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Login Here Signup Here Signup using FacebookHello, being fairly new to RAW-ism, I'm so excited to find this site. I've been mostly vegan for a bit over a year (my weakness being sushi & chicken salad). It has been difficult though since I have 2 small children. I tried vegan w/ them but something was missing. Having a very picky 1st grader, he just wasn't getting the protein he needed, so for now I have been cooking white meats again. HE was even surprised. One day in the store he said, "Mom, you're in the meat dept?". I am also very picky w/ his diet since he's ADHD. I buy sprouted bread, steer clear of food dyes and dairy, etc.... On the other hand, I have a 3 yr old who loves veggies and loves juicing w/ me! He's my guinea pig whenever I want to try a new veggie or fruit juice concoction. :) His fave is carrot/apple/orange.
Anyhow, I'm not so much worried about making the whole family go RAW or 100% vegan, but I do try to choose the healithiest foods I can for them. They both had milk allergies and asthma so dairy is off limits. I'm mostly doing this for myself. I'm tired of feeling tired, want to loose my 20 lbs of "baby fat" and just want over all well-being. My hubby is up for anything and is what I call a "fallen vegan" (lol) so that helps.
I recently bought "Ani's Raw Food Kitchen" and love it. It has simple, yet healthful recipes for busy people. It really empowered me and made me feel like I can do this. I've read Juliano's Uncook Book and Matt Amsden's "RAWvolution", but just felt that most of the recipes were too time consuming for me right now. Oh, and I had no idea or thought that you could make hummus from soaked, uncooked garbanzos until I skimmed Carol Alt's book. I made a huge batch and my 3 yr old was dipping his carrots in!
I just wanted to introduce myself and do have a question: I'm planning on purchasing a dehydrator but am baffled at what brand/type to purchase. I know that Vita-Mix products are recommended but I just don't have the funds right now, so are there any comprable, less expensive brands? I have Jack La Lanne's juicer & LOVE it for the price! I'm hoping you can help steer me to a great dehydrator at about the same value. TIA! :)
Comments
I have a Good4U dehydrator that I got from the folks at RawFoodLife, via ebay. It was the lowest price I'd seen (mine was $98, with free shipping) It works well, and I have heard it is way quieter than the Excalibur. http://stores.ebay.com/CassandraLees-Garage-Sale
Vita mix makes blenders, I don't think they have dehydrators (I could be wrong!). My blender is just an Oster, for the time being.
I have a used GreenLife juicer (predecessor to the GreenStar) and I love it!
Thank you pixx. I think you're right about Vita Mix; juicers & blenders. Thanks on your input though. I had a dehydrator years ago that I used for fruit and didn't like it. Quiter is better too! I'll check out that link.
Thanks! :)
I had a Harvest something-or-other (not sure of the whole name) 20 years ago, and I did not like it either!! But from what I know now, those round ones aren't so good, and run way too hot. I love this one I have now, but admittedly I have a cracker addiction... Gotta have my crunchy foods! :~)
Look on Craigslist for a dehydrator!
ONLY get excalibur, don't bother with anything else; everything else is pretty much a mold machine, as in: put fruit puree in expecting fruit leather, and get moldy fruit puree a couple of hours later. Yuck!
Honestly, dehydrators are fun but they are not necessary at first. They're usually something to look forward to down the line when you start to get used to all the food prep and whatnot involved in the raw lifestyle.
But yeah, on Craigslist a lot of people buy dehydrators thinking they'll make beef jerky or fruit leather or gimmicky stuff like that, and after using it twice and realizing it takes a long time to dehydrate stuff sometimes, it just sits in the corner unused until they decide to get a little money back for it.
Good luck!
One tip I have is that you may want to check ebay for a dehydrator as this is where I got my excalibur from. I saved quite a bit and it's great for making 'baked' bread/treats/etc.
Someone else on here said you could get a blemished model of excalibur dehydrators. They are still on ebay for a good price. I just got one for my momand she is happy with it.
The one I had years ago was one of those round, cheapy things and I did not like it all. Thanks for the advice! :)
Here's the link for Excalibur on ebay: http://stores.ebay.com/Excalibur-Dehydrator-Factory-Direct Look through that list there, and you will find some of them to be the blemished ones, and therefore discounted.
I considered one of the four tray blemished Excalibur, but after realizing that the blemished Excalibur did not come with teflexx sheets, and I had to pay shipping, it ended up less expensive to buy the Good4U which came with the sheets, free shipping, and has 6 trays instead of 4 (and the trays are larger) AND it's not blemished! Not to mention, a few folks saying on here, that the Good4U is way quieter than the Excalibur. To me, the choice was easy.
I've had it a couple weeks, have made tons of stuff in it (crackers, cookies, kale chips, and "leathers"), and have not had anything mold, including the fruit "leather" type stuff.
hey, cool, I haven't heard of the Good4U! I'm going to look into that!
Type dehydrators into the search box and read other posting as there are many reasons to save your money and get one that is made for the "raw community" ... Those jerky or round dehydrators get hot and will kill your recipes... Most of them have no way to reduce the temperature below 120 degrees or at all...
Save your money and buy a stainless steel sausage maker, hate the name but love the machine!!!