@Doc Mark & @snwcmpr Thanks both of you for the info from regular dehydrators. Invaluable advice as always. Ken, I have done the oven drying with excess tomatoes in the oven very successfully and put into olive oil. I was thinking of going that step further rather than putting the 'In Use' sign on the oven door for several days in the autumn. After a bit of a search in the UK we have these. https://www.ukjuicers.com One of a couple of suppliers but seem to have a good range, probably few manufacturers in a niche market. Sent the info to Trevor as well rather than follow up here, but as Mark himself has freely expanded on dehydrators thought I would give a bit of an update. Looks like the choice depends on needs really, if you want quantity and have room then the larger shelving systems, intermittent seasonal low use then middle range stackable with options to expand looks like the way to go. If you're not about much get it with the timer Mark/Ken,does that sound about right for the way to go?
I cannot say how the larger tray setup is. I have only dreamed of them. My current stackable trays setup is still working. It has the flat tray without holes to make the 'leather', it has the added inserts to make the holes smaller, and I have the added trays (I think 7). All are easily washed in the sink. (I do not have a dishwasher machine) Every time I look at the box with trays at the store, I say.... "I'm gonna get me one of them!"
Ta for the welcome, as a kid I grew up with meths - the purple meths as we have it here because the winos used to drink it with soda and a wood by product. meths was just used to prime the primus stoves/tilley lamps and leak all over our food on expeditions or power model steam engines years ago on the US survival forums when pop can stoves and zombie hunting first started appearing the talk was on what they called denatured alcohol and while it is indeed clear white meths you can usually only get it from the chemist here as denatured alcohol which is what I purchased for an extortionate amount when I investigated whether it was any different. it was in the sense of it was twice the price but it did burn slightly better. bioethanol/methanol is different to a lot of commercial methanol that is made with the magic of chemistry out of all sorts of things. a lot of 'chemical' methanol has found its way into biofuels fraudulently. My missus is HMRC. I agree surgical spirit isn't the best but it does heat things up when there is nothing else and in the UK its often easier to find than meths as chemists are easier to find than diy shops. at one point I could get isopryl alcohol free from work which was pretty good too.
@boknasild aspen 4 isn't that cheap from what I've been reading and I doubt I'd use it in the lawnmower either nor am I that near to a stockist, the closest I can probably get to is to use a hexane based fast panel wipe which does come in at around £14 a 5l can
@Doc Mark Hi Mark. Thank you for taking the time to give good advice on food dehydrators. My few square feet of land in the UK does not give me space for a large dehydrator, but I will certainly look at the smaller ones. @crazydave789 Meths in the UK no longer has to contain the purple dye, though I have not seen it without that colour. For quite some time now I have been using ethanol which burns well and burns clean. Some people use methanol, but it has severe health dangers. For 'petrol' stoves I have successfully used panel wipe. It used to be cheap but now is usually more expensive - £14 to £16. However, Aspen 4 which is the best equivalent to Coleman Fuel is also approximately the same price as panel wipe and so I use that.
I have some meths that has gone white when I stored it in different bottles after splitting down a 5l can so they might have changed the dye, we were always told the meths made you blind and the dye gave you hepatitis - it sounded scarier than going blind. prior to my insulating it I could dehydrate stuff in my conservatory on a regular basis.
The most commonly available alcohol fuel where I live is labelled “denatured” and is 50-50 methanol-ethanol. It burns very clean in a Trangia leaving no soot. The big box stores also sell “green” fuel, 95% ethanol. I have not yet tried it in my Punker or Turm to see if there is any improvement over the 50-50. I did see an improvement in using it in an Optimus 5 with regulated 209 burner.
@crazydave789 medical research has shown that the methanol in meths will attack the central nervous system and cause permanent blindness. The dye was there to warn you that it is methylated spirit and shouldn't be imbibed. Then they started adding bitrex or similar / emetics to stop the winos who were either immune to the methanol or passed caring. Now that stuff really does work. I learnt the hard way that you should always rinse out your trangia kettle if you have hiked anywhere with the burner pre-filled with meths. The tiniest of leaks contaminates the kettle and therefore your brew if you don't. Besides preventing corrosion between different metals, the bag the burner comes in should be kept and used to contain any small spillage. Regards John
Having. had a bit of a surf I suspect the rise in popularity of 'real' fires' that use bio-ethanol has become responsible for a bit of a price hike. http://www.contemporaryelements.co.uk/bioethanol-fuel If you want it in quantities below regular market rate then it's going to be spotting short term sales and stocking up, a la Wilko's BBQ lighting fluid end of season bargains, paraffin at 50p a litre. Sure it was announced here but B & M had a sale of Barrentine meths at similar prices. Eurocarparts have recently had slow panelwipe on offer also worth watching out for. But as @redspeedster has said, compared with an evening bar bill it isn't really an issue in the long run. SWMBO has decided she likes Gin, I'll say no more.
@Simes I know fast wipe is often hexane or similar I slow wipe methanol based or water based - I assumed it was water based going by the term slow.
