On Sat, 03 Sep 2005 21:08:27 GMT, Mark Thorson >
wrote:

>TammyM wrote:
>>
>> I'm looking to buy a dehydrator. This one sounds intriguing to me.
>> It's USD50, has 4 trays expandable to 12, no need to shuffle trays (so
>> they say), and an adjustable thermostat. I'm wondering if anyone
>> knows if this will also "incubate" homemade yogurt? Anyone have any
>> experience with this particular model who can offer an opinion?
>>
>> I'm new to the dehydrating world <g> so if this is a dorky question,
>> please forgive.
>
>I've been considering buying a dehydrator for quite
>some time, and my needs/restrictions are probably
>different from yours, and I've never heard of the
>Nesco -- but that's never stopped me from offering
>my $0.02 before . . .
>
>My experience using an el cheapo (rhymes with
>Toastmaster/Salton) convection oven with a
>dehydrate mode tells me that a VERY IMPORTANT
>feature is LOW WATTAGE. The reason is that
>if you have a high wattage model (or a convection
>oven), it will be constantly cycling on and off.
>If you have a low wattage model, the cycles
>will be much longer. Nicer would be to have
>two power levels -- high for when you really
>need it (to dry wet stuff like tomatoes and
>oranges) and low (to dry stuff with lower water
>content, or to finish stuff that started on high).
>
>This is important for a few reasons. For me,
>an important one is that I can't run two >1000W
>appliances at the same time without risking blowing
>a fuse. Another is that it is annoying to have
>my lights flickering every few minutes when the
>thermostat kicks on -- ever since I bought a
>dehumidifier for my collection of fine antiquarian
>books, I believe I have been replacing incandescent
>lightbulbs at a higher rate because of these flickers.
>
>What is also important is being able to run the
>fan without any heat. Some things dry perfectly
>well without any heat at all, and may be damaged
>by heat. For example, herbs won't have as good an
>aroma if dried with heat, as opposed to air-drying.

Good points, Mark, thanks for sharing. The one I'm looking at has an
adjustable thermostat, 95F - 145F. I think I'm going to give it a
try.

TammyM