Among the endless assortment of modern kitchen appliances, dehydrators occupy a special place. These devices appeared on the market not so long ago, but instantly gained immense popularity among lovers of healthy food. According to surveys, today every fifth housewife has at his disposal a similar device and actively uses it for workpieces.
What is the secret of such popularity of a seemingly ordinary electric dryer? This is what we will try to figure out in the article.
What is a dehydrator?
The dehydrator for fruits and vegetables is an electric kitchen appliance designed to evenly extract moisture from products by drying them. Such devices have long been used in the food industry for the manufacture of various dried fruits and chips.
Household analogues are more modest in size and consume much less electricity. A kitchen dehydrator for fruits and vegetables will take up no more space in your kitchen than a regular medium-sized pan, and its maximum power consumption will not exceed 1000 watts.
What is the difference between dryer and dehydrator
Until recently, households used electric dryers designed for the same purpose. Many today argue that there is no difference between them and dehydrators, because the output is the same product. But actually there is a difference. And substantial.
A standard electric dryer has a heating element and a fan with an upper or lower arrangement. The injected heated air in such devices is not controlled in any way and has a different temperature in different parts of the dryer. In addition, the air flow moves in one plane, which significantly limits the possibility of uniform drying.
For example: an electric convection dryer for apples, pears, plums, other fruits dries them in such a way that a hard crust forms on top, and a significant part of the moisture remains inside. Such dried fruits, of course, cannot be stored for a long time.
The dehydrator for fruits and vegetables is arranged differently, which allows you to get evenly dried and healthy products at the output. Its main advantage is the ability to adjust and maintain a constant temperature inside the device, which is achieved by forcing warm air through a system of special channels.
But besides this, the dehydrator for fruits and vegetables stores enzymes in them - special enzymes that contribute to the rapid absorption of food. A conventional dryer does not have such properties. Because of this, the products from it are not so high-quality and useful.
Products that can be dried in a dehydrator
The dehydrator is used for drying:
• vegetables;
• fruit;
• mushrooms;
• nuts
But its functions are not limited to this. A modern dehydrator for fruits and vegetables, which has a built-in thermostat with a wide range of settings, also allows you to dry medicinal herbs. In addition, this device can be used to prepare:
• pizza;
• cake layers;
• bread;
• pancakes;
• pastilles;
• cookies;
• fruit and vegetable chips;
• sweets.
Popular recipes for the dehydrator, as well as recommendations for drying vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, nuts and other products, are usually presented in the device passport.
Convection or infrared
According to the principle of operation, two types of dehydrators are distinguished: convection and infrared. The latter provide a more gentle and high-quality drying. They have in their design a lamp that emits infrared radiation, and a fan that creates air flow.
Convection-type models heat the air using a conventional heating coil. The drying quality of such devices is slightly worse, therefore, for domestic use, experts recommend purchasing an infrared dehydrator. The price for it is on average one and a half times higher than for convection, but the difference will quickly pay off due to less electricity consumption. In addition, products dried by infrared rays can be stored for several years without fear of mold and rot.
Classification of air flow dehydrators
Also, dehydrators can be divided according to the method of directing the air flow into horizontal and vertical. In the first case, air is pumped by a fan located on the rear panel of the device. Thanks to this solution, the design of the horizontal dehydrator is as simple as possible and does not require any additional maintenance.
In devices with vertical airflow, the fan is located in the lower part, and warm air is distributed evenly throughout the drying chamber thanks to special air ducts, which sometimes have to be cleaned from dust.
Dehydrator control
All modern dehydrators have a control panel with the ability to configure functions such as:
• temperature condition;
• airflow force;
• cold drying mode;
• timer;
• auto power off;
• thermostat.
Devices with this set of capabilities allow you to cook not only convenience foods, but also high-grade food, in particular this applies to desserts. Sweets are prepared on special non-stick trays available in the kit.
Dessert recipes for cooking in a dehydrator
Strawberry Yogurt Sweets
We add strawberry puree to the finished yogurt, as well as ginger, cinnamon and mint extract to taste. Dry the resulting mass in a dehydrator until it thickens. After that, cool it, roll it into a “sausage” and cut it into pieces with a thickness of 1-3 cm. Roll them in coconut flakes and re-dry.
"Ginger"
In a blender, mix 1 part carrot, 1 part walnut and 0.5 parts dried dates. From the resulting mass we form pyramids, sprinkle them with grated sesame seeds and send them to the dehydrator for drying.
Banana chips
Bananas are cut into pieces 5-7 mm thick. We spread them on trays and dry until half ready. Cool them and roll them in icing sugar, then dry them again until tender.
