Dehydrator for fruits and vegetables. Recipes for dehydrator

Among the endless assortment of modern kitchen electrical appliances, dehydrators take a special place. These devices appeared on the market not so long ago, but they instantly gained immense popularity among lovers of healthy food. According to polls, today every fifth housewife has at his disposal a similar device and actively uses it for blanks.

What is the secret of such popularity of an ordinary electric dryer at first glance? In this, we will try to understand the article.

What is a dehydrator

Dehydrator for vegetables and fruits is an electric kitchen appliance intended for uniform extraction of moisture from products by drying them. Such devices have long been used in the food industry for the production of various dried fruits and chips.

Household analogues are more modest in size and consume much less electricity. A kitchen dehydrator for vegetables and fruits will occupy no more space in your kitchen than a normal medium-sized saucepan, and its maximum power consumption will not exceed 1000 watts.

What is the difference between a dryer and a dehydrator

Until recently, electric households intended for the same purposes were used in the household. Many people today say that there is no difference between them and dehydrators, because the output is the same product. But in fact, there is a difference. And substantial.

A standard electric dryer has a heating element and a fan with an upper or lower position. The injected heated air in such devices is not controlled in any way and has a different temperature in different parts of the dryer. In addition, the air flow moves in the same plane, which significantly limits the possibility of uniform drying.

For example: an electric convection dryer for apples, pears, plums, other fruits, dried them in such a way that a hard crust is formed on top, and a considerable amount of moisture remains inside. Such dried fruits, of course, can not be stored for a long time.

Dehydrator for vegetables and fruits is arranged differently, which allows you to get evenly dried and useful products at the outlet. Its main advantage is the ability to adjust and maintain a constant temperature inside the device, which is achieved by pumping warm air through a system of special channels.

But in addition, the dehydrator for vegetables and fruits preserves in them enzymes - special enzymes that promote rapid assimilation of food. A conventional dryer does not have such properties. Because of this, products from it are not as good and useful.

Products that can be dried in a dehydrator

The dehydrator is used for drying:

• vegetables;
• fruit;
• mushrooms;
• nuts

But this is not limited to his functions. A modern dehydrator for fruits and vegetables, with a built-in thermostat with a wide range of settings, also allows you to dry medicinal herbs. In addition, this device can be used for cooking:

• Pizza;
• cake for pie;
• bread;
• pancakes;
• pastilles;
• cookies;
• fruit and vegetable chips;
• sweets.

Popular culinary recipes for the dehydrator, as well as recommendations for drying vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, nuts and other products are usually presented in the passport of the device.

Convection or infrared

According to the principle of operation, two types of dehydrators are distinguished: convective and infrared. The latter provide a more gentle and high-quality drying. They have in their design a lamp that emits infrared radiation and a fan that creates an airflow.

Models of the convection type heat the air with a conventional heating spiral. The quality of drying of such devices is slightly worse, therefore, for home use, experts recommend purchasing an infrared dehydrator. The price for it is an average of one and a half times higher than the convection price, but the difference will quickly pay off due to less electricity consumption. In addition, products dried by infrared rays can be stored for several years without fear of mold and rot.

Classification of dehydrators in the direction of the air flow

Also, dehydrators can be divided by the method of directing the air flow to horizontal and vertical. In the first case, the air is pumped by a fan located on the rear panel of the device body. Thanks to this solution, the design of the horizontal dehydrator is as simple as possible and does not require any additional maintenance.

In devices with vertical blowing, the fan is located in the lower part, and warm air is distributed evenly throughout the drying chamber due to special air channels, which sometimes need to be cleaned from dust.

Dehydrator control

All modern dehydrators have a control panel with the ability to configure functions such as:

• temperature regime;
• the strength of the air flow;
• cold-drying mode;
• Timer;
• auto power off;
• Thermostat.

Devices with this set of capabilities allow you to prepare not only semi-finished products, but also full-fledged food, in particular, this refers to desserts. Sweets are prepared on special non-stick bins, which are available in the kit.

Recipes of desserts for cooking in a dehydrator

Strawberry sweets from yogurt

In the finished yogurt we add mashed potatoes from strawberries, as well as to taste ginger, cinnamon and mint extract. The resulting mass is dried in a dehydrator, until it thickens. After that, we cool it, roll it into "sausage" and cut into pieces 1-3 cm thick. We pile them in coconut shavings and dry again.

«Redheads»

In a blender, mix 1 part of carrots, 1 part of walnut and 0.5 parts of dried dates. From the resulting mass, we form pyramids, sprinkle them with grated sesame seeds and send them to the drying board for drying.