Think this might help. http://www.theminiforum.co.uk/forum...ng-a-panel-fast-panel-wipe-v-slow-panel-wipe/ No details on individual composition as I haven't checked, Both currently retailing at £27 for 5ltr can in Eurocarparts. Other members have details I believe on the differences. ETA Probably got fast and slow mixed up., Fast should be the stuff to go for, Slow to be avoided. Senior moment there unless someone comes to my rescue.
tetrosyl fast wipe is 15 inc postage from a place in london at the moment, as usual the price seems to be based on what people will pay as it seems to be half the price when you look around which makes you wonder what the wholesale prices are. I know people use fast wipe in petrol stoves, but was always told it makes trangia type stoves explode - never tried it though so cannot debunk it and erred on the side of caution. it would make sense though if slow wipe is methanol and the water based was a seperate catagory. I've got a tin of something in the garage thats a degreaser, my big tin of thinners decided to leak.
From the Good places to buy Fuel pinned thread. https://www.globalfinish.com/panel-wipe-degreaser-5ltr.html Which if I 'm honest is where most of this conversation should go. 'Fuels and where to get it from' comes to mind as a title. Can also include all the home brew recipes that are hidden in rather strange places.
@Simes, @snwcmpr , @shagratork , Simes, you are most definitely on the right path, and those dehydrators available in the UK look like they should work, perfectly, for your needs. To you, and Trevor, quantity and convenience in making quantity, are the only reasons to get a large unit, with pull out shelves. Since we began with that, and unless something changes, we have no use for the smaller dehydrators. But, for someone who is just starting out, and had no room for storing a large unit, nor the packed meals that such kits produce, a smaller dehydrator will work just fine, and in fact, the gas oven will get you started, if you can't afford a dehydrator at all!! SB and I began our dehydrating adventures in that exact manner, in fact! It works well, however, it does require the dedication of your oven for a good, long bit, and for us, that just didn't work. Sweet Bride loves to cook and bake, and thus we began our hunt for an actual dehydrator. As an associated necessity, you might give thought to getting a vacuum-packing device, to seal and preserve the meals you will be creating in your dehydrator. SB and I bought something called a "Food Saver", which sucks out the air from your packages, and seals the end of the bag. That unit works a treat, and though ours cost more coin, back in the day, they have gotten quite inexpensive, these days. Having such a unit can help your dehydrated meals last for years, and for those who wish to created back-up stores, via the dehydrator, this is a very, very worthwhile investment. Even though ours was more expensive, long ago, we dried and sealed over 6 months of meals, all packed in boxes, for our PCT trip, and that, alone, help the unit pay for itself very quickly. I will guarantee one thing for sure, and I'm sure that Ken will very probably agree with me: Once you get a dehydrator, and learn to create your own dehydrated meals with it, you will only go back to freeze-dried foods in a dire, and I do mean DIRE, emergency, or when you're out of stock of your own fare, and have a quick trip coming up!!!! Though freeze-dried meals are far better than they were 25 years ago, home dehydrated meals will still be a much better, far more delicious, and most certainly more nutritious way to go!!! If I've left something out, or you have other questions, please don't hesitate to ask, and I'll do my best to share our experiences in this, with you. Good luck on your quest for better stored fare, either for backpacking, camping, hiking, or just for emergencies!!! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
@Doc Mark Brilliant advice and we're on the right track, the loss of the oven for lengthy periods would have tested SWMBO patience, and lack of bread baking isn't worth the trouble. Bonus addition in your reply was the vacuum sealing kit info. Food Saver gear here is v expensive although there are other systems on the market. Looking forward to new toys after Santa breaks in this year. (no chimney until the kitchen rebuild)
most vacuum packing kit is expensive here and we can't get the oxygen absorbing stabiliser sachets you can, nor is dry ice readily available in the same way so bucket storing is off the menu as well for most folks. the UK is very much ready meal orientated yet there are useful things to be had, I reuse pop top cooking sauce jars to store food I've canned or jams I've made. very handy for when you stumble over an unwanted supply of apples for a winters supply of apple crumble. if we have an overstock of bananas I slice and dry them for porridge while the oven is cooling after sunday dinner, not crunchy like plantain chips but chewy like a raisin. I tend to dry the surplus stuff she buys too much of that will stew up nicely and it looks good in the kilner type jars. some things you can dry on the radiator like mushrooms and you don't have to dry stuff in one go so you can cook in between drying or with a double oven dry in the top while cooking below. some things it's actually better to defrost then dehydrate as frozen veg is cheaper and also blanched. for camp meals drying sandwich chicken slices or ham works better than drying left over sunday roast. drying can take as little as an hour right up to an all day affair. you can also dry in an airing cupboard, as a kid I used to dry apple and pear slices that way - hygiene what's that then
@Simes , You are most welcome, Sir, and I'm happy the info was helpful. In truth, we need to get back to having a full 6-month supply of dried meals. But, life takes over, and work takes over, and well, we keep putting it off, and only doing things as we need them. Again, good luck on your dehydrating adventure, and when you've experimented a bit, please post your results here at CCS!! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
