Food Dehydration is the removal of the water process from a material. In the past, people sun-dried foods to preserve them.
Today, food can be dried in large commercial food dehydrators to produce high-quality products.
A commercial dehydrator is a dehydrator that is used for commercial purposes by companies that sell food products of different kinds.
These commercial food dehydrators are recognized as a boon for food package industries all across the world.
These food dehydrators are an essential part of packing industries. For that reason, only packaged food packets preserved for a longer time.
Top 5 Commercial Dehydrator
Commercial dehydrators are worth an investment!
Dehydrating food items provide a lot of benefits like health and cooking.
Moreover, food that is dried is compact and can be stored in containers easily, and also adds flavour to many food items.
A commercial dehydrator can be a fantastic investment even for the average family who intend to sell dried goods at fairs or carnivals.
It’s not just food than can be dried in them either; flowers can be dried for art, and clay can be dried for jewellery and ornaments if you are artistically inclined.
There are many ways to make money from dehydrated goods, and that’s not to mention the money you save from buying dried foods from the health food store too.
How to Choose the Best Commercial Dehydrators?
Presently there are several different types of suppliers available who are offering different types of food dehydrators of different sizes, shapes, and for different purposes as well. If you are planning to buy one, then you must do proper research before getting one.
A commercial food dehydrator requires some source of external energy to operate. Commercial food dehydrators usually work on the solar or electrical power supply.
The basic parts of dehydrators used for commercial purposes include fans, heating elements, air vents that allow circulation of air throughout the chamber, and finally, food trays where the food is placed for dehydration.
The fans, heating elements, and air vents function simultaneously to extract the water content in the food. The heating element brings about the warming of the food to expel moisture from inside. The fans function in removing the warm moisture contained air, throwing it outside the dehydrator through the air vents.
Most of the commercial dehydrators have a fan attached to it underneath or in the sides, which blows hot air on to the food items to dry them. The hot air thus blown helps the water to evaporate from the food items gradually.
There are many other commercial dehydrators that dry food using convection heat. Such dehydrators use electricity and do not make any noise. But, they take twice the time to dry food items compared to the other.
While choosing dehydrators, you should decide on what kind of items you are going to preserve.
If you are planning to preserve meat along with other food items, then you may require one with thermostat adjustment.
If you are working and can’t wait to switch off the dehydrator, then choose one which has automatic timer options. You can set the timer, and accordingly, it will get switched off automatically. By using a timer, you can also rest assured that your food is not over dried or over burnt.
Size
There are many food dehydrators in different sizes available in the market. If you have a large vegetable or fruit garden and have plans to preserve food in large quantities, then try to invest in a big Commercial Dehydrator.
Heat and Air Flow
The most important thing that should be kept in mind when buying a Commercial Dehydrator is the even heat and airflow. It would be frustrating to find out that the products we are drying in a dehydrator are not evenly dried. This can happen only if the heat and airflow don’t spread evenly. The products that are closer to heat and airflow dry fast, and the ones that don’t take more time.
If you choose the stackable tray model, the heat and airflow spread evenly, basically due to the nature of the design. The shelves in this model slide out like an oven, and so the heater and the fan are situated at the back of the model, which spreads heat and airflow horizontally and equally to all the trays.
If you choose the shelf tray model, especially the ones that are available in the regular department stores, then you may have problems with the even heating and airflow.
These dehydrators have their heat and air source at the bottom of the unit, and so the food items that are at the bottom, get their maximum share and dry fast, and the ones at the top take a lot of time comparatively.
There are more quality commercial stackable dehydrators available, which spread heat and air evenly. However, these are much expensive, comparatively.
Materials And Quality
When you are buying a commercial dehydrator, you want it to last, as you are making a big investment.
Check for multiple year warranties. Products that have multiple-year warranties are good, quality products.
Mostly, all products are made of FDA approved food-grade material. If you are concerned about plastics as they may cause fumes, go for the all stainless steel model.