Adding stainless trays to dehydrator

maxusmmaxusm Raw Newbie

Currently using fiberglass trays with cheesecloth covering. Works very well except for very wet foods such as canteloupe. Have tried paper towels but that works only with drier items and leaves a  lot of papper on canteloupe.

 

Previous discussion menitoned parchment paper - I'd like to know more about this application.

 

And/or other views on the stainless (Excalibur) trays.

Comments

  • ClaireTClaireT Raw Master

    I prefer the stainless steel trays because they are less likely to warp over time, but I've never tried to dehydrate cantelope. Have you had much success yet? 

  • maxusmmaxusm Raw Newbie

    Last year I had an abundance of canteloupe, and wanted to try dehydrating.

    The information that I found suggested thin slices, about 1/4 inch in thickness. I sliced all of my canteloupe and bathed the slices in a salt water solution(about 1/2 tbsp to 64oz. water), slipped the slices in for a short soak time. Spread the slices onto my drying trays, which were covered with paper towels ( instead of cheesecloth). The dehydrating took about 36 hrs. The slices, as expected are a bit chewy, but tasty.

    This is a homemade dehydrator that uses incancdescent bulbs(4 -150 watt) with 5 trays (wooden frames with fiberglass screen lining). The temperature is controlled by using a light dimmer to control the amount of heat(have considered adding a fan but the convection of this unit seems to work well)

    The dehydrator works well for everything I have tried to dehydrate, but I wouldn't use paper towels again - they stick to the food and are difficult to remove. I plan to try waxed paper and/or aluminum foil in the future.

     

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