vege.. a little on the soft side but just as good as fresh.


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## catsraven (Jan 25, 2010)

Outbreak said:


> After you have it dehydrated, what is the best way you've found to store it for say 1 year?


If it were me I would store it in the freezer or at least some place cool.


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## catsraven (Jan 25, 2010)

On another note Im going to be doing some potatoes and carrots tonight.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

catsraven said:


> *Andi tell your husband its worth every penny! Not only dose it dry very well, it also dose an enormous amount of food! I filled a one gallon mylar bag with half a load of corn.


LOL ... I will give it a try. :2thumb:


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## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

Centraltn said:


> Summer Squash is a bugger to maintain for winter food, so blanched and then I dried it in one of those little round dehydrators. I then placed them in stacks in sterilized ball jars. I openned one a month for a full yr. They were not only delicious but sweeter than expected cause as you dehydrate out all that water- the sugars remain. I rehydrated some for eating as a vege.. a little on the soft side but just as good as fresh.


Ohhhh ... I wondered about that ... "might" need to plant some squash now ... I like summer squash! :2thumb:



catsraven said:


> On another note Im going to be doing some potatoes and carrots tonight.


It's addictive, isn't it?? :2thumb:


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## sherldoe (Feb 25, 2011)

Outbreak said:


> After you have it dehydrated, what is the best way you've found to store it for say 1 year?


Websites say that if you place in glass jars and use oxygen absorbers, you can store indefinitely.


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## sherldoe (Feb 25, 2011)

BadgeBunny said:


> Just a general owners' manual kinda thing. But there is a TON of info on the web. Try out Dehydrate2Store.com's site. They also have a bunch of YouTube videos.
> 
> You will be surprised at how much of the dried stuff you can eat right out of the jar. The hubby LOVES to eat dried potatoes  ... I dunno ... him and the dog sure do light up when there is a fresh batch drying.
> 
> I tried some okra that another person dried and it was really tasty. So I am planting a bunch of okra this year ...  And who doesn't like dried tomatoes?? YUMMY!!


I must dry my potatoes too long. They are as hard as a brick to eat straight out of the jar. How long do you dry yours, BadgeBunny?


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## sherldoe (Feb 25, 2011)

BadgeBunny said:


> Just a general owners' manual kinda thing. But there is a TON of info on the web. Try out Dehydrate2Store.com's site. They also have a bunch of YouTube videos.
> 
> You will be surprised at how much of the dried stuff you can eat right out of the jar. The hubby LOVES to eat dried potatoes  ... I dunno ... him and the dog sure do light up when there is a fresh batch drying.
> 
> I tried some okra that another person dried and it was really tasty. So I am planting a bunch of okra this year ...  And who doesn't like dried tomatoes?? YUMMY!!


And how about the okra? did you just eat it dried or rehydrate it to eat? I'd like to know more about that test.


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## sherldoe (Feb 25, 2011)

Emerald said:


> You can dehydrate your own eggs if your son is only going on a few weeks worth of trips. GypsySue has done them if I am remembering correctly. Not sure if I would dry them for long term storage, but for a week end or week long trip, you should be fine. Let me see if I can find her thread on it and bump it up for ya.


Thank you, Emerald, for checking on the dried egg thread for me. I just worry about the "nasties" getting into the eggs.

If anyone has any info on drying cheese, I'd really be interested in that. Surely there is an efficient way to do that.


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## Centraltn (Feb 21, 2011)

Yess Bunny- it certainly is!


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## nj_m715 (Oct 31, 2008)

Excalibur ED2900 9 tray, Free Ship +5 Generic nonstick sheets - $192.45 : The Raw Food World

How's this deal? Has anyone found better prices? thanks


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## nj_m715 (Oct 31, 2008)

Well, I ordered one. They have free shipping and a discount code. It came to $178. I couldn't find any better prices. Now I can retire my harbor freight cheapy.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

catsraven said:


> *Andi tell your husband its worth every penny!


Well ... happy Mothers day to me ...  Going to put the order in, come morning ...


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## catsraven (Jan 25, 2010)

*Andi said:


> Well ... happy Mothers day to me ...  Going to put the order in, come morning ...


Yay *Andi. You will through rocks at the cheap ones. Iv been drying potatoes and celery. Cant wait to harvest my garden vegies and dry them!


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

nj_m715 said:


> Well, I ordered one. They have free shipping and a discount code. It came to $178. I couldn't find any better prices. Now I can retire my harbor freight cheapy.


The free shipping and extra goodies were a plus!

Six days and counting!


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## nj_m715 (Oct 31, 2008)

Get yours yet? I already 4 batches of frozen veggies. Now I have to wait for another 10 for 10 sale and the garden to come in. 

It blows away my HF junker!


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## GailP (Nov 5, 2010)

I bought an Excalibur last month...tried it once and it didn't work out very well. Any advice for dehydrating citrus fruits?


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## nj_m715 (Oct 31, 2008)

I don't know enough to offer advise. My HF unit was very uneven. Some fruit looked great, some looked like it rotted and dried up on the vine. I only tried frozen veg so far. I'll check the sale ads to find a buy on fruit. 

Check out dehydrate2store on youtube. I don't think I'll use vac bags and mylar like she does, but she had hours of vids to watch.

Anyone dry or freeze Mullberries? Any tips? Our neighbor's tree is starting to fruit. I'm planning to try drying, freezing and jelly.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

nj_m715 said:


> Get yours yet? I already 4 batches of frozen veggies. Now I have to wait for another 10 for 10 sale and the garden to come in.
> 
> It blows away my HF junker!


Should be here in the morning! :2thumb: (and :2thumb: on youtube!)


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