I have also made a discovery.

When I turn on my electric simple oven ( just a knob), very slowly and the heater kicks in. This way it will maintain a temperature of 110 -120F. That is Perfect for dehydrating. Leaving just the inside light on, it will reach to about 90+F.
This way my peppers are almost done almost overnight.

I know a $30 dehydrator is not very expensive but i don't like the idea of collecting things and getting head ache on storing them. This way there is one less gadget to store.

Seysonn

This post was edited by seysonn on Wed, Nov 5, 14 at 5:15

Seysonn,

A dehydrator would probally save you money over using the oven if you think about it. Dehydrators run less than 1000 wats. I use 4 different models, if you want something that stores nice look at the Presto's they call it nesting, the trays flip over and fit together and take half the storage space

#stickingtodehydratorefficiency

I'm with seysonn. When the hotplate I use to pre-heat and finish-dry peppers in my homemade smoker finally burned out, I considered buying either another or a dehydrator. Then I looked at my shelf of seldom used appliances.

Electric Wok? Um , maybe.

Indoor electric grill? Perfect! Basically a hotplate with a fancy ceramic base. Problem solved. Free and free-ed up shelf space!

I think it really boils down to the qty of peppers you need to dry. Personally, the top of the refrigerator and now using the stove are plenty for me. I continue to look into dehydrators with hopes that future harvests will be bigger.... However, in that case I would prob want to bottle sauces and that would leave me with few peppers to dry... Seems like a luxury for me to invest in a dehydrator at this point in my growing of hot peppers. I do have the benefit of a very dry climate for drying. Sure I would think different if I lived in the south or a humid climate.

Thanks for the info! Much appreciated.
dj

In an old house I used to own, the oven had a pilot light. Inside the oven, the temp was always about 20 or so degrees warmer. I didn't grow peppers at the time, but looking back, I figure I could have stuck a tray of peppers in there for a day or two and probably had some nice dried out peppers without messing with any other contraptions or worrying about the electric bill. Of course, I was paying for that extra natural gas 24/7 when the oven was not in use.
Bruce