food preservation: dehydration

http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-American-FD-75PR-700-Watt-Dehydrator/dp/B000FFVJ3C/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-7245592-9713418?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1182622695&sr=1-1

Over the years I have preserved garden produce a number of ways, and I much prefer dehydration for most vegetables. They taste better. They store compactly. They don't require a lot of paraphernalia for processing, and they taste better than frozen or canned come January. The key to success though is rapid processing and safe storage.

I found with a homemade sun dryer the peaches molded before they were dry.

Earlier, I had a large capacity food dryer that would process bushels at a time.
Now as a single person, I don't want to switch to frozen food (which is not reliable in my area due to electrical outages), and canning is too much trouble for a single person and a lot of nutrients are lost in processing, anyway. So i began looking for a practical way to dry celery, onions, and mushrooms for soup. Tomatoes and peppers. Squash and pumpkin. And, dried okra is one of my favorites, just for a crunchy snack. Pears and peaches. Black berry fruit leather to break into my yogurt. MMMM. This is what I will have on my shelf for winter eating.

And, I have nearly decided that the dehydrator in the link above,as the one I need to suit my needs.