This contest is now over. The winner was Amber Quillen! Congratulations to Amber and I hope you all had fun drooling over all the fun kitchen gadgets. Be sure to sign up for the mailing list below (on the right) to find out about upcoming contests and raw food recipes.

Yahoo! I've got a new dehydrator for myself and a second L'Equip dehydrator to give away, too!

The Contest Rules:

To enter for a chance to win a brand-new L'Equip 524 dehydrator simply check out the Pleasant Hill Grain website and come back here to tell me which of their products you'd want and why (leave your comment down below). Pleasant Hill Grain sells lots of raw goodies, like Vitamixs, dehydrators, juicers, agave, and much more, so it shouldn't be hard to find something to covet!

SECOND CHANCE ENTRY: In addition, if you link back to this contest with a link on social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc) you'll get a bonus entry (be sure to let me know in a separate comment below re: what you've done).

Contest ends on Oct 31, 2010, and the winner will be announced on November 1, 2010. (This contest is open to Canadian and US residents. Shipping is included.)

Special thanks to my good friends at Pleasant Hill Grain who made my dream of giving away a dehydrator to one of you come true. See Pleasant Hill Grain for the L'Equip dehydrator, the Nesco dehydrator, and a variety of other products like the Bosch Universal Mixer. Thanks for stepping up, Pleasant Hill!

Now that we've got the contest particulars out of the way, let's talk dehydrators, shall we?

The L'Equip 524 dehydrator

The L'Equip 524 dehydrator is a basic dehydrator perfect for the at-home rawtarian who dehydrates at home for the family. Right now you can find this dehydrator for approximately $70.00 (for example, I know Pleasant Hill Grain sells it for $69.99 and offers free shipping if your order is over $99).

Here's a quick overview from the manufacturer:

Expandable

In my opinion, one of the main reasons why this dehydrator is a great starter unit is because it is expandable. This unit comes with 4 trays, which will get you started. You can actually buy more trays to simply stack on the unit to make it higher, up to 20 trays high. Additional trays cost approximately $15 each.

Also, every tray comes with removable stiff mesh sheets to allow you to dry smaller items (for example, oat groats). You can remove these mesh trays and put in the dishwasher, although I haven't tried this because I don't use a dishwasher myself. (These plastic stiff removable mesh trays for small items are much better than some of the other less inexpensive dehydrators, which simply send you floppy rolls of mesh that you have to cut yourself and that never work right!)

Energy Efficient

What is so cool about having an expandable unit is you don't need to heat up such a large area if you only want to make a few trays worth of food. Much more energy efficient than running a huge dehydrator with only a couple of trays filled.

BPA free

If you're a raw vegan chances are you care about your health! Some of the other starter-model dehydrators are made on unknown plastics. The L'Equip 524 is completely BPA free.

Why Pay More?

Now, in the raw food world you will have heard a lot of talk about the Excalibur dehydrator, which has a reputation for being the dehydrator to get. However, the Excalibur is also over double the price of the L'Equip! Gah! Now, I don't doubt that the Excalibur works well, but, come on, "a dehydrator is a dehydrator is a dehydrator!"

Don't blow your budget on a dehydrator, because all dehydrators dry stuff.

Put all extra money into getting a super duper fabulous $500+ blender, because expensive blenders actually blend better than cheapo blenders. However, most dehydrators behave the same way and there isn't that much variation between them.

Before signing off I should touch on a couple of the downsides of the L'Equip 524 dehydrator.

The Negatives

The two downsides that I see to this dehydrator:

• There is no automatic shut-off or timer; and

• It is impossible to fit larger items (such as a big bowl) in the dehydrator.

Lack of timer:Occasionally I do find it annoying that there is no automatic shut-off, in case I want to dry things overnight but not all night or in case I'm going out. However, in all honesty, would I want to pay more than double the price to get a timer? Nope! I tend to dehydrate on the weekend when I'm at home, and I doubt I would use the timer much anyway.

Inability to fit large items: Many people say that one of the reasons they like the Excalibur is because they can remove all trays and close the door, which allows a high pot or dish to fit in the dehydrator. I have never felt the need to put anything large in my dehydrator. What are people trying to dry that is so tall??????

Conclusion

In sum, this is a pretty sharp little dehydrator for a great price. I am recommending it for beginners. If you're going to get one, consider ordering some fruit leather trays too because they are sweet and delicious and a great add-on.

PS: Remember, I am giving away one of these dehydrators for free! See top of page for instructions re: how to enter the contest. Winner will have a dehydrator shipped to them for free. Contest ends October 31, 2010.

Want another chance to win this dehydrator? Tweet a link to this contest on Twitter. Come back and let us know in a separate comment.

Want another chance to win this dehydrator? Write about this contest on your blog or website and link back to this contest. Come back and let us know in a separate comment.

Want another chance to win this dehydrator? Facebook a link to this contest. Come back and let us know in a separate comment.