Ok, how about food dehydrators?

[icebear]

Another interesting find at the swap table at the local recycle place.

A 10 tray Nature's Way food dehydrator... it looks similar to the Excalibur type dehydrators... box style with slide out trays and a glass door.

Seems to be in good working condition (fan works, heating element functions) . It appears to have been used gently before being stored away for a long time. I have no idea on the age, tried looking it up, it has the original foil sticker on the door glass. The metal plate on the back has:

B&J Industries Inc.
514 State St
Marysville, WA

Home Food Dehydrator
Model #7010


i'm not finding anything under any of those bits of info. Anyone familiar with this particular company/model/brand ?

I was hoping to maybe find a pdf users manual or something that would give me a good idea of how this particular model should be used optimally.

I'm also unsure in how to properly sanitize it before i attempt to use it for anything edible. I may be able to use it for drying bars of soap,, but i'd really like to use it for edibles.
Any suggestions there?

Hopefully the garden will provide much to store away for the winter, i am thinking this may be a providential find, so i don't want to squander it.

Any advice is appreciated, i have the round, plastic Nesco dehydrators and always wanted a big one like this, but never would spend $200+ on one, so i will be so excited to be able to use this free one :yeah

[lyngraphics]

Great find!! I know nothing about these big models- I have a round plastic one as well, but what's the scoop on dehydrating bars of soap?

[icebear]

i haven't researched it yet, but i know curing homemade soap is supposed to take some time... i don't know if putting it in a food dryer would speed it up in a good way- or if its best to naturally cure it. i'm a soap novice so i don't yet know if "curing" and "drying" can be used interchangeably in soaperspeak. i just made some anise and olive oil soap and i bet it would make the house smell nice to have the scent blowing around!

[Lynn]

icebear, check your pm box; I sent you a message.

[icebear]

Thank ya! :hug

[MochaMel]

Another interesting find at the swap table at the local recycle place.

A 10 tray Nature's Way food dehydrator... it looks similar to the Excalibur type dehydrators... box style with slide out trays and a glass door.

Seems to be in good working condition (fan works, heating element functions) . It appears to have been used gently before being stored away for a long time. I have no idea on the age, tried looking it up, it has the original foil sticker on the door glass. The metal plate on the back has:

B&J Industries Inc.
514 State St
Marysville, WA

Home Food Dehydrator
Model #7010


i'm not finding anything under any of those bits of info. Anyone familiar with this particular company/model/brand ?

I was hoping to maybe find a pdf users manual or something that would give me a good idea of how this particular model should be used optimally.

I'm also unsure in how to properly sanitize it before i attempt to use it for anything edible. I may be able to use it for drying bars of soap,, but i'd really like to use it for edibles.
Any suggestions there?

Hopefully the garden will provide much to store away for the winter, i am thinking this may be a providential find, so i don't want to squander it.

Any advice is appreciated, i have the round, plastic Nesco dehydrators and always wanted a big one like this, but never would spend $200+ on one, so i will be so excited to be able to use this free one :yeah

Wish i could be of more help but, I do know that the Excalibur (the one i have) is a GREAT dehydrator.. For beef jerky and fruit and even yogurt bites and strips.. :D If that's the same kindof style i bet it's a real find. The way they explain on their websites for the Excalibur is the way it's designed to evenly cook the food... Check out a site with some good information i found when i bought mine, maybe it will help a bit with your model of dehydrator?? https://commerce.hacres.com/product.aspx?id=580HA&uofm=EACH - i have the 9 tray for a large family and the 5 trays work great for a smaller family or maybe just a couple. :)

[Third Day]

Are the trays made with nylon mesh? It sounds like one I bought from a lady along time ago. Mine did not have much power and did not dry things very fast.

For cleaning the trays you can just run them through the dishwasher, but if you are worried about any germs hanging around it should be fine to spray both sides of each tray with a water bottle with a little bit of bleach in it. That is what I would do, then rinse them well with plain water, and THEN run them through the hottest cycle of the dishwasher.

Hope yours is more powerful than mine was. :)

[icebear]

i killed it :faint

i have no dishwasher, so i soaked the trays in a mild bleach solution in the sink, and wiped the unit down inside and out with a damp bleachy cloth. i let it dry, reassembled it and placed the probe of my digital thermometer inside - so i could gauge its temperature levels, put it on "medium" setting...

about an hour later it reached about 115F and just stopped.

that was that. no wire burning smell, no weird sounds. it just stopped like the plug had been pulled.
i messed with the switch, unplugged, plugged it back in... opened up the back where the motor and fan unit is and saw nothing obvious, not even dusty or dirty looking. :idunno i let it cool overnight to see if it was maybe a thermostat setting that shuts it off at a certain temp, but i got nothing...

:sob

i was so excited, i was thinking sun-dried tomatoes and vac-pack veggie mixes, fruit leathers and dried apple chips. :pout

It might be fixable if i can get my hubby or dad to see if the fan motor is dead (which should be replacable) or if the thremostat/switch/relay thingie is dead or just has some corrosion- which should be cleanable or replaceable also. If it can be fixed for under $40, it should be worth it. At the very least, i will keep the trays... i found cardboard box dehydrator instructions i could play with....


But ack.... i was so thrilled when i turned it on the first time and it worked. I'm almost depressed about it breaking.... But i still have my Nesco- but what a pain to clean those horrid trays. Thats the part i detest the most. Round is a bad shape for trying to soak in my sink and a very awkward shape for lying out meat slices.... and everything sticks to those things!

Oh, well.... :heh i will figure something out!