>Date:    Mon, 15 Feb 1999 08:57:15 -0800
>From:    Mary <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: dehydrator/pemmican
>
>Dear List,
>Do you guys wash your dehydrator trays in the dishwasher every time you make
>pemmican?  Is this necessary?

I used to wash my dehydrator trays a lot, but I got lazy since I use it
quite a bit.  Hey, any residue that's left in there is dried just like the
jerky, right?  It's preserved, and it'll stay that way for weeks if the
humidity where you live is not high.  So I don't wash mine very often.  I
do usually clean it after making jerky, but that's because I mostly dry
fruit, and I think the jerky residue would give a meaty flavor to the
fruit.  If I was making a lot of jerky, I'd get a separate dryer, or at
least a separate set of trays, so I could use one for fruit and the other
for jerky.

I used to use a $15 Snackmaster, but it burned out and Wal-Mart was out of
them, so I got a $20 Magic Chef.  Surprisingly, it seems to be a much
better unit:  more shelf space, uses less energy, and much quieter.