Excaliber Dehydrators and Pressure canning

[gadgetguy]

Afternoon all i am looking at buying a 9 tray Excaliber dehydrator and was wondering if anyone had any experience of them? There are two i am looking at and one has a "26hr" timer which i'm not sure if i need?

I am also seriously thinking of starting to "can" food as well but i cant seem to find any pressure cookers suitable here in the UK.

Can anyone offer some advice please. I am happy to do some tutorials once i get the hang of things.

[Plymtom]

I have that one, not used it much but the timer is handy if you get sidetracked, you could over do it you see

[preppingsu]

This is on my wish list.
Having researched it lots, it has great reviews and I couldn't find anything bad about them.

Canning tends to be an American thing. We call it bottling. Look on YouTube for Rosesandtea. She has some videos about bottling.

[gadgetguy]

Thank you for the tips I will do some more research

[jean405]

There is a pressure canner that is big enough to can in that can be bought in the UK, it's called Hawkins Big Boy, there is an 18l and a 21l version.

A canner is useful if you want to can meat/fish, everything else I put in the dehydrator.

Jean

EDIT: Here is a link to Amazon.co.uk where you can order pressure canners from the US, the shipping is not that expensive!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ALL-AMERICAN-Qu ... m_sbs_kh_2

[Maddie_cat]

I bought a MASSIVE pan to do my bottling - and when I say massive, it is 24" in diameter and 18" high. If I use it, I have to have all four of my gas rings on. Really useful and wasn't expensive.


Will be interested though in people's thoughts on the Excalibur. I bought a dehydrator from QVC for about £32. I didn't want to spend out £200 on a dehydrator and never use it. since then, I have used it so much, I have melted one of the trays!!! The idea of doing fruit leathers really appeals.

[Plymtom]

In all honesty I researched it online and a couple of years ago it was the best option, there are still going to be You/tube videos out there and I beleive there are now credible alternatives which do a simular if not exactly the same job, the only question is will it last longer/ easier to clean etc, as I said I haven't used mine all that much but it does what it says it does and very well too.

It isn't just a quality issue though is it? the 9 tray is a huge peice of kit to find space for ( having said that the smaller one isn't much better) but if the idea of doing fruit leathers really appeals as it did to me too ( though I still have to try it we got one of those vitamix machines which any special offer fruit has been gobbled up by) then with the liners doubtless it is the best option.

[gadgetguy]

jean thanks for that link

[tigs]

did anyone see wartime farm the other week the womens gild used a home canning machine to seal food into tin cans then they boiled the cans , anyone know where if you can get new cans and lids , the machines are quite easy to get hold of ( if you import them!!) http://www.houseofcans.com/open_top_can_sealers.html

[MedicHerbalist]

I want to pressure can/bottle a wide range of foods. I need to buy a pressure canner. Nothing else is safe for meat and low acid vegetables. The problem is that they are quite expensive. As I would not be using it all the time it makes sense to share one with people in my area. Is there anyone in the Nottingham area that would like to time-share a pressure canner? I guess one canner could easily serve the needs of at least 4 preppers. Anyone interested?