Banana chips

Bananas are cut into pieces 5-7 mm thick. We spread them on the trays and dry them until half ready. We cool them and crumble them in sugar powder, then dry again until ready.

Recipes for the dehydrator do not require the hostess to strictly observe the specified proportions of certain constituents. It is important to understand the essence of the process, and then you can experiment with any products endlessly.

How to choose a dehydrator

When choosing a dehydration device, one should start from the following criteria:

• the manufacturer;
• price;
• power;
• Functionality.

Everyone who wants to buy any household appliance, first of all draws attention to its manufacturer. Here the situation is the same. Given that the dehydrator is intended for the production of potential food products, it is strongly recommended not to buy cheap products. It is better to give preference to famous world manufacturers of household appliances.

The price of the device determines not only the brand, but its power, and functionality. Therefore, here it is necessary at least approximately to calculate the future productivity and estimate, for what additional purposes the dehydrator will be used. If it will be used as a conventional dryer for apples and plums, then it will be enough to have a 350W power unit for 10-15 thousand rubles.

In case of active use of dehydrator for the preparation of dried fruits, preparation of various desserts, it will be necessary to choose a model with a capacity from 500 to 1000 W, which has expanded functionality. The prices for such devices start from 18 thousand rubles.

Popular household dehydrators: reviews and ratings

Today, the market of household appliances for the kitchen is full of different models of electric dryers and dehydrators. The choice of the buyer presents the devices of various manufacturers from Asia, Western Europe and America, having the most incredible additional features.

But for some reason only a few models are most popular. Their quality and capabilities are actively discussed by users. We will present the most popular dehydrators in the ranking order.

1. Excalibur ("Excalibur") - has a reliable design and a well-deserved reputation. Absolutely all models have a set of additional functions and have an electronic control panel. According to the polls, Excalibur is the most purchased dehydrator. Reviews of all models without exception are in most cases positive.

2. Ezidri ("Izidri") Ultra FD 1000 is a popular cylindrical vertical dehydrator. Has electronic control and adjustable power. They also speak about such devices positively, but they have one drawback - plastic trays.

3. Sedona (SD) The SD-9000 is an equally popular but expensive model, featuring the ability to regulate the volume of the drying chamber.

Here you can also include the Russian infrared dehydrator for fruits and vegetables "Corvette". Thanks to its simple design and relatively low price, it successfully competes with foreign "colleagues" for several hundred dollars.

A simple dehydrator with your own hands

If there is no possibility or desire to purchase an expensive device, you can always make it yourself. Of course, he will not have any extra extra capacity for cooking, but to dry vegetables, fruits and mushrooms quite fit.

To make a simple homemade dehydrator we will need:

• cardboard box from under the vacuum cleaner, TV, monitor or similar;
• foil;
• metal building mesh;
• lengths of steel wire of 5-8 mm;
• electric chuck with fastening;
• Self-tapping screws;
• screwdriver, awl;
• infrared lamp (these are used to heat young birds);
• thermometer.

The box from the inside is glued with foil. From the metal mesh we cut the shelves to the size of the box. In one of the walls nearer to the bottom we make a hole for the electric wire and fix the cartridge with the help of screws.

Further from the steel wire, it is necessary to make stops that will hold the racks, and fix them on the walls of the box in a convenient way. It remains to put the shelves, screw in the lamp and connect it to the mains.

To control the temperature inside the drying chamber, it is also necessary to place a thermometer on one of the walls. It is believed that fruits, vegetables and mushrooms are best dried at a temperature of 40-45 ^o C. It can be adjusted by turning the lamp on or off or opening the lid.

Summer street dehydrator

If you have a private house, cottage or even a small plot of land, you can equip a street dehydrator that will not consume electricity, and its performance will envy the most powerful household appliance. The principle of its operation is based on the physical properties of the air, known to everyone from the school bench.

It is not difficult to equip the summer dehydrator with one's own hands. The main material for its production is wood (boards, slats, plywood). It is not necessary to describe a detailed instruction, since there are simply no clear drawings and algorithms for cutting boards.

First, a skeleton of a drying chamber of the required size is created in the form of a tetrahedral "pipe". Inside it, the restraints for the future racks are made, which are made of metal or plastic mesh. The top of the "pipe" is covered with a tin sloping roof. In case of rain, it will protect the products from moisture ingress.

Now, when the camera itself is assembled, it needs to be raised about the ground about a meter and set on piles. "But where does the warm air come from?" - you ask.

To do this, you will need one or more plastic (or better metal) pipes installed at an angle from the lower edge of the dehydrator to the ground. The air in them, under the influence of sunlight, will heat up and rise, falling into the drying chamber, passing from the lower part to the roof. In order for heating to occur faster, it is desirable to paint the pipes black.