Excalibur Dehydrator 4500 / 4900 Questions & Answers

A few options but you do need to shop around for the best buy. 1. from the Excalibur website- they stock the widest range of models as far as I can tell- external link  2.Ebay Australia-some good bargains there across a range of models.

3.Health food shops, Doubt if they are sold at all health food shops however I did a quick on line search and have found distributors at a number of health food shops in Oz such as :- Zesty by Nature, Echo Life, Hello Green, Vitality 4 Life, Vitality Plus, sprout net,The Raw Food Store and Natures Wonderland etc and etc.

4. I didn't check the address details of the listed distributors so no idea if any have outlets in Melbourne. Most likely you will need to consider postage so figure it into your costs when comparing.

I haven't yet seen them in the major retail stores and doubt very much if you will find them there.

I bought mine on ebay. It was a great bargain with free shipping and arrived in a blink.

Hi Ken I also purchased mine on line. I think via ebay also. It was several years ago now so have forgotten. I had to wait a bit as the supplier was out of stock - they are ex USA. Worth the wait though.I just finished drying a crop of native peppercorns from my trees. I have the 5 drawer model which is adequate for me.It will handle about 3 kgs of sliced apple or 4 small pineapple sliced.

Hi Ken, Zesty By Nature is Australia's Sole Distributor for Excalibur Dehydrators. We have online resellers all over Australia with very few who are able to stock our products. This means that you will have to purchase online and your order will be drop shipped from our Queensland warehouse.

We do not recommend mixing meat with fruit and veg. There is no problem with mixing fruit and veg together but just not meat for general food safety reasons. All Excalibur models dehydrate all fruit, veg and meats very well!

I imagine they are the same size trays so should be able to interchange.........

You would have to buy the trays separately

The Y-man

Hello! I think that some health food stores sell them but I bought mine online (eBay) - I got a very good price and postage was included, plus it arrived very quickly. I recommend going for the 9 tray as it is not any wider - just higher so you can fit more into it and once you take the trays out it is higher for those one off things that you need height for.

I don't know about the steel trays being interchangable, you might want to check directly with external link 

I looked at the steel trays but found the plastic ones more functional for my use (and I use it for just about everything from raising bread to crafting and drying out anything). It cleans out like a dream and the trays are very light and don't get hot to touch.

There are some excellent web sources and U-Tube videos comparing the excallibur to various other dehydrators, including the BioChef. You might want to search for them and have a look.

Stainless steel trays are interchangeable but you have to purchase them as an accessory as the poly carbonate trays come standard. If you feel you do not need a timer, there is also a no timer 5 tray model (4500) with a $30 price difference, depending who you purchase your machine through.

There are very few stores around Australia that stock the Excalibur. You will have to buy online with your location.

The number of trays. The 49xx has 9 trays, 45xx has 5 trays (i.e. half the capacity). I find the bigger the better, as by the time you cut up fruits and veges, they take up quite a lot of room.

As a guide, 1 tray will fit 2~3 sliced apples depending on the thickness

You can set to a higher temperature and run for longer to get some crispiness, depending on what you are drying. Most store bought "crispy" chips are actually dried and then fried. I had concerns about the plastic trays so bougth the D902SHD with steel mesh trays.

Veggie chips are crisp. You can choose how long you want them in for, or how high you set it (or a combination of these). I think people who follow the "living food" diet use very low temp but for much longer periods.

There are loads of vegie crisps and cracker recipes on the net. You can also re-crisp things easily by popping them into the dehydrator for a bit.

I found that the plastic trays are fine for me. Easy to clean too. Don't forget to buy the drying sheets for leathers, tiny bits of food or wet foods.

The model will depend on how large your family is, or how much you want to dehydrate. I recommend the largest. I use mine to dry out fondant/sugarpaste decorations and the 5 tray fills up quickly.

ps great from bread making and to activate your yeast :-)

It's a 600W unit, so the current draw would be say a third or quarter of a hand held hair dryer running at high.

YES!!!!!!!!

Put it on the lowest setting, directly on the mesh. You want airflow--- not heat or you will crack your fondant. Depending on your oven you can also put them in there with just the light and fan on.

When you go to store fondant make sure that you store it in an airtight container with either oxygen absorbers or food safe moisture sachets. Keep your creations in a dry place (ie not the fridge).

I store mine in egg cartons inside a great big cupcake carrier. I throw in moisture sachets.