Vitality 4 Life uses cookies to provide and improve our services, if you continue browsing, we consider that you accept its use. For more information, please see our privacy page.
Which food dehydrator should I buy?
22,April,2021
What are food dehydrators?
Food dehydrators are a great way to reduce your cost of food, increase your nutritional intake and speed up your cooking.
In the past our ancestors relied on the sun to dry out food, but these days it is a process where moisture is removed from foods by circulating air at a very low temperature in an oven-like device including two main designs: stacked shelves and pull out shelves.
In this article we will cover the benefits of using food dehydration plus some great tips on deciding the best machine for your home or business, all backed by Vitality 4 Life’s 30 day return policy, 24/7 customer support and extended warranties.
What are the main benefits of dehydrating food?
There are many benefits to dehydrating your food and getting a food hydrator machine.
Increases your fibre intake
Studies have shown that food dehydration helps to increase the fibre intake of fruits and vegetables. Fibre is an essential nutrient for gut health, digestion and overall wellbeing and many people do not get enough daily fibre according to Australian and American departments of health.
It is recommended you consume at least 25 - 30 grams of fibre per day. One example of fibre increasing in a fruit dehydrator is apricots. When apricots are dehydrated fresh apricots have 3.1 grams of fibre while dried apricots contain 6.5 grams of fibre.
Increased energy and absorption
Food dehydrators can help with concentrating calories in your snacks, providing a longer, sustained energy release for your body.
This is helpful for people who go outdoors on long walks, hikes or camping for example, where sugars are important for long periods of activity without the access to refrigeration.
Increased nutritional content
It has also been shown that food dryer machines increase the nutritional content of food. For example, in fresh apricots there are 0.6 milligrams of iron, whereas in dehydrated apricots it's 2.35 milligrams.
Not only that, but the shelf life of dehydrated foods can be over a year when stored correctly while still maintaining high nutritional content. This preservation also gives you the ability to eat foods that are not in season, adding variety to your overall nutrition all year round.
Just take care to keep your food in portion control as the increase in sugar and smaller size with dehydrated foods make them super yummy and easy to eat!
Decreases the risk of food poisoning
Most foods need water for bacteria to form. This is why you start to notice fresh foods (even when your fridge) eventually grow mould and bacteria. This can lead to food waste, an increase in your weekly grocery bill plus risk of food poisoning from off food.
What are the different types of food dehydrators?
At Vitality4life we have a range of high quality commercial food dehydrators plus home food dehydrators.
For our commercial, state of the art food dehydration machines, click here. These are perfect for your catering or food business and range from 10 trays up to 32 trays.
Our Biochef Food Dehydrator range is the premium standard of home dehydration ovens for you to start enjoying the benefits for your health and wellbeing with confidence.
If you are wanting a simple, easy to use, modern machine for dehydrating fruit, meat, nuts and vegetables, then here are our top picks for you in 2021, plus what you may like to consider when purchasing the right one for your home.
If you have a larger family with children then dehydrated snacks are an excellent way to keep nutrition up and food costs down for your whole family.
Kids (and adults) love tasty treats like dehydrated fruit rolls, nut and date bars, yogurt and dehydrated kiwi fruit and crunchy vegetable chips, just to name a few yummy items!
There are 11 premium Biochef food dryer machines to choose from:
The Biochef Tanami 6 Tray Dehydrator
From kale chips to beef jerky, now healthy snacks can be made easily with a fuss free digital display and timer. Featuring 6 stainless steel trays - with BPA free plastic inside and out you can be assured your treats do not come into contact with any BPA nasties not to mention being easy to clean and durable. Transparent door for easy monitoring of the dehydration process.
This is a great food dehydration machine to start with if you have never purchased one before!
The Biochef Arizona 6 Tray Food Dehydrator
The BioChef Arizona Sol 6 Tray Food Dehydrator is our most compact dehydrator, perfect for small spaces or small batch dehydrating.
The Arizona Sol Dehydrator is the best value-for-money dehydrator on the market, featuring a digital timer, adjustable thermostat, removable trays, non-harming materials (stainless steel trays + inner- and outer casing made of BPA free materials), horizontal drying system and long warranty and all at an affordable price.
Start dehydrating and try it today with our 30 Day Money Back Guarantee!
The Biochef Arizona 9 Tray Food Dehydrator
The BioChef Arizona Sol is one of the only dehydrators in the same price range to utilise a horizontal drying system. Air is circulated throughout the unit in the same way as a fan forced oven, ensuring each tray (front and back) is dried evenly.
No tray rotation, no turning of produce necessary. The BioChef Arizona Sol food will dry food inside and out, meaning it is dried safely without any risk of mould or bacteria forming in unevenly dried parts of the food.
Over the years we have rigorously tested a whole range of ingredients from drying grapes to beef jerky.
We guarantee the Arizona Sol Dehydrator will evenly and consistently dry your produce every time.
Perfect if you will be doing regular food dehydration and have more people to feed!
