11 Odd But Practical Uses For An EziDri Food Dehydrator

Sure, they make great fruit roll-ups and excellent dehydrated mushrooms and beef jerky, but what else can you use your EziDri food dehydrator for?

BE CREATIVE! Or pay heed to the old adage that necessity is the mother of invention. The best way to get your money’s worth out of any kitchen appliance is to actually use it! Read on for other useful ways you can put your EziDri food dehydrator to work.

1. DRYING PASTA: If you make your own pasta, you’ll know that if it has any moisture in it before storage, it will go mildewy fairly quickly. You can dry it efficiently and quickly in your EziDri dehydrator. Dry for 2 to 4 hours on a medium setting and store in airtight containers. Remember, you can make the most wonderful pasta dough by hand, or even with a breadmaking machine, and instead of using water as the moisture content, use vegetable juices such as carrot, spinach or capsicum. Or, add homemade vegetable powders to create flavour and interest. Use the spaghetti or fettuccine extrusion nozzles on the Samson 6-In-1 or the Oscar Vitalmax Juicer … how easy is that?

2. COOKED PASTA: You can actually dry cooked pasta in your EziDri dehydrator and break it into bite size chunks before storing in airtight containers. When you need it, simply rehydrate in a bowl of boiling water and it takes just 2 to 3 minutes. Excellent for when you have leftover meals and you want to stretch them a little further without a lot of extra effort. Or, take with you on camping and hiking trips. Great carbs, no complicated preparation!

3. FRESHENING UP CRACKERS: Don’t waste money on crackers, biscuits, chips or even cereal that has passed its freshest state. If you find they’re a little stale, recrisp them by laying them out in a single layer on the EziDri drying trays and turn on for about an hour on medium.

4. HUMIDIFIER: If you find the air in your home is quite dry, particularly during the cooler months, you can actually use your EziDri dehydrator to humidify it back to a more comfortable condition. Position a few containers of water in the trays of your EziDri and turn on to high. As the water evaporates, the air will become more moist.

5. AIR FRESHENER: You’ll notice when using your EziDri dehydrator that the air fills with the aromas of whatever you are drying. Well did you know that you can deliberately use your EziDri to perfume the atmosphere in your home? Simply by placing aromatic fruits or botanicals in the dehydrator, you can create a beautiful perfume, without any of the chemicals used in commercial air fresheners. Try citrus, lavender or a variety of herbs.

6. AROMATHERAPY: Yes, it’s even an aromatherapy diffuser! Lay a few non-toxic branches or aromatic plants on the trays of your EziDri dehydrator and turn on to medium. Old bread moistened with water will help to diffuse the scent of vanilla essence. Lavender, rosemary and rose petals are all delightful.

7. BREADCRUMBS: Whenever you have bread that doesn’t get eaten, it’s a shame to throw it out. Dry it in your EziDri food dehydrator and once it’s crisp, either crush it manually or give it a quick whiz in your food processor. While you’re at it, you can add herbs or citrus peel that you may have dried before, or vegetable powders to add extra flavour. Flavoured breadcrumbs are perfect for chicken, fish fillets or veal cutlets, and great for stuffing recipes.

8. POT POURRI: Tailor make your own pot pourri combinations to suit your tastes and the materials you have on hand. The EziDri food dehydrator is the best tool for the job as it dries all the elements perfectly yet still allows them to retain their beautiful perfumes. Try various flower petals, fruit peels, pine needles, herbs, grasses, woods and spices.

9. FIRE STARTERS: Turn citrus peels into the best - and most aromatic - fire starters you’ve ever used. Citrus doesn’t break down on compost heaps because of its antibacterial properties and in fact, it inhibits the break down of the other matter. When you peel citrus fruits, simply cut the skins into strips and dry to a crisp. When you light them, the oils will flare up and burn for a decent length of time. With no water content, they’ll burn beautifully.

10. PET TREATS: Don’t overlook your pooch or kitty-cat. Pigs’ trotters and snouts and other meats are very welcome treats when dehydrated; pets love them!

11. FLAVOURED VEGETABLE POWDERS: Coarsely chop vegetable, spread over mesh sheet and dehydrate until the vegetable is dried to a crisp. Then pulverise and store in airtight containers. Imagine what you can do with these! Try carrots, entire heads of celery, garlic, onion, red or green peppers and more. Add the powders to soups, salad dressings, bread dough, your favourite beef jerky marinade or whatever else your imagination conjures.

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A dehumidifier is a very important device for those homeowners with a damp basement. Dampness can lead to mold, mildew, and increased incidence of all

A dehumidifier is a very important device for those homeowners with a damp basement. Dampness can lead to mold, mildew, and increased incidence of allergies.

