Re: [CH] Problems drying chiles.
Hobby Farmer (hobby.farmer@carrinter.net)
Sat, 28 Mar 1998 14:22:15 -0500
A belated addition to this thread -
We bought a Harvest Maid dehydrator a while back (1978). It is
still chugging along. A thermostat shorted about 8 years ago
and warped a couple of trays, other than that, it has done fine.
Harvest Maid is a round unit made up of a base, however many
trays you need to use, and a top. It has a heating unit, fan
and thermostat in the base. It came with 4 trays. We have
added 8 more trays. We also have fine screens and juice inserts
for the trays. It's nice just using the trays you need, and not
having to move or rotate trays - the hot air comes up the center
and then out the edges of each tray.
We have found these units and accesories at K-Mart, Walmart and
True Value, and mail order. The stores are usually a lot
cheaper.
Disclaimer: I own Harvest Maid. I also own K-Mart, Walmart and
True Value. I will get to keep all the money if you buy one of
these things. I just live like I do to fool the neighbors and
keep relatives from hitting me up for loans.
Hobby Farmer
Ron M wrote:
>
> Hey Jim,
>
> I use a Ronco It IS pretty fragrant, and I rotate the trays about every
> 10-12 hours. The Roncos are inexpensive( got mine for free from a
> co-worker of my wife),and I've been happy with the results. I can dry
> around 1 1/2 - 2 lbs halved and seeded habs. <<snip>>
>
> Jim Campbell wrote:
> >
> > A MUCH cheaper solution (and one I was forced into after an accidental batch
> > of HOT Christmas cookies) is to simply buy your own set of dedicated cookie
> > sheets. You might also try using foil. As far as the dehyrators go, I am sold
> > on my Excalibur. It was a bit pricey ($200) but has thermostat, timer, huge
> > amount of shelf space, and a heating element mounted vertically. I had a
> > Ronco type but the juices all dripped down onto the heating element. Since
> > there was no fan to circulate air either, they took forever to dry and needed
> > the shelves rotated every few hours for even drying- ugh! Your oven is still
> > your best and cheapest bet.
> >
> > Hope this helps!
> >
> > -Jim Campbell
> > Mild to Wild Pepper & Herb Co
> >
> > In the midst of drawing up plans for a WALK-IN dehydrator. Tim Taylor
> > would be proud! Home built & cheap too.