The Biochef Savana Dehydrator 6 Trays
Create healthy, raw and preservative free snacks, treats, jerky, bread alternatives and more from living foods using the BioChef Savana Food Dehydrator.
Featuring 6 x High quality 304 stainless steel removable drying trays, dual fan technology, a two-stage sequential temperature-timer, included accessories and a 3 year warranty - the BioChef Savana Dehydrator creates delicious, precision dried foods in less time with less effort.
The BioChef Savana Dehydrator allows you to use two individual fan sets, each is made up of a 500 watt fan, heating coil and heating sensor.
This technology offers quiet operation and horizontal airflow for perfectly even drying every time!
With the option to use only one fan set at a time you can create smaller batches of your dehydrated foods with energy-saving results.
The Biochef Savana Dehydrator 9 Trays
With the advanced BioChef Savana Dehydrator you can select the Fast mode or Regular mode to suit your needs or follow the recommended drying times explained in your included instruction manual. Once these cycles are completed the Two-Stage Sequential Temperature Timer will automatically activate the Warm mode. This keeps your food in an optimum dehydrated state while preventing any moisture from entering the food once the drying process is complete.
- Fast mode : Uses both fan sets to set a default temperature of 70 °c and default drying time of 2 hours. This mode is particularly beneficial for foods with a higher water content to avoid fermentation.
- Regular mode : Uses one fan set to set a default temperature of 50 °c and default drying time of 10 hours. Allows the convenience of using less trays and less energy!
- Warm mode : The Warm mode automatically starts once either the Fast or Regular mode is complete. The unique Warm drying setting will maintain a low temperature of 35 °c until the unit is turned off.
Simply load your trays with your raw foods, set your desired drying mode and come back to high quality results, every time! This is great for getting more food done in larger batches.
The Biochef Savana Dehydrator 12 Trays
Create healthy, raw and preservative free snacks, treats, jerky, bread alternatives and more from living foods using the BioChef Savana Food Dehydrator.
Featuring 6 x High quality 304 stainless steel removable drying trays, dual fan technology, a two-stage sequential temperature-timer, included accessories and a 3 year warranty - the BioChef Savana Dehydrator creates delicious, precision dried foods in less time with less effort!
This is the perfect meat, fruit and vegetable dehydrator for doing larger batches with more variety in your recipes!
The Biochef Kalahari 8 Tray Food Dehydrator
The most durable home food dehydrator with commercial durability but a homely, sleek look.
Create healthy, raw and preservative free snacks, fruit, vegetables, jerky, yogurt, bread alternatives and more using the new stainless steel BioChef Kalahari Food Dehydrator.
Featuring 8 x High Quality 304 Food Grade Stainless Steel drying trays, 24 hour digital timer and fully encased in stainless steel, the BioChef Kalahari 8 Tray Food Dehydrator is a heavy duty food dehydrator, designed for home use.
BioChef's patented EPT™ technology promises maximum retention of nutrients and enzymes while ensuring food is dried thoroughly and consistently every time.
The heating element, fan and air vents work together to circulate air and remove moisture.
This horizontal drying system dries all trays evenly both front and back, resulting in the most consistently dried food without rotating any trays.
The BioChef Kalahari 8 Tray Stainless Steel Food Dehydrator features an adjustable thermostat with a temperature range of 35ºC – 80ºC.
This means you can set the dehydrator low and slow for maximum retention of living nutrients and enzymes, perfect for raw foodists and living food advocates.
The perfect food dehydration machine for people loving quality and efficiency while enjoying tasty, nutritious food!
The Biochef Kalahari 16 Tray Food Dehydrator
The BioChef Kalahari Food Dehydrator features an unprecedented 16 High quality 304 stainless steel removable trays for you to use at home. You can add or remove drying trays depending on how many ingredients you are drying - the trays are even dishwasher safe for added convenience!
With a stainless steel outer and inner casing and heating element and a glass door, your food never has to come in contact with any harmful, BPA leaching materials. The BioChef Kalahari 16 Tray Food Dehydrator is truly the superhero of our dehydrator range.
The BioChef Kalahari Food Dehydrator is made from strong, high quality materials and comes with a 3 year warranty - our commitment to you that your food dehydrator is built to last.
We are proud to say it is one of the best food dehydrators on the market and perfect as a gift or for anyone who loves enjoying a variety of tasty treats with an extended shelf life and maximum nutrition!
No matter what product you get, you can rest assured you will be enjoying the best dehydrator for your home and family, each backed by our extended warranties and helpful support staff.
Still have questions? Reach out now!
Vitality 4 Life is an Australian owned and operated company, with the global headquarters located in beautiful Byron Bay in Northern NSW. We are a team of dedicated individuals who are passionate about both health and the Vitality 4 Life Approved Product Range.
Owner and Company Director, Roger Akins, first discovered cold press juicers in the late 1980's and his passion for wanting to help people become healthier by accessing affordable and high quality products was the beginning of Vitality 4 Life.
All our products come with 24/7 customer support, long warranties and 30 day returns to ensure the best experience for our valued customers globally.
References :
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/197/1/012037
