Optimum P200 Dehydrator Review

This is a optimum P200 dehydrator review post, I hope you enjoy having a read whether you are in the market for a dehydrator or not!

I’ve owned a dehydrator for a number of years now. I originally bought a cheapie from eBay which, until I was asked by Froothie to trial and review the Optimum P200 Dehydrator, was the only one I’d ever used. Dehydrating is something I tend to go through patches of being really into it and other times when I forget to get the dehydrator out and use it! I tend to use it when I’m really cutting down on sugar as I like to have jerky to snack on to ward off the sugar cravings. I much prefer to make my own jerky these days because often the pre-bought has additives or gluten or some other flavouring that doesn’t agree with me. When I am  on a dehydrating roll I do tend to do fruit too (a bit more dangerous in the sugar stakes) and my kids quite like the dried fruit too so at least you know there are no preservatives.

Why dehydrate?

• Traditionally dehydrating is a form of preserving food. I’ve found it helpful when having an excess of fruit to dehydrate it so it doesn’t go to waste.
• Make your own dried snacks without artificial flavours or preservatives.
• To know what’s in your food.
• It’s cheaper than buying the store-bought alternatives.

What to dehydrate?

My favourite thing to dehydrate is jerky – beef or chicken. I know chicken jerky sounds a bit strange but it’s actually really tasty.

Beef jerky:

• I’ve found the simplest and most reliable way is to buy stir fry strips as the hard work of cutting it into the right sized pieces is done for you.
• Simply toss through salt & pepper or your favourite herb & spice mix then stick in the dehydrator on the highest setting (68degC) for 6-8 hours.
• You can also add food grade essential oils to your mix eg black pepper, lemongrass, cardamon, fennel, thyme or rosemary
• You do need to check the jerky every now and again as I find each batch seems to take a slightly different amount of time depending on the thickness of the strips, how much is in the machine etc.
• Store in a air-tight container in the fridge – although it will keep out of the fridge too and is suitable for lunchboxes.

Chicken Jerky:

• Again if I can, I’ll buy stir fry strips or if not, I buy tenderlions and chop each tenderloin into about 3 long strips.
• Season as per beef. My personal favourite is salt with about 3-4 drops of fennel doTERRA essential oil.
• You do need to check the jerky every now and again as I find each batch seems to take a slightly different amount of time depending on the thickness of the strips, how much is in the machine etc.
• Store in a air-tight container in the fridge – although it will keep out of the fridge too and is suitable for lunchboxes.

Seed Crackers

I have always wanted to make seed crackers. My cheapie dehydrator
is circular with a donut hole, so it’s not suitable for rolled out things like crackers or fruit straps. I had tried making seed crackers once before in the oven on a low temp but they went mouldy – I guess they were too moist. I was hesitant to try again, but given I had the large trays to roll them out on and a tried & true recipe from a friend, I had another bash. PERFECT! They took about 12-13 hours but were crispy, delicious.

 

Fruit 

Fruit is perfect to dehydrate and probably what most of us think about when we thing about dried food.  For harder fruit it’s much easier and consistent to use a mandolin on the thick setting to cut it into slices. For softer fruit, just do your best!

There are a lot more things you can dehydrate than this list, but these are things I have personal used in this machine and can therefore recommend:

• pineapple – probably my favourite. So yummy. I found cutting the rounds in half made the process faster and the end result a more manageable size to each. So sweet and tangy.
• avocado – sounds and looks a bit gross and not sure I’ll do it again but it worked much better than I thought given how much fat an avocado has – I just sprinkled with salt and it  tasted surprisingly good.
• apple
• pear
• banana
• mango – both frozen cubes and fresh
• blueberries
• ginger
• kaffir lime leaves
• seed crackers
• kiwi fruit
• orange
• mulberries

 

Optimum P200 Dehydrator – 6 drawer

I was asked to trial the Optimum P200 dehydrator from Froothie and write a review. I’ve had it for about 12 months now. I’ve made lots of different dried foods and it’s re-ignited my love of dehydrating. Prior to this trial I have owned a cheap circular dehydrator that I bought a number of years ago. I’ve used that quite a bit – to the point that the trays are breaking (don’t think they are BPA free like this one). It’s been handy and a great intro into dehydrating but with the cheapie, you can’t roll out things like crackers/fruit straps as the trays are donut shaped.

During the trial period I have made everything listed above and enjoyed trying the crackers which as I said before I hadn’t made successfully before.

Here are the features of the Optimum P200 Dehydrator according to the Froothie website:

Here are the general specs:

And some facts about it:

For more details and comparisons please see the Froothie Website

During the trial I have kept the dehydrator in our ‘workshop’ room where I can shut the door to it and there is room for it on a shelf. It is a large and somewhat noisy machine, but this is what I have done with my cheapie anyway, so that’s not a big deal for me. The fans in these things run non-stop whilst it’s going so it’s going to be noisy regardless. I loved the fact that it had a timer so if I didn’t remember it was going that it turned itself off. You do have to remember to check it though in case it needs a little longer!

Pros of the Optimum P200 Dehydrator

• Large – the trays are large and so fit a lot of food, good for batch drying.
• BPA free trays. No chemicals leaching into my food. That’s a great thing!
• Dishwasher friendly trays – very handy as they are a hassle to clean otherwise.
• Mats and small mesh trays included – this is perfect for making the crackers and the small mesh good for things like blueberries and strawberries slices which  can fall through the holes in the regular trays.
• 40 hour timer.
• Simple to use.

Cons of the Optimum P200 Dehydrator

• Noisy – I have hidden it away in another room as it is noisy, but my cheapie one was noisy too.
• Large – it doesn’t take up a reasonable amount of kitchen real-estate!
• More expensive than the cheaper versions.
• Uses a fair amount of power – so it’s best to run it with every tray full
• Panel interface is a bit clumsy but super easy once you know how it works.

General Tips

Hot air rises, so put your ‘thickest’ or moistest things on the top shelves and rotate the shelves around for things that need a long time. My husband is an electronics engineer and has access to all sort of testing equipment at his business. He bought home a heat monitoring sensor to see how accurate the settings were. We didn’t really record it scientifically but the temperatures on the top shelves where always higher than those at the bottom!

Check your food regularly, it is possible, particularly with the jerky to overcook it and it becomes very brittle, still edible but not as great a texture.

Take advantage of bulk buys at your fruit & veg store. I do this particularly with bananas and strawberries.

Should I buy the Optimum P200 Dehydrator?

This dehydrator is perfect for those who:

• love to dehydrate food and need a large machine
• have enough space to store it
• want to dehydrate in large batches (for really large batches it does come in a 10 drawer option too)
• want BPA/dishwasher safe drawers
• are raw foodies
• are wanting to upgrade from a cheapie dehydrator (like me!)
• know they are going to get into dehydrating and like to buy quality from the outset.

The Optimum P200 Dehydrator is available to purchase on the Froothie website via this affiliate link.