>Newbie wants to purchase a food dehydrator and get serious.  I'm
>interested in feedback and real world evaluations of the various models
>available.

Hey Steve! Welcome to veg-raw...

Since we eat by taste-change, and taste-changes are destroyed at only
several degrees above room temperature (sun drying is enough to alter a
taste-change!) I have edeavored to dry foods at room temperature.

We always seem to be drying some excess foods, so I have, at the different
locals we have lived, often built a "no heat" dryer into a cupboard or
closet, consisting simple of 1/2" wire mesh trays stacked a few inches
above each other. Point a table fan at the whole thing and you're set. The
trouble with this set up in some situations is ants or mice, but in many
modern USA homes or apartments you'd be fine. Still I may never rig up
another drying system again because...

We've got a nifty dryer which is about as low-tech as you can get. It's
called the Food Pantry and it was designed by K. Duane Erickson (255 East
400 South, #150, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111). We purchased it through Real
Goods ((800) 762-7325) a couple of years ago, and when I queried them
several months ago they said they were out, or they no longer carried them
or something--but they may be able to help you contact whoever necessary to
get hold of one. I don't remember the cost, but it was well under $100...

The dryer consists of 5 13" by 13" plastic trays (finely webbed) which are
suspended by straps and a plastic "outline frame" for each tray--the trays
are set inside the frames and easily removed/replaced. The whole
contraption is surrounded by no-see-um type netting and has a zipper
running the vertical length of it. Further, since the trays/frames are the
only hard parts (and, of course, the plastic top and bottom, both roughly
the same dimensions as they trays, but a little bigger), the whole thing
collapses like an accordian into a small traveling size--say, 15" by 15" by
4 " or so. A clothes hanger-like hook is mounted into the top so when it is
hung, gravity drops the trays which are about five inches apart, so the
"opened" contraption is about 15" by 15" by 24". Note that the plastic
bottom comes off completely when it is hung so all the trays are suspended
in mid-air with only netting on five sides (all except the top).

(Travel ideas: When we go to Seattle or somewhere we know we'll be getting
lots of seafood, we bring the thing along and hang it in the hotel room.
When we visit my sister in Denver we bring it along and dry a bunch of
buffalo. No problem. We've used it camping as well. If it's not going to be
a "feast" it isn't worth carrying over 5 sqaure feet of drying area. Still,
on most every traveling bit I carry a sqaure foot of 1/4" wire mesh, which
folds easily into the smallest of dufflebags and can serve the same
purpose. When I didn't have that and wanted to age/dry a food it is simple
to use paperclips to hang some foods from a clothes hanger--which can also
be done inside a refridgerator to dry/age foods...)

This Food Pantry is the coolest simplest design I've ever seen. It has no
moving parts, no fan, no heater. It could be hung outside and the breeze is
more than enough to dry stuff. Even inside is doesn't need a fan if the
humidity is low. We used it mostly for aging meat and fish, but have also
used it for drying whole bananas, pineapple, figs, grapes, etc. Often we
simply point a table fan on it at first to make sure the outside crusts
over, and after that happens it can often dry w/o a fan. Stone and pip
fruit would be a snap, but we've never done it.

It comes with a nifty little guide which explains everything (including a
bit on wheatgrass--the inventor must've been an enthusaist) and sprouting.
Oh, I didn't mention the thing works as a heavy duty sprouter as well!

Advantages:

-Small, lightweight, when packed; easy for travel
-Can't break down; uses no electricity
-Preserves the taste-change of food
-Doubles as sprouter
-Relatively low cost
-Looks cool

Disadvantages:

-will not work in high humidity w/o air movement (wind or fan)
-needs something to hang from (no big deal in most cases)

I see you're from Oregon. Hmmm... If your in Bend or something your OK, but
in Eugene you'd need a table fan as well...

I suspect this Erickson guy invented this elegant drying solution, put a
small fortune into getting it manufactured and then watched it not sell!
It's a shame too, because it is a _fine_ product. I'd like to shake his
hand! People think you need heat to dry fruit, but you don't. The lower the
humidity the faster it will dry, and wind helps. The only thing heat does
is to decrease the relative humidity, and if it is humid a fan will take
the place of heat.

But if instincto ever takes off, people will buy this thing and the guy
will get his just dessert. Too bad, for him--since it seems pretty unlikely
that instincto is going to take off ;)

Good luck fonding what you want, and let me know if you get a hold of one
of these: I'd like another myself. :)

Cheers,
Kirt