Dehydrator help, please

[diamondintherough]

Hi Everyone. I got a dehydrator from freecycle--yaaaaay!

Now, it looks pretty straightforward, but I'm sure I need help.

It has a bunch of trays (6 I think) and looks like a decent one (Ronco), but I have nothing to compare it with. There is a white thing on one of the trays. Is it missing the others or is there only one and what's the difference? Do I just slice some food and put it on the open trays or do I need to order more of those white thingies?

Naturally, there is no instruction booklet, so I could use some basic directions. What can I put in there? How long does it take? Etc. anything you think I should know about dehydrators would be great!

[JJsMom]

I have a ronco too and I've been a dehydrating fool! :giggle Okay, here's what I know:
The white things (is it a hard plastic insert that doesn't have holes?) are probably fruit leather trays. Nope you don't need more (unless you find you need more). To make fruit leather, you just spread some pureed fruit on it (thinly) and dehydrate until no longer sticky, it will be like a fruit roll-up. :) I've used applesauce (sometimes mixed with other pureed fruit) :yum and strawberry sauce. :yum
Times vary a lot! Some things take maybe 5 hours, some 15, just depends. I put most things in right away in the morning or before bed. When they are no longer wet, they are done. They'll be pliable. I think you'll be able to tell when they are done. :)
I've done strawberries, cantelope, apples, pineapple, and I have raspberries in right now.
I don't really do anything special to my fruit before I put it in. Just slice it (I've sliced strawberries in 4ths or 5ths) and lay it on the tray, don't overlap. I left raspberries whole, I like them like that. Rotate trays as you go, the bottom ones get done the quickest.
I'm holding a sleeping baby right now and I'm really tired tonight, I hope this all makes sense! If you have specific ?s, ask away! :hug

[diamondintherough]

Thanks--that's a start. One of the white thingies has holes, the other one is like a clear sheet. I think for our family we would need more than one of those for fruit leather because there are a lot of us.

I was thinking about doing zucchini chips since I saw that on another thread recently :think

Is there a problem if you do sweet and savory things at the same time? I don't want my strawberries tasting like the onion crackers in the tray above. Is it safe to leave this thing on overnight? Any special concerns or do I just load it up and plug it in?

Oh--and how do you clean the bottom part with the heating element?

[tempus vernum]

I can't answer the Ronco specifics but I have been dehydrating for over 10 years and LOVE IT. DH is in the middle of making my new dehydrator and I am getting excited! It should be ready in the next few weeks in time for the main harvest -- I buy a lot of stuff in bulk and dehydrate it in the late summer/early fall!

I wouldn't mix sweet and savories. IME they both end up tasting funny - the oniony a bit bland and the sweet a bit sour. I have heard some do this but I don't like too :)

Most dehydrators can be kept on 24 hours a day for several days BUT have you googled to see if you can get an owners manual.

The sheet with no holes is probably for fruit leathers. I use my fruit leathers also for drying seeds and nuts that are too small for my screens -- sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds -- well pumpkin seeds aren't too small but used to get stuck in my old screens. We'll see how the new one is :)

Most bottom of the dehydrator (heating element) just need to be wiped off regularly with a damp cloth.

AFA loading it up be sure to leave enough room for the air to circulate. One main problem a lot of people have is overloading resulting in drying times that last too long (resulting in rotten food before its properly dehydrated).