[Marcella]

“Dehydrating is a nice method, too. /johnny says dehydrated foods don’t keep well. We use vacuum bags and a nine-tray Excalibur, and it’s been satisfactory so far.”

I'm reading on that and I'm going to do it. A woman in Lake Jackson has done it since the 1980s there and explained how she does it, seals the dehydrated food in vacuum bags in the absence of oxygen. Lake Jackson sits almost in the gulf water so it's very humid there, much more so than where I am.

I will get the Nesco square one and that's the one the Lake Jackson woman has. You have the more expensive Excalibur. Ah, you rich people. :o)

[antidisestablishment]

The Excaliber pays for itself pretty quickly. Nine trays means there’s still jerky left after taste-testing the first batch. ;)

[Silentgypsy]

Ha! We save up until we can purchase the stuff the real experts (in this case it was JustaDumbBlonde) recommend. We relocated in 2008 and just finished the wraparound deck. Pay-as-you-go works for us. Nothing happens quickly or easily. Prioritization is key. BTW, am building my own rocket stove as soon as the garden slows down.