HEEEEEELP!!! I just purchased a new Excalibur Economy 9 drawer dehydrator to dry my Royal Icing on cookies. (Julia's 15-20 minute method) The temperature control says 105 (now the lowest setting on an Excaliber), but the actual air temperature is closer to 125 (according to the oven thermometer I placed inside to see if it was working properly). I looked at their online literature and they say that the air temp actually is designed to run 20 degrees hotter than the stated temp but the surface of the food will be 20 degrees cooler than than the air temp. So supposedly the icing temp will be 105 even though the air temp will be 125. So is this going to be too hot to dry RI? ARGH!
FrostFlower Sugar Arts posted:HEEEEEELP!!! I just purchased a new Excalibur Economy 9 drawer dehydrator to dry my Royal Icing on cookies. (Julia's 15-20 minute method) The temperature control says 105 (now the lowest setting on an Excaliber), but the actual air temperature is closer to 125 (according to the oven thermometer I placed inside to see if it was working properly). I looked at their online literature and they say that the air temp actually is designed to run 20 degrees hotter than the stated temp but the surface of the food will be 20 degrees cooler than than the air temp. So supposedly the icing temp will be 105 even though the air temp will be 125. So is this going to be too hot to dry RI? ARGH!
No, I now have that same Excalibur, and I use it at the lowest setting and it is fine, though I still watch everything for reasons elaborated upon above. You can also run the thing with the door off, and that will cool it down if needed.
Thank you for answering so quickly, Julia. Whew. Do you avoid the center racks (rack 4 & 5) to set the icing? Or do all areas work well on it?
I love your artistry and creativity. I have been a member of your stencil club for a while and they are gorgeous, as is everything you do. This site is a wonderful resource for learning. Thank you.
FrostFlower Sugar Arts posted:Thank you for answering so quickly, Julia. Whew. Do you avoid the center racks (rack 4 & 5) to set the icing? Or do all areas work well on it?
I love your artistry and creativity. I have been a member of your stencil club for a while and they are gorgeous, as is everything you do. This site is a wonderful resource for learning. Thank you.
Thanks for the kind words. The fan is in the back of the dehydrator, so it seems to hit all racks fairly evenly. Though hot air rises, so I tend to position things to the middle to lower part of the dehydrator, just in case. I rarely mass produce cookies, so I rarely have it fully filled at any one time except when teaching classes. In class, cookies have done fine on the top racks too, but I primarily use the dehydrator for quick-setting the outer surface of small cookies. I don't put very big cookies in there (the icing on them tends to wrinkle for some reason) or leave anything in much longer than 15-20 minutes.