Nesco Food Dehydrator
The Nesco food dehydrator is one of the coolest appliances on the market. Not only does it dehydrate healthy fare like fruits and veggies, preserving them for months, it can make tasty meat jerky, dry herbs and even preserve flowers.
It is versatile, dries items quickly and is a must have appliance if you are an outdoorsman, on a raw food diet, have children or what a great way to preserve fresh food.
There are currently 10 different models of the dehydrator on the market. From the small Jerky Express model that is used for quickly making meat jerky to the Gardenmaster Digital Pro Dehydrator, This company has a dehydrator for every purpose and use.
Uses Of The Nesco Food Dehydrator
Speaking of uses, this machine can be used for many reasons including obvious reasons like making jerky from a variety of meats.
It can also be used for drying out fruits to make healthy snacks for you and your children and preserving vegetables from the garden, making them last through the winter.
Try to grow your own herbs at home, dry them out in your Nesco dehydrator and use them to spice and flavor your own meals.
Additionally you can dry out flowers for flower arranging, which can be a very fun and economical craft in itself.
How Does It Work?
The Nesco food dehydrator is made of four basic parts: the base tray, expandable drying trays, a lid and a blower assembly. Food like fruit, veggies, meats, even breads and homemade dog treats are placed on the trays in raw form.
The lid is placed on the trays and the blower assembly is put into place. When turned on, the blower sends hot, dry air through the dehydrator.
The air that goes through the Nesco food dehydrator structure is considered low temperature and is 140 degrees F. The lower temperature allows food to dry, but it will not cook the food like a higher temperature may.
In addition to using the temperature to dry fruits and veggies, air is continuously circling the trays further drying it. The quick air flow makes the Nesco system one of the better dehydrators on the market as the quicker the air flows through the machine, the better it dries the produce.
You can find machines that blow air both vertically and horizontally. Depending on what you are primarily using it for, some drying methods are better than others.
Benefits Of Drying Food
There are several benefits of drying food in the Nesco machine. One benefit of the dehydrating system is it has the ability to save you a lot of money since you are making things yourself. Dry herbs, jerky and spices are all expensive.
Drying your own herbs and spices is very economical. You can even grow them in a window herb garden at home.
Another benefit of the dehydrator is you can take advantage of supermarket specials. Since you can make your food last a lot longer, it will make sense to pick up items on sale and drying them to preserve for future use.
A third reason to dry the things you eat is that you can make tasty, healthy treats for you and your family. Dehydrated fruits, for instance, can make a very sweet and natural treat your kids will love.
A fourth reason you should dry food is you can take advantage of your green thumb skills by extending the life of your garden by preserving your bountiful harvest. Dried vegetables can last for weeks or months, not days as they do when freshly picked.
