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Making a dehydrator mesh tray

I recently bought a Nesco FD-60 dehydrator and I was disappointed to find that a lot of the things that I want to use the machine for require a mesh sheet to go on the tray. I can order two sheets at a total cost of about $20 CDN but I am wondering if I can make something that works just as well and that costs less in terms of money and in terms of time (I'd rather order something for $20 than spend $4 on materials and spend seven hours making something).

Is it worth my time and effort to make something myself? From what would I make the tray? I'm thinking of taking a splatter screen, cutting the mesh out and making a hole in the middle, and then somehow covering the jagged edges. But I'm worried about the safety of that. What do you recommend?

Comments

  • emtpdmomemtpdmom Raw Newbie

    I use parchment paper cut to fit. Depending on what you are dehydrating, it can be used several times.

  • I've seen Internet fora in which people discuss using parchment paper as a substitute for Teflexx/Paraflexx but I haven't seen anything about it being used as a substitute for the mesh. I think that people didn't say they used it as a mesh-sheet substitute because parchment paper doesn't permit as much air flow as does actual mesh. Would having parchment paper create results different from those of mesh if I was making something in which the whole tray is covered in batter (e.g. if I was making crackers)?

  • penfoldpenfold Raw Newbie

    I think using paper exclusively would create a different product than using a mesh tray. I think the paper would likely become part of your food if you let it dry to completion on there (depending on what you're drying). But if you let the top dry, you can flip the whole thing over onto the regular slotted tray that's in the Nesco and peel off the paper. That's what I do and it works just fine.

  • pixxpixx Raw Master

    I'm with penfold on this one. I believe that the mesh is just to hold small items from dropping between the slats of the dehydrator trays. If your Nesco didn't come with them, it's likely the trays are made with closer slats, and it is unnecessary. But you will need a solid sheet, be it teflexx, paraflexx, parchment, or something, when using any batter like substance in the dehydrator, at least until dry enough to peel off in a simi-solid form. Otherwise, the liquid will drop through the tray, or even mesh if you were to have it.

    The mesh may also facilitate easier removal, via peeling back. But I really wouldn't think that would be an issue for a cracker that has been mostly dried, then flipped to the tray from whatever solid sheet you use. The mesh might come in handy if you dry things like pineapple slices, or something that would start out directly on the tray (rather than a batter, that needs a solid sheet to start with.)

    Have fun with whichever you decide to do!

  • I'm a fairly busy person (I'm a university student) so I would rather avoid the possibility of forgetting to flip the batter while I'm studying in the library or doing something else. Also I don't think that flipping would work well for fruits.

    Spending $20 might make my life easier because I won't have to spend the time to cut parchment paper to fit the dehydrator any time I want to dry something (or every few times I want to dry something) and because I won't have to worry about flipping the tray when the top of the batter is dry. Assuming that my time is worth about $12 CDN (in real terms) per hour, every time I spend ten minutes making the tray, I lose 60 cents. By the seventeenth thing I dry, I'll have spent the money for one mesh tray without actually having a mesh tray. My calculation doesn't include the cost of the parchment paper itself, and the cost of the time I spend going to get it.

    Thank you both for your suggestions. I'm looking for something long-lasting so I'll go for the official tray. Yeah, it's a bummer, I lose $20 now. But after I graduate from university and am in a full-time and difficult job, my time will be more valuable than it is now, so to spend ten minutes making a parchment-paper tray will cost me even more. Maybe by then I'll have bought a dehydrator that comes with mesh sheets and with Teflexx/Paraflexx.

    Josh

  • beanybeeganbeanybeegan Raw Newbie

    Josh.......I feel like I am hitting my head against a wall. Is it me? Why are those eating raw, buying dehydrators that will not give you raw dried foods? You may as well by the item at a health food store. Please, please, pleeeeease read the posts in the search for dehydrators. If you cant buy the dehydrator for real raw food than it is best to wait to buy until you can.

  • I did this years ago. Bought some screening at the hardware store and cut it to fit my dehydrator. The stuff used for screen doors. Very simple.

  • I have no plans of eating all raw foods - I bought the dehydrator so I could make foods I enjoy. The items in the health-food store are quite expensive and making them myself is cheaper, especially if I make big batches.

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