Crofton Dehydrator is on Sale at Aldi!

I was poking around my blog and noticed a post I did last year on the Crofton Food Dehydrator got 308 hits this week. This week?! Why the heck would anyone care about this particular post? Because Aldi must have it on sale this week!

I checked Aldi and sure enough, it is on sale this week for $19.99. Here is my original blog post.
Crofton Food Dehydrator Makes Great Snacks for Cheap!

This dehydrator is a "good" cheap dehydrator. I will say it never occurred to me so many people would be interested a year later...I should have updated my post. This dehydrator is good for short time spans. I did melt the trays by leaving it on too long(overnight); it got too hot and the plastic is not as strong or heat resistant like other dehydrators.

I still think it is a good dehydrator, just be aware it is 20 bucks so you are getting what you pay for.

What I liked the MOST about it was the clear trays so you could see the food dehydrate. Also, because the trays and top are clear, you can dehydrate outside without electricity. In Texas we are entering into the 100 plus days on a consistent basis...perfect for dehydrating!

After I melted the trays I almost gave up, not wanting to waste more money on a project I wasn't sure I was going to keep up. I looked up several different dehydrators and finally settled on an inexpensive model I found at Bed Bath and Beyond. I got the Nesco basic model and ordered extra trays and screens through Amazon. You can get the Nesco at Bed Bath and Beyond or at Amazon. (Probably other places too, I didn't do a very lengthy search.)

Nesco Dehydrator

This dehydrator is a little more expensive but it also is more durable, has varying heat settings and the way the air flows through the trays, rotating the trays isn't necessary. This means you can turn it on and leave it! 

I have dehydrated all kinds of things; kale, apples, okra, chard, spinach, squash, zucchini, carrots, basil, cilantro, parsley, jalepenos and bananas. I even made flax chips and fruit leathers (roll ups). I love it! I dehydrate all the time now! 

I still think the Crofton dehydrator is a great starter model to see if you are even interested in the process, just keep an eye on it so you don't melt the trays. Happy dehydrating! 

Crofton Food Dehydrator makes great snacks for cheap!

UPDATE: Please read my updated blog post on the Crofton Food Dehydrator. Click here.

New Dehydrator!

I'm always up for a good deal, often I will buy something just because it IS a good deal, not because I need it. Case in point, Aldi, a discount grocery store, had a Crofton Food Dehydrator on sale for $20. My sister-in-law has an Excalibur Dehydrator and loves it but I remember it being quite expensive. Twenty bucks seems more in my price range.

I searched online for this brand of dehydrator with little luck. I found one forum where someone was interested in purchasing this same dehydrator but no one seemed to have much information on it. I took a chance and bought it anyway.

I bought apples and strawberries to dehydrate first.

Apples from Aldi

I peeled some of the apples and left some with the skin on to see which I liked better. Peeling was obviously more hassle but I think it produces a better product. I also don't own one of those cool apple cores so I just cut out the centers...again, quite time consuming. (I'll buy a corer and a huller now that I now how to dehydrate.)

After I cut the apples, I soaked them in a lemon juice and water mixture to help keep them from browning. I'm not sure this was necessary, I read several sites and some said to do this, some said not to.

Apples soaking in lemon juice

After I soaked the apples I placed them in the dehydrator and moved onto the strawberries. I cut up the strawberries, long and then in circles, again, to see what I liked. I think the circles work better.

I soaked the strawberries, drained them then added  spoon full of sugar and mixed. Then I placed them on a tray.

I stacked the trays back on the base and plugged it in. There is no on or off switch on this dehydrator, it is a pretty basic model. One of the many downsides to a cheap version. Another was the short cord...it only is about a foot long which means I have to set in on the counter and basically leave it there.

Strawberries soaking in lemon juice

After I had them all on the base, I adjusted the top vent thing to #2 per the instructions. I also read I needed to rotate and turn the trays every few hours. To make this easier, I marked each tray with a sharpie in four spots, basically at noon, 3:00, 6:00 and 9:00.  At noon I wrote the tray number on each tray.(see top picture) At the other stops I put hash marks, first one, then two, then tree to help me line up the trays and know where I was in the rotation and turning.

I wrote down on a piece of paper when I rotated and turned the trays; the instructions said to do this every few hours.

Single hash mark, one turn of trays

The apples and strawberries were both in about 12 hours. That is a little longer than the instructions said for strawberries but at midnight I decided I needed to go to bed. I put the strawberries on top, farthest away from the heating element, and opened up the vent to 4 to let out the most heat and went to bed.

I woke up today to dehydrated strawberries and apples!


I took the trays off the dehydrator base and set them aside. I have a raised cooling rack and I put the trays on top of the rack to help cool the trays from the top and the bottom.

The strawberries were a little stuck to the tray so I carefully peeled them up. Some of the strawberries were thick and still moist so I put the dried ones on a tray with the apples and put the other moist ones back in the dehydrator.

Strawberries and apples cooling

Apple trays cooling

After they cooled I put the pieces in plastic containers to "condition" the fruit so the moisture was more evenly distributed throughout. I read on a site to condition the fruit for 7 - 10 days by sealing the containers to help distribute the remaining moisture. 

Fruit being "conditioned"

Wholla! Dehydrated fruit! A healthy snack I made myself! I can't wait to dig in.