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Excalibur Food Dehydrator
December 8, 2008
Before I discovered raw food and began my raw food journey, I didn’t owned or used a dehydrator, but that quickly changed. Now, I proudly own, use, and adore my Excalibur.
Dehydrating is one of the techniques raw foodists use to create raw food recipes and preserve foods. It has opened up a whole new raw food world and helps me expand on the enjoyment of exploring the endless possibilities of creating and making raw food recipes.
The Excalibur is at the top-of-the-line among food dehydrators, and well worth the investment. If you are considering purchasing a dehydrator, here are some reasons why I highly recommend an Excalibur.
8 Great Reasons To Own An Excalibur
You will save money – food drying is a one-time cost and you can enjoy consuming out-of-season produce throughout the year without spending a fortune.
You create a food supply – when you have a surplus of fresh foods, dehydrating allows you to preserve it for later use.
You help protect our environment – preserving your own food contributes to the health of our environment. One example of this is by helping to reduce the need for packaging.
You know your food is safe - you will be sure the end results are organic, pesticide and chemical free.
Culinary variety - dehydrating foods creates a ranges of textural interest and flavors that add excitement to your raw food experience. You will have fun making dried snacks and nutritious meals.
Excalibur is a Green company - they are an eco-conscious company and it reflects in their product.
Satisfaction guaranteed - each Excalibur dehydrator comes with a 3-year limited warranty. Excalibur also offers a 10-year extended warranty and a 30-day home trial. Learn more here.
Reliability - when you purchase an Excalibur dehydrator you are purchasing a high-quality product backed by the integrity of a company that has been in business and going strong for 33 years.
Explore Excalibur’s website to learn more and gain valuable insight about it’s product, the company, and the process of dehydrating.
Giving the gift of good quality food is always greatly appreciated and well received. Crank up the dehydrate from 110 to 118 degrees, respectively, for us raw foodists, and make a healthy holiday gift of homemade dried fruits, crackers, or cookies.
Speaking of gift giving, the wonderful people at Excalibur contributed one (1) Deluxe 3500 5-Tray Dehydrator to support our effort to help support your efforts at staying healthy. I am beyond pleased to offer this model Excalibur dehydrator to one of my readers, and extremely grateful to the folks at Excalibur for the opportunity. Thank you!!!
I’d love to hear your thoughts to this question, and when you answer you are automatically entered into the draw for this popular dehydrator!
How has using a dehydrator helped you achieve a healthy diet?
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Oh wow, this is the giveaway I’ve been waiting for! The deydrator is something that I’ve wanted ever since I discovered the raw lifestyle. I know it would help me immensely especially since I’m just getting started. Unfortunately, I can’t answer your question because I’ve never used or owned a dehydrator before. It’s on my Christmas wishlist though!
Transitioning to raw, living foods has helped me immensely in achieving a healthy diet. It’s been five months now since I began replacing my staple of fast, processed foods with fresh, whole fruits and veggies. I’ve managed to shed 70 pounds and picked up some culinary skills along the way. Owning a dehydrator would sure open up a whole new realm of raw food possibilities for me.
I haven’t used a(n actual) dehydrator but have been looking into getting one. While I am interested in raw foods I (confession!) do not eat a primarily raw diet. I am striving to eat more whole foods, particuarly fruits and vegetables. A dehydrator would open up a lot of raw options, but I would primarily be interested in increasing the amount of fruits & veggies I eat in the form of healthy dried snacks!
Wow - I’ve always wanted an Excalibur. I have a standard one-temp model, but I love what i can do with it. I’ve dried plenty of fruits and vegetables for great snacks, and I’ve made some wonderful crackers. I really want to try making full meals and dishes, and this Excalibur would be perfect.
Being new to raw foods and currently transitioning, I can say that I have yet to use a dehydrator. But everytime, I see a raw foods recipe I dream about making/trying or read about someone using it for multiple purposes (i.e. drying, respectively warming, making chips or patties) this item would be a welcome addition in my kitchen.
I have been raw and vegan for about three months. I recently moved in with my boyfriend and his 8 year old son. They were both so impressed when they saw me after we were separated for one month that they are both trying more raw foods! I was hoping that they would at least accept me eating this way and not make it too hard for me but they have both expressed interest in going raw! It’s like a dream come true.
I have a dehydrator and they love the entrees, crackers and treats that I make. My dehydrator is an old Ronco 5 tray, the kind with the round trays and I have to line them with wax paper or foil and it’s such a waste.
If I had this dehydrator, I could make them even better foods, faster and with more consistent results ensuring the health and happiness of my family for years to come.
Thanks very much for offering this and I for considering my family and I as the winner
Peace and be well
JJ
this is a wonderful giveaway. my mom had one and they are perfect for everyone alike. the kids can even eat healthy without feeling cheated of their processed sugars.
