One of the gifts D and I received for our wedding was a food deydrator, purchased for us by a friend of mine at work. I LOVE this thing! Mostly I dehydrate fruit (from our organic food boxes that I pick up from the drop site at my workplace every 2 weeks) but I've also made fruit leather/rollups. The machine also makes jerky but I haven't tackled that one yet.
Price-wise, it's way cheaper to dry your own fruit and vegetables than to buy them at the store. It's not even that time consuming. I cut the fruit into uniform slices (use an apple corer to remove the center portion) and then place them in a single layer on 1 of 4 trays in the dehydrator. They dry for about 5-6 hours - depending on the type of fruit (kiwis are more watery so they take longer) - at 135 degrees F. We like the finished product more chewy than crispy.
Afterwards the fruit is packaged using the vacuum sealer for future use (perfect for the boat and hiking/camping trips!) Drying fruit is usually a weekend task since I don't feel comfortable leaving the dehydrator on when we're away at work. It's nice to be able to check on the progress periodically throughout the day.
The annual Girls Weekend trip I take with my friends is scheduled for THIS weekend so I am packing my bags and cleaning out my car in anticipation. As the organizer I am heading up to Girdwood a little early on Friday (I got the day off!), along with a couple other girls, so we can make sure the cabin is ready. I'll have recaps and photos next week. You can read about last year's Girls Weekend here.
