A food dehydrator is a machine used for dehydrating the food inside the house in order to preserve them and make them usable for long .It consists of a source of heat and trays which are specially designed to dry the food. The simple fundamental used to dry the food is to use hot air circulating from a heat source through the vents for circulating the air.
Basic types of Food dehydrators:
Horizontal drying system: It consists of a heating element and fans located on the sides. The heating element heats the cool air drawn in the back and then fan distributes it evenly across each tray. Trays may be removed to make space for larger items. Thermostats are used to control the temperature and make the drying effective.
Vertical drying system: Here the heating element is located at the base and thus the heat goes up and dehydrates the food. Not all the dehydrators of this type have fans or thermostats .Some vertical dehydrators need to have rotation system while others quality models do not require rotation and have good air flow inside. But this type of system has a big disadvantage over the horizontal system. The food at the upper layers get longer time to heat and as the distance from the upper layer increases the time to heat gets increased.
Besides, there are other classification like
Box type juicer or stackable juicer having stacks
Source of heat Electric or solar
Fans -With or without fans.
Considerations when you go to buy a Food Dehydrators;
1.The capacity of the dehydrator is the most important consideration.
2.Lightweight dehydrator is always desirable.
3.Fan or convention- Those depending on fans dry food faster than those which rely on convention. But in convention the possibility of catching dirt is not there when compared with fan equipped dehydrators.
4.Source of heat- One major consideration is the source of heat which should be stable. The sources can be electricity or solar energy.
5.Design is always an important consideration which can never be overlooked.