Welcome Rachel - The Excalibur is indeed for everyone. It’s also great for making treats for our beloved pets.
I love my Excalibur. I have the 9 tray model. It’s great for warming dishes in the winter, concentrating flavors, and of course, making treats.
Using a dehydrator has showed me that minimal heating and preparation go a long way. Steaming, roasting, or pan frying vegetables until they’re no longer recognizable is not necessary! Dehydrators allow me to enjoy the texture of cooked food without costing me the nutrients of the food itself. They are a lifesaver.
OMG I am coveting one of these so hard! I have never used a dehydrator before, but so many of my raw cookbooks use them and I would love to own one.
I don’t have one personally, but a friend dehydrated kale for me for my birthday and dehydrated vegetables make it much easier to eat well when I’m traveling and don’t have the gadgets to wash, chop, make smoothies, etc.
My dehydrator has enabled me to dry baskets of tomatoes in summer. I store the sundried tomatoes in the fridge, and on cold winter evenings I whir up a delicious marinara sauce. This helps me to stay raw eating nourishing, warm food in the cold NY winters!
Ingrid! Great post pimping the Excalibur!! I have a nine tray and there is no doubt that it has transformed my raw food journey in the most delicious and creative ways.
For the past three years I have been making Holiday Spice Grawnola for friends and family for Christmas presents. I already have people asking if they are going to be getting their granola package soon ;-)
If I were to win this dehydrator, I would gift it to a woman in my local meetup group who is so passionate about the raw food diet, but is unable to afford the financial commitment.
xoxo….Penni
A ‘D’ (as I’ve come to affectionately call it), has been instrumental in my being able to stay raw, especially during the Canadian winter. After a few years of eating a very simple mostly raw diet, I must admit I was getting a little bored. I couldn’t get over (and still can’t! lol) all the different dishes and textures you can achieve with the help of a dehydrator. Some dehydrated staples around my house include: onion bread, pizza, burgers, veggie wraps and cookies. Don’t see how I could do without it now…
My raw food teacher used it a lot to make my favorite, raw pancakes!!! It’s also great for chips and doing pie crusts.
I’ve had a dehydrator for 7 years and don’t think I would be able to stay with this lifestyle without one. Ive found that having crackers, breads, cookies, and pizza crusts, among other things, have helped when I want something substantial - and making big batches at a time work great for time crunches. I can pull these goodies out of the freezer, whip up a salad and some spreads and I have a completely satisfying meal.
This is definitely one I’ve been waiting for too. I, unfortunately, have never owned a dehydrator. The closest I’ve come is borrowing one from my mom, which I soon realized was broken after a bunch of food rotted in it.
Bummer…
I bake thinly sliced apple all the time to dehydrate them, I would love something like this to make it easier.
A dehydrator would be the ultimate tool for my raw kitchen. With children and not much time to spare it would allow me to prepare healthy snacks ahead of time and I would be finally be able to try many delicious recipes that require dehydrating!
Using a dehydrator has helped me tremendously in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I’ve created many delicious, healthy treats and meals with my dehydrator and have been able to satisfy any cravings for cooked foods. It’s been especially helpful during the winter and cooler months to keep me on track. And having a dehydrator allows me to experiment and try out many different recipes, which keeps the raw lifestyle fun and exciting. My Excalibur was recently destroyed in a moving accident and I really miss it!
Many thanks!
I have a round white dehydrator, which I do not love, but I am very grateful for it. My fellow Mocha Mom, Monique Davis, artmama of 6 kids, never used it.
She put a post on our yahoogroup, and I scooped it up first! With my current dehydrator, I have made awesome “crab” cakes, delish “chicken” fingers, crepes, mini-eggplant pizzas, flax breads, and “meat”balls. Those meatballs didn’t come out too great, but still, not all recipes are perfect the first time around!
Oh, and I dried sprouted buckwheat to create Buckwheaties! Mixed with apples and bananas, those were quite tasty.
Even though I can only use the top part of it, the dehydrator has expanded, for me, what is possible with raw food.
If I want something warm, I can put it in the dehydrator. It also gives things, like the “crab” cakes, a soft texture
that mimics cooked food. I love to create raw food recipes, and my dehyrator expands my repertoire.
I’m grateful Monique didn’t need her dehydrator, and that I’ve been able to put some miles on it. :-)
A five-tray dehydrator would truly bring my vision of full size-pizzas and cookies for my family
into physical manifestation.
And I’m not sure if this is kosher or not, but my eyes nearly popped out of my head when I read this email.
An Excalibur dehydrator is what I REALLY want for Christmas. I wrote about it on my blog on November 12:
http://therawmochaangel.blogspot.com/2008/11/gift-of-good-health.html
Thanks much for reading!