Unfortunately, a dehumidifier can be a real pain in the backside because you have to keep emptying the water storage bucket. Simply getting it in and out of the machine can be difficult. Getting the bucket to the sink without spilling its contents can sometimes require the balancing abilities of a juggler.

A better method is to add a drain hose to the dehumidifier so the water drains by itself. This eliminates the dreaded trek to dispose of the water.

Drain connection ----------

Firstly, make sure your dehumidifier has a threaded drain connection. This is a threaded nozzle at the rear of the machine that empties into the water bucket.

Remove the water storage bucket. You should see a threaded nipple connection. A few models have a connection on the water bucket itself. Either allows a drain hose (or a piece of a lawn hose) to be attached to the rear of the machine.

Once a hose is attached the water drains into the hose. The hose can then be directed away from the dehumidifier into a floor drain.

Above the sink method ----------

Not every home has a floor drain. Therefore, some consumers install the dehumidifier above a sink to allow for easy draining. This does require the installation of a wall bracket or shelf higher than the sink. The water produced by the dehumidifier is then simply allowed to drain directly into the sink or laundry room standpipe.

The above the sink method works but limits their usage to one area. Also regular maintenance, such as cleaning the filter, becomes difficult. Simply leaving the dehumidifier on the floor is more convenient. Plus it allows you to quickly move it to others rooms, if required.

Drain hose method ----------

A better method is to take advantage of the threaded drain connection at the rear of your dehumidifier. With a lawn hose added for draining, the distance between dehumidifier and drain becomes virtually unlimited.

Remember water will always flow downhill. Therefore if the drain point is lower than the drain connection on the dehumidifier, the water will run down the hose.

Throughout this article the term ‘floor drain’ is used. If you have no floor drain then an alternate can be used. Consider a shower stall drain, a toilet, a sink, a sump hole, or a standpipe for a washing machine. Although a floor drain is easiest, any of the other drains work equally well. The fact that they are higher above the floor level simply means the dehumidifier end of the drain hose will have to be raised higher to compensate.

It sounds simple enough, but the dehumidifier may be in one part of the basement and the floor drain another, with 50 feet of lawn hose between them. Finding the correct height for each end is the whole trick. You therefore have to determine their height relative to one another. This in turn will be the secret to eliminate the need to empty the machine.

The simplest way to do all this and make your dehumidifier drain automatically is the following:

1. Lay a drain (lawn) hose along the floor between a floor drain and the dehumidifier. At the floor drain end insert the hose a few inches into the drain. At the dehumidifier end locate the hose close to where the dehumidifier will be operating.

2. Lift the dehumidifier end of drain hose up until it’s approximately level with the top of the water storage bucket.

3. Pour water into the drain hose and have someone advise you if water empties into the floor drain. If ‘yes’ proceed to step number 7.

4. If water backs out of the hose without flowing into the floor drain the hose end is not yet high enough. Raise the hose a few inches and repeat the process. Continue repeating until water flows out the floor drain end of the hose. When it does make note of how high above the floor level you had to lift the hose. This height is important.

5. To further refine the proper height add more water to the end of hose while alternately raising and lowering hose. The prefect height is slightly above the point where water backs out of the hose.

6. Raise the dehumidifier so that its threaded drain connection is above the height determined in step number 4. If this requires the dehumidifier being elevated off the floor do so temporarily, using blocks or supports under the machine. A more permanent structure can be constructed later.

7. Reconnect the drain hose to the threaded drain hose connection at the rear of the dehumidifier.

8. To test, pour water into the drain trough pan at the rear of the machine. On most dehumidifiers this is a small plastic trough or pan just above where the drain hose is now connected. If your machine has a rear cover remove it to gain access to the drain trough.

Pour water into the drain trough. It should run out the floor drain end of the hose freely. If the trough overflows go back and start over at step number 3.

9. Reconnect dehumidifier to electricity. Allow it to operate for 24 hours with the drain (lawn) hose connected. If it appears to be operating properly, proceed to final step.

10. Construct a permanent stand to hold dehumidifier. Run the drain hose along baseboards and secure. Secure drain end of hose into drain.

Your dehumidifier drain is now fully automatic. Every time the dehumidifier cycles off the accumulated moisture will run into the drain trough, down the drain hose, across to the floor drain, and down the drain. No more having to empty cumbersome water storage buckets.

Lastly, you should make note on a calendar to clean or replace the dehumidifier filter every month. This, along with some occasional maintenance, will keep your dehumidifier working efficiently far into the future.

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