# Just got my Excalibur... need suggestions.



## CulexPipiens (Nov 17, 2010)

After selling on ebay for awhile and saving up my paypal payments I finally got enough together to get an Excalibur 9 tray. It's a lot bigger than I was expecting! But, very good to see it's made in the USA and has a real warranty unlike the made in china $20 unit I had awhile back that lasted for two cycles and then died.

Unrelated I found a great deal on blueberries. It looks I can dehydrate them so, any suggestions?

I'm also thinking of dehydrating potatoes and then putting them in a blender to make mashed potato mix. Maybe also cooked pasta and cheddar (powdering the cheddar at the end) to make mac & cheese mix.

Any recommendations on those ideas?

My only experience so far is green pepper and zucchini which is all I was able to do before the cheapo unit died.


----------



## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

You can dry just about anything. Just start experimenting. That's how I got started 5 years ago. First it was peaches, pears and apples. Then I tried cucumber, zucchini, tomato, peppers and corn. When the chickens are in high gear I do a lot of eggs; about 7 dozen this month alone. You could also pull some veggies out of the freezer and dry those as well. The possibilities are endless. 

:congrat: on the new dehydrator.


----------



## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

I got a book with my Excalibur ... which was a great help.

Did you get the book ?


----------



## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

I agree with just start experimenting! 

Potatoes are cheap and easy/fun to play with but make a note that you will need an industrial strength blender to chop dehydrated potatoes into powder. 

You would get better results running cooked dried potatoes through a grain mill, those pieces are pretty hard.


----------



## Moose33 (Jan 1, 2011)

I started with frozen veggies. That went well so I moved on to frozen (Ore'Ida) hash browns and then frozen cubed home fries. By then I was on a roll and did shrooms, hamburger, zucchini, cabbage and the list goes on. As UncleJoe and Davarm said, just start experimenting. Use what you dehydrate to see if it works for you. If you like it just do lots more. I have a lot of shrooms and hamburger they are wonderful and I use them regularly. 

Take care,
Moose


----------



## Country Living (Dec 15, 2009)

If you don't have the book, log on to the Excalibur website and order it. You really need the book. As Moose said, it's easiest to start with frozen veggies. We get frozen corn (regular kind, not with butter) and dehydrate it. Then we vacuum seal it in canning jars. One little trick with corn is to turn the temperature down a bit and dehydrate longer. This way the inside of the corn is dried out instead of left a with a little moisture (small, but still a food-preservation killer).

We have the Excalibur 9 tray with the timer.


----------



## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

I good place for dehydrating videos is http://www.dehydrate2store.com/ Click on the 'video' button on the main page.


----------



## CulexPipiens (Nov 17, 2010)

Thanks all! I did get the book and have been reading it... but first hand suggestions and recommendations are hard to beat! 

I'm moving my focus from bags of beans and bags of rice to pre-packaged meals. Making up my own mixes (soup, for example) stored in either jars or mylar so if or when I need to use it all it will require is water (and heat). Being able to dehydrate my own componets will, I believe, help keep costs down. I've got some of the "... in jars" books and have saved posts from here where different recipe mixes have been posted. Now I just need to get to work on trying them.


----------



## AuroraHawk (Sep 12, 2012)

From my experience, blanching blueberries and grapes makes for a shorter drying time. I don't know about grapes but the blueberries have a light, almost waxy coating that will be removed by the hot water when they are blanched.

Have fun with your Excalibur. I had one years ago and wish I had it now. The first year I had it, it ran 24/7 from first harvest to last. I don't even want to think what my electric bill would be if I did that now.


----------



## W4OPS (Oct 5, 2012)

I was looking at these. It seems like 9 trays might me a lot for me although I do like dried fruit. I am also concerned about power usage and the 9tray is 600 watts. I think this might be a bit much if I am trying to run it off a solar system. Any thoughts on size or power?


----------



## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

For pre-packiaged meals, you might check your library for this book: http://www.amazon.com/Backpack-Gourmet-Dehydrate-Healthy-Eating/dp/0811726347/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361860431&sr=8-1&keywords=backpacking+gourmet

I found it really interesting and took a lot of notes (wrote down recipes), but haven't tried any of them yet. It's all about dehydrating full meals to take backpacking, but would translate well to prepping.

Enjoy your new toy! :2thumb:


----------



## cedarguy (Nov 19, 2012)

Great job on your new excalibur! We bought one last year and really enjoy it but you are right they have a big footprint. We have put pineapple, bananas, apples, sweet herb, sage and a few other herbs in ours. So far pineapple has been our favorite. I hear that sweet corn comes out very good also, gona try that next. Experiment and enjoy!


----------

