Sea Salt & Onion Almonds

What brand of dehydrator would you recommend? The Sedona or the Excalibur. My husband and I are thinking of buying one but we have to make sure which brand as they are quite expensive for us. We want to use it to dry fruits for the granola as some fruits are hard to find here and they also contain artificial preservatives. And course for other things for our start up business. Will my electricity bill shoot up by using a dehydrator? Thank you.

Thanks for the question. This question comes up a lot and it really comes down to preference. Both are great, Sedona is digital whereas Excalibur is not and they heat quite evenly and accurately.They both are very low wattage so that should not be an issue. There are commercial models of both also available if you are using it for business. Most important piece to remember when choosing any dehydrator is to make sure that the air flow is from the back of the unit for it to be consistent and even, opposed to the round units with heating/fan unit at the bottom. Both Excalibur and Sedona are great products, so really would come down to if you would prefer digital or manual. Good luck, Chad

Wondering why these are done in the dehydrator instead of the oven? Low temp to preserve nutritional content? Thanks.

A dehydrator simply allows for more temperature control and better continuity of drying as a process. If you would prefer, you can try an oven set to a low temperature. ~Ken

How long would you leave it in the oven?

Well, the short answer is ... until they are fully dry. It depends on your lowest oven temp and the actual size and hydration of the almonds. Let them go for 45 mins or so, then check.If not done, just check every every 10-20 mins. ~Ken