Re: [Paddlewise] Follow-up Dehydrating Questions

From: Michael Daly <mikedaly_at_magma.ca>
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 15:27:37 -0500
On 17 Jan 2005 at 9:06, Rick.Sylvia_at_ferguson.com wrote:

> how much does it actually cost to operate a dehydrator?
> Surely, it's pennies, or it wouldn't be cost effective, right?

I haven't worked it out myself, but remember reading a post on Usenet 
where someone did.  Dehydration at home is not too cost effective.  
If you want dried fruits or fruit leathers, for example, it's cheaper 
in general to buy them at your local bulk food store.  The exception 
is if you can dehydrate the stuff you grow yourself (and even then 
the electric cost may make it less economical than buying).

The problem is that you're buying everything retail and operating at 
a small scale, whereas the big companies buy wholesale and can get 
economies of scale.

Mostly, you dehydrate things that you can't buy.  Bananas, for 
example - banana chips are awful compared to real dehydrated bananas. 
Dehydrated sauces and such are hard to buy, so those are useful to 
make.

Maybe I should work out the costs on a spreadsheet and figure out 
which products are a bargain and which are a luxury that are only 
useful since they allow us to pack and transport them in a kayak 
safely and conveniently.

Mike
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Received on Mon Jan 17 2005 - 12:25:47 PST

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