I'm toying with the idea of buying a dehydrator. It just might help me from losing so many mushrooms.

I own the book on dehydrators by Ms. Bell.

I have two. The first one is a Ronco and its round and runs about 30.00. I don't think Ronco is in business anymore. The second one I bought was from Bass Pro (Fishing & Hunting store) for 149.00 It has six drawers. Its aprox 18 inches deep, 15 inches wide and 10 inches high. Some things you should know about dehydrating. There is background noise from a fan when its running. Some foods emit an oder ( peppers and mushrooms ) definitely. They can be a pain to clean. The plastic trays get sticky and need a screen to hold small pieces of food. You might be better off trying to find packages of dehydrated mushrooms.

I have two and use them alot. One is an older Waring model and the other is an American Harvester brand. I dehydrate just about everything possible. Yes some foods do have a stronger odor but I put mine in one of the rooms that I don't use all time. I make jerky, apple chips and dehdrate peppers, celery, garlic, tomatoes(just a few of the things) and herbs. I then use my food processor and blend up combinations to make different seasoning for cooking. I place the solid liner that is for fruit leathers on bottom to catch the small pieces that might fall through. If my trays get sticky I just soak in a sink of warm soapy water. I love my dehdrater almost as much as my crockpot!!!!!

Excalibur is the Cadillac of dehydrators, but unless you want to do a lot, you won't need one that expensive or large. I would go with a Nesco or Ronco. Either one is inexpensive and simple to operate.

 

We did a lot of research when we decided to buy a food dehydrator and ended up buying a square shaped one. The brand is Excaliber and I think it was about $200. It works very well, but there is one thing to consider. During the summer, if you have very hot weather (it can be in the 100s here), running a food dehydrator is going to put out more heat. We keep ours in an outside storage room so it doesn't heat up our whole house.

 I have an American Harvester I got at W-m many years ago.  It's still going strong.  Just be sure the one you pick has a fan and a thermostate.  Some foods are better dried at a lower temp and some a higher (jerky).

 If you are only planning on doing mushrooms and the occasional veggie or jerky, I think this brand would work for you.  Be sure and buy a few extra trays and the roll-up liners.  Like another comment here, I use those liners when I do herbs or small bits that would sift through the tray openings.

 Some say a very light coating of cooking spray will help with the sticking.  I just soak my trays in warm soapy water to clean them, using a medium brush on the tough spots.

 I dry mushrooms, (powder some in a small food processor to add to any beef or pork roast & gravy.  Makes it extra special but not "mushroomy"), onions, peppers, tomatoes, greens, cooked veggies like corn or carrots, apples, pears (family loves pears), strawberries (ground up to add to yogurt- YUM), ground meat jerky (occasionally).  Shredded zucchini is great to dry.  It dries down alot and you can store 2-3 base-ball bat-sized squash in a quart canning jar.  Reconstitute and make into bread or add to soups.

HTHs

hey guys I'm looking for a little help before I purchase a dehydrator. I've ever dried food before or done jerky or anything but I want to get into it. I've been looking around for dehydrators and I'm leaning towards the nesco american harvest FD-37 that I found on this site http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-make-jerky-and-dried-foods-with-a-dehydrator and i'm curious what you guys think of nesco dehydrators or if you have suggestions of other brands I should consider? Any help would be great before I make a purchase, thanks guys.