Choosing, running and cleaning a dehydrator.
Roughly €0.50 to €1.50 of electricity for a typical eight hour batch at European prices. The wattage on the label is the ceiling, not the average, which is why most online figures come out too high.
Expect a constant fan, somewhere between a fridge and a bathroom extractor, for six to twelve hours. The smell is stronger than most people expect, and it depends entirely on what you dry.
For herbs and the occasional tray of fruit, an oven does the job. For anything regular it is slower, more expensive to run and cannot hold the low temperatures fruit and herbs want.
Shelf machines with a rear fan dry more evenly and need no tray rotation. Stackables cost less, store smaller and expand. The decision usually comes down to how often you dry.
Yes, for small batches of fruit and herbs. The limits are capacity and the lowest temperature the machine will hold, and both matter more than the button on the panel.
Five machines sold in the EU and UK that keep coming up as sensible buys, compared on published specifications rather than hands-on testing. Read the drawbacks before the praise.
Stainless trays are easier to clean, take heat better and cost more. For fruit, herbs and light use, good plastic trays are fine.
It cracks when you bend a cooled strip and stays in one piece. Test it cold, because warm jerky is always more flexible than it will be an hour later.
