Aluminium Foil in dehydrator

[mountnman]

I plan to use my dehydrator for the first time today, making up some butter chicken. I'm a bit concerned about it falling through the holes in the trays, and have heard it's possible to use aluminium foil on the trays.

I am wondering if this would have any impact on if this would have any impact on the circulaton of air and the drying process, and also if it could possibly overheat the dehydrator.

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Strider]

Use baking paper over the mesh trays if you don't have solid trays.

[Tortoise]

Anything on a solid tray / baking paper takes longer because of the lack of circulation through it, but it's certainly the way to go for saucy things.
I turn everything over/ break any clumps up when it's partly dry to make it quicker.

You didn't ask this, but if just starting out it might help. The smaller the bits of chicken (or whatever), the quicker it dehydrates & rehydrates. I only use minced whatever now. And I think it's worth minimising the fat content - it doesn't dry or keep so well.

Have fun

[mountnman]

I have read to only use mince in the lowest fat cut possible. If I don't currently have baking paper, will alfoil suffice for today?

[anne3]

I have used glad wrap when dehydrating mince based meals, once it has dried enough I pull the wrap out and finish it off.

[Strider]

I would be worried the food might stick to the alfoil and it would be difficult to remove it that did happen. Shops open at 12:30pm today...

[Tortoise]

haven't done it myself, but somebody has:

http://www.ehow.com/how_8300135_use-foi ... rator.html

[Orion]

Sticking would be my concern as well. How would you remove stuck food? I have the solid plastic inserts that seem very slippery but stuff still sticks to them. I dehydrated something really oily recently and still had to scrape parts of it off afterwards.

You do of course suffer reduced airflow but with something drippy it's unavoidable. If you want to speed things up you can turn the food after a while or even transfer it to a screen after it is partially dried.

[ULWalkingPhil]

Use baking paper instead of alfoil. No more sticking

[Orion]

Use baking paper instead of alfoil. No more sticking

That sounds promising. But what type of baking paper for something with a lot of liquid?

[mountnman]

I ended up trying alfoil as all the shops here were closed for the whole day yesterday. Had no sticking at all.

I must mention that my butter chicken wasn't as saucy as I had thought, so perhaps that may have helped, but I shall buy some baking paper today anyway for future trials.

[Tortoise]

That sounds promising. But what type of baking paper for something with a lot of liquid?

i don't try drying anything with a lot of liquid - that'd just add unnecessary drying time apart from anything else. If it's a meal, i boil off any liquid first, to keep all the flavour. Fruit leathers etc have to be pretty thick, not runny. Did you have something particular in mind?

[ULWalkingPhil]

Use baking paper instead of alfoil. No more sticking

That sounds promising. But what type of baking paper for something with a lot of liquid?

I just purchase any baking paper I see at Woolies. Never had any issues. I just completed a batch of rice. No major sticking. I made up a sauce base with the rice consisting of Pasta Sauce and added peas, brocoli, beans and top mince.

[MartyGwynne]

HI I would be hesitant to use foil as I reckon it would stick like the devil (but glad to hear you had no problems using foil).
If things a a bit runny I dry it in the oven on a flat tray (fan forced electric) at a low heat (about 50 -60 C) this works quite well and I have dried things right out before and not even transferred to the drier.
I do use the baking paper in the oven and also have sheet of silicon which you can put on a BBQ plate etc to cook with (it is very thin and re-usable).
As someone said smaller sized food pieces and near to no oil or fats will give the best results.

[Orion]

That sounds promising. But what type of baking paper for something with a lot of liquid?

i don't try drying anything with a lot of liquid - that'd just add unnecessary drying time apart from anything else. If it's a meal, i boil off any liquid first, to keep all the flavour. Fruit leathers etc have to be pretty thick, not runny. Did you have something particular in mind?

Indian food and Thai curries (from retort pouches), tomato sauce, soup, that sort of thing. I could reduce it over the stove first but then I'd have to stand there stirring and there is still risk of scorching. Odds are it would still be too drippy to put on a mesh screen. Transfering from pot to dehydrater results in some loss. And finally, I'd rather just put it in the dehydrator and walk away than spend time stirring a pot. I don't mind if takes a few extra hours to do its thing.

I'll have to try baking paper next time.