problems cooking w/ dehydrator

PRESLEYPRESLEY Raw Newbie

Howdy,

I've made corn chips twice, once way too sweet & not crispy, i tried another recipe where they came out better, not as sweet, however i

cooked them for 19 hours @ 105 & still they were chewy & not crispy (& i don't believe they were too thic, they were very thin but thick enough to hold salsa, unlike the 1st one's i made were paper thin & could not hold salsa) that is wayyy longer than it says to cook them & still chewy.

I tried making Alissa Cohens recipe for pizza crust & you cook at 105 for 2 hours, take out turn over & cook a few more hours, then add the sauce & cheese & cook for longer, however i cooked for 9 hours & it was still too "fall apart & oily" to even take off the teflex sheet & flip over to the regular one & continue to cook, i tasted it @ that point & it tasted really good, however the wild rice never did sprout but i used it anyway but it was sooo hard, i ended up just throwing it because of that & because it seems like no matter how long i cooked it, it would not get firm enough to take off the teflex sheet.

I feel really disapointed since i am new to raw & the few things i have tried to make in the dehydrator i don't even want to eat because they don't turn out right.

I'm wondering if anyone else has had these problems or any advice/help!

Thank you.

Lisa

Comments

  • powerliferpowerlifer Raw Newbie

    I don't have a dehydrator so cant really offer any help but my friend has one and she had problems at the start making several gourmet raw recipes but now has a blast with the dehydrator.

    Like anything else its abit of learning curve ive heard so don't give up yet. Hopefully someone experienced with a dehydrator will chime in.

    Amla

  • PRESLEYPRESLEY Raw Newbie

    Thanks for the "hope".. hee hee

    I guess i should say it's a excalibur 5 tray.

  • daniefondaniefon Raw Newbie

    I didn't have the exact same problems that you are, but it did take a little bit to get the hang of it. I can tell a difference when our humidity is high. Times quoted by someone in Colorado are very different than times quoted by someone in Texas! Many people feel that you can dehydrate for the first hour at 145, because the moisture content in the food is so high, that it won't exceed 115, which is the temp that I use. I know there is debate about acceptable highs, I've heard 118 to 105. I use 115 and it works well. There is a recipe on this site that I love and has never failed me. I'll find it and post it. I'd suggest trying it and if it doesn't work, we can troubleshoot if you'd like because I know how it acts in the dehydrator. And, it's delicious!!!

  • daniefondaniefon Raw Newbie

    Here is the pizza bread, it's amazing, everyone that's ever tried it, raw, vegan or not, has loved it.

    http://www.goneraw.com/recipe/awesome-pizza-bread

    I'd also try some flax crackers, they are easy and pretty reliable. I posted one on here that would work well with your salsa. I've never had good luck with corn chips. Actually, you can do a search on my username and I've posted a few dehydrated recipes. I could advise on those too.

    Good Luck, and don't give up!

  • PRESLEYPRESLEY Raw Newbie

    Great, thanks.

    I live in Florida so the humidity is high & maybe that has something to do with it.

  • cupcakes revengecupcakes revenge Raw Newbie

    i had a similar issue when i first started using my dehydrator. And we have an infra red thermometre so I would check the food and find it wasn't what the temperature was set to. I contacted excalibur and they told me that the food temp is always lower than the set temp so you have to set your temperature like 10 degrees higher than what you want it to actually be. I normally set mine at 115-118 and it "cooks" like 105-108. if you contact the company, they can provide more detail.

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