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killerflies · Joined: 11 Jul 2008 Posts: 40 Location: Galway

WANTED: A food dehydrator.

Anyone even know where id buy one in Ireland?

Cheers.

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Moonwaves · Joined: 14 Dec 2006 Posts: 80 Location: Dusseldorf

I don't think I ever saw one for sale in Ireland. Good chance you'd have to get someone to order it in or order it online from somewhere like Lakeland. You could try ringing places like the Organic Centre or Cultivate or wherever is local to you and asking them. Maybe if a few people started asking for them they'd look into sourcing them.

I just got mine from eBay a while ago and dried my first strawberries last week. Think it's going to be used a lot and I will probably end up having to save for a more expensive model soon. Smile

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killerflies · Joined: 11 Jul 2008 Posts: 40 Location: Galway

Got one in the end in the UK. An Excalibur 9-tray dehydrator, not cheap but the best investment value wise.

Tried apples etc in it already, and will be certainly using a lot in the future. Will have to play with times etcetera, but sure thats half the fun!

BTW, how long did you leave your strawberries in for? Were they sliced or whole?

Moonwaves · Joined: 14 Dec 2006 Posts: 80 Location: Dusseldorf

Smaller ones I just cut in half and bigger ones I sliced. The first lot I tried were a bit too big/weren't left on for long enough but the second lot were fantastic. Just finished the last of them today as a snack in work (so much for trying to dry stuff so I would have a taste of summer in the winter!).

I've made a couple of fruit leathers as well, first lot just strawberry but didn't really have enough honey and they are quite sour. I also left them on for two long so they're not so much leathers as they are crispy bits. Smile

The second lot I made with strawberries and apples, following the instructions in the RC Preserves book a bit more closely and keeping a good eye on how they were doing so they weren't overdone. Much more satisfactory result.

Yesterday I dried blueberries, redcurrants and blackcurrants. Took ages but I think it was worth it, they taste much, much sweeter than they did beforehand. I will do more of these and plan to add them to porridge for brekkie when colder weather arrives again.
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Moonwaves · Joined: 14 Dec 2006 Posts: 80 Location: Dusseldorf

Just weighed the berries from yesterday. Wet weight was 300g blueberries, 250g redcurrants and 250g blackcurrants (one small punnet each) so a total of 800g yielded 150g of dried fruit. Possibly not the most economic way to go but still...

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