"Hey", everyone. Based on responses a couple weeks ago, I've been playing with my dehydrator. I've only done apples, carrots and some Jerky, but it's a start. Info I have says to keep the dehydrated food in a dry, cool place. Many sources suggest storing it in the refrigerator. No source of info even remotely mentioned the freezer for even longer storage. So..... is it good, bad or indifferent to store dehydrated food in the freezer? I have very limited frig space available, but I have a huge freezer in the garage that is only half full. Also, I've read that some items take as much as 60 hours to dehydrate. I think that was apricots, if I recall correctly. Anyway, I know virtually nothing about electricity, and the differences between, Watts, Volts, Amps and so forth. So, the question is, 60 hours is a long time..... how much does it actually cost to operate a dehydrator? Surely, it's pennies, or it wouldn't be cost effective, right? Thanks Rick *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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 *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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