Althea
I would be lost without my dehydrator! I agree with all your reasons for owning one, but I would have to say “culinary variety” is my top reason. I love getting creative in the kitchen, as a raw foodist, these endeavors would be so limited without a dehydrator. It’s such an essential tool for making breads, cakes, cookies, granolas, and even for warming a dish once in a while. My favorite use at the moment is for making raw breads - the sandwich is back in my life!
A dehydrator is one of the most exciting thoughts I have for raw food in my future. I even designed my cabin’s storge room around one. Not that I have one, but someday. For me, being on an island, a dehydrator is going to be imperative if I want to keep food costs down and nutrients up. And to keep food and nutrient diversity. I cannot even begin to imagine how much better I’ll be eating with one of these. I’ve never researched dehydrators, so I really appreciate hearing yet another positive post about the Excalibur. I almost didn’t enter this giveaway…it just seems too good to be true. Can you imagine how much poverty and malnutrition could be prevented if more people were taught about and had access to a food dehydration? The thought astounds…
i would love to answer that question but alas, i cannot as i’ve yet to have one! i have drooled over thousands of raw recipes with dehydrated goodies both savory and sweet, longed to make new and exciting dishes full of dehydrated goodness.
but i would say this, having a dehydrator would afford me so many endless opportunities for achieving a healthy diet as it would allow for all sorts of new and fun things to be made and for me to satisfy my chip and bread tooth with raw goodness instead of bad bad doughnuts ;)
Hello again, Ingrid,
IThe “d” as Carmella so affectionately calls it, allows me to make “real” foods that even the non-rawbies in my life can appreciate, especially when I can create awesome lasagna, and pasta, unstir fry, tacos, and burgers. My husband also really loves the Yummy Apple Cobbler and grawnola the “d” allows me to make for him.
I don’t yet own a dehydrator, but I have been salivating over the raw items I can make with one for a long time now! Raw ‘breads’, wrappers, and desserts (of course) are some of the items I can’t wait to make.
I can’t say how it’s helped me as I don’t currently own one. How it will help me is a question I can answer. I’m in the process of trying to go raw. Switching my family over will be the biggest challenge. A dehydrator will be able to help me bring an abundance of great recipes to my family that will help make the switch as seamless as possible.
Thanks!!
Congratulations to Althea of The Raw Mocha Angel, she won an Excalibur Deluxe 5-Tray Dehydrator!!! Thank you all for your participation in this draw. Happy Holidays!!!
This would be a dream come true. Trying hard to switch my girls on a raw food ONLY diet. I am do OK so far with what I have to work with. Having a dehydrator would only enhance the variety of foods I would be able to make for tham. I have a four year old daughter on the Autisum Spectrum that has benefited greatly from doing most of her food Raw. Getting back to a more non toxic organic lifestyle helps these children Greatly!
2009 Thank you for offering this gift! I have been looking for a dehydrator at all the 2nd hand stores. I’m new to Raw Foods but did get a Juiceman Jr. for $7 to get me going with juicing until we can get a nicer one.
Thank you for selecting me! (Smiles)
Attitude of gratude.
Happy Holidays! & Thanks for all you do!
Michelle
[…] are 8 reason [and more] why it’s great Think of all the yummy food you can create Make cookies and crepes, […]
If it weren’t for the dehydrator, I would have a very difficult time staying raw. Before going raw, I always wanted HOT food. Even when I worked outside, sometimes in temps nearing 100 degrees, I still often wanted a hot lunch. I’m not sure why. (Did do some reading about Ayurveda, and the dosha that appeared dominant in me is supposed to have a very difficult time with cold and/or damp.) If I did not have a dehydrator to easily warm foods in; either for initial prep or rewarming out of the fridge, I definitely would have a difficult time. I don’t have an Excalibur. I had to settle for a lesser model due to lack of funds. I would be thrilled to get the Excalibur, and either sell my other one on Ebay, or use as backup. Thanks for giving me the opportunity.
Dehydrating helped me in the past to be able to create on-the-go snacks and crackers to fill the void when your stomach is ready to eat but you have little to no time to make something! :)
Ahhh…
I would LOVE to have a 5 tray dehydrator. It seems like it would be the perfect size…not too big…not too small…juuuuuuuuuuuuuust right for making a quick batch of crackers, cookies, spiced up veggies, fruit leather for our children, or even being able to warm up a bowl of soup. Now that would be totally helpful!!!
There’s a little corner in our kitchen that’s definitely Excalibur worthy… What a special gift that would be :) Thank you!!!
I make raw and vegan treats for myself and friends. I particularly use it for burgers, pizza, and “rawsages”.