Recipes for the dehydrator do not require the hostess to strictly observe the indicated proportions of certain components. It is important to understand the essence of the process, and then you can experiment with any products endlessly.
How to choose a dehydrator
When choosing a dehydration device, one should proceed from the following criteria:
• manufacturer;
• price;
• power;
• functionality.
Each person who wants to purchase any household appliance first of all pays attention to its manufacturer. This is the case here. Given that the dehydrator is intended for the production of potential food products, it is strongly discouraged to purchase cheap products. It is better to give preference to well-known world manufacturers of household appliances.
The price of the device is determined not only by the brand, but also by its power and functionality. Therefore, here you already have to at least roughly calculate the future performance and figure out for what additional purposes the dehydrator will be used. If it will be used as a conventional dryer for apples and plums, then a 350 W device for 10-15 thousand rubles will be quite enough.
In the case of active use of a dehydrator for harvesting dried fruits, preparing various desserts, you will have to choose a model with a capacity of 500 to 1000 W, which has advanced functionality. Prices for such devices start from 18 thousand rubles.
Popular household dehydrators: reviews and ratings
Today, the market for household appliances for the kitchen is full of different models of electric dryers and dehydrators. The choice of the buyer presents devices of various manufacturers from Asia, Western Europe and America, which have the most incredible additional features.
But for some reason, only a few models are most popular. Their quality and capabilities are actively discussed by users. We will present the most popular dehydrators in a ranking order.
1. Excalibur ("Excalibur") - has a reliable design and a well-deserved reputation. Absolutely all models have a set of additional functions and have an electronic control panel. According to surveys, Excalibur is the most sold dehydrator. Reviews of all models without exception are in most cases positive.
2. Ezidri ("Isidri") Ultra FD 1000 - a popular cylindrical vertical dehydrator. It has electronic control and adjustable power. They also respond positively to such devices, but they have one drawback - plastic trays.
3. Sedona ("Sedona") SD-9000 - no less popular, but expensive model, characterized by the ability to control the volume of the drying chamber.
This also includes the Russian Corvette infrared dehydrator for fruits and vegetables. Due to its simple construction and relatively low price, it successfully competes with foreign "colleagues" for several hundred dollars.
DIY do-it-yourself dehydrator
If there is no possibility or desire to purchase an expensive device, you can always do it yourself. Of course, he will not have any extra superpowers for cooking, but for drying vegetables, fruits and mushrooms it will do.
To make a simple home-made dehydrator, we need:
• a cardboard box from under a vacuum cleaner, TV, monitor or the like;
• foil;
• metal building mesh;
• pieces of steel wire with a cross section of 5-8 mm;
• electric chuck with mount;
• self-tapping screws;
• screwdriver, awl;
• infrared lamp (such are used to heat young birds);
• thermometer.
Glue the box from the inside with foil. From the metal mesh we cut the racks to the size of the box. In one of the walls closer to the bottom we make a hole for the electric wire and fasten the cartridge using self-tapping screws.
Next, you need to make stops from steel wire that will hold the racks, and fix them on the walls of the box in a convenient way. It remains to put the shelves, screw in the lamp and connect it to the mains.
To control the temperature inside the drying chamber, you also need to place a thermometer on one of the walls. It is believed that fruits, vegetables and mushrooms are best dried at a temperature of 40-45 ° C. You can adjust it by turning the lamp on or off or by opening the lid.
Summer street dehydrator
If you have a private house, a summer cottage or even a small land plot, you can equip a street dehydrator that will not consume electrical energy, and the most powerful household appliance will envy its performance. The principle of its operation is based on the physical properties of air, known to everyone from the school bench.
It’s easy to arrange a summer dehydrator with your own hands. The main material for its manufacture is wood (boards, slats, plywood). There is no need to describe the detailed instructions, since there are simply no clear drawings and algorithms for cutting boards.
First, the frame of the drying chamber of the desired size is created in the form of a tetrahedral "pipe". Stops are placed inside it for future racks, which are made of metal or plastic mesh. The top of the “pipe” is covered with a tin sloping roof. In the event of rain, it protects the product from moisture.
Now that the camera itself is assembled, it needs to be raised about a meter above the ground and installed on stilts. "But where does the warm air come from?" - you ask.
To do this, you will need one or more plastic (and preferably metal) pipes installed at an angle from the bottom of the dehydrator to the ground. The air inside them, under the influence of sunlight, will heat up and rise upward, falling into the drying chamber, passing from its lower part to the roof. In order for heating to occur faster, it is advisable to paint the pipes black.