I have seen a lot of dehydrators in the past few years.  Some of them have been homemade, and some have been purchased.  They all have the same goal: to dry the food quickly and without spoilage or cooking it.  Some work better than others, so let’s look at some general information on them and what to look for.

When I was a child, my family lived in El Paso, Texas.  It got so hot there that one day my younger sister literally tried to fry an egg on the cement!  During that time, my mother used the sun for dehydrating.  She would spread out the fruit and vegetables onto cookie sheets, cover them with netting to keep the bugs out, and lay them out on the picnic table.  It would take two full days to dry the batch, and she would bring them in during the night.  It worked, but it was somewhat labor intensive.  Furthermore, there is some risk of spoilage when drying is not continuing overnight.   However, energy costs were nonexistent.  This may not work in every climate, especially those that are cooler or more humid, but in El Paso, the conditions were ideal.

My first dehydrator was purchased when we were college students with an empty wallet.  It cost us $15.  It was a homemade affair, and quite simply made.  But it held a lot, and as long as I was careful, it worked.  It had about seven screens from windows, which slid in on wood rails.  In the back of the unit was a heating element with a fan behind that.