HOW TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN VERTICAL-FLOW DEHYDRATOR VS. HORIZONTAL-FLOW DEHYDRATOR

Dehydrator has become a popular appliance in household. Fact, this is a helpful device that creates nutritious snacks and preserves foods for very long time. Thanks to the release of dehydrator, now we don’t have to consume canning foods or freezing foods anymore. In the vast market of dehydrator, there are only two common types of dehydrator: vertical-flow dehydrator and horizontal-flow dehydrator. In this article, we will describe these two types of dehydrators, aims to provide information about 2 different system and help you to distinguish them just by looking them.

WHAT’S “VERTICAL-FLOW” AND “HORIZONTAL-FLOW” ?

First of all, words “vertical-flow” and “horizontal-flow” describe how drying system in the appliance works. “Vertical-flow” means the air-flow (come from fan) will move from bottom to top or vice versa. Meanwhile, the “horizontal-flow” system only makes air flows from back to front. In general, these notions describes which direction air flows in a food dehydrator.

DO DIFFERENT DRYING SYSTEMS CREATE EFFICIENCY DIFFERENTLY ?

The answers is yes. Each method creates different effect. It also means drying foods from a vertical-flow dehydrator and horizontal-flow dehydrator, somehow, will have different quality. For example, 2 appliances dry vegetables or fruits at the same time, same amount, but drying vegetables from vertical-flow one will looks greater meanwhile which from horizontal-flow unit will be over-dried. Why? Let’s see the answers below.

HOW DIFFERENT THEY ARE ?

For vertical-flow dehydrators, the fan is usually mounted at the bottom of the unit. Sometime you will find it at the top but it’s really rare. Air-flow will move from bottom to the top and then go back to the bottom. However, air will be less hot by time. In another words, if the fan is mounted at the bottom, the first tray (from bottom) receives lots of hot air, but the second, the third trays will receive less hot air flow than the first tray. As the result, not all trays in vertical-flow will receive even heat. That’s why vertical-flow type is suitable for dry vegetables and fruits such as peaches, apple, herbs, something doesn’t need to dry too much or easily to dry. Moreover, if you want foods dry evenly, remember to rotate all these trays occasionally.

In another hand, in horizontal-flow dehydrators, the fan is always mounted at the back of the unit. The air flows from back to the front. This design makes air flow evenly from the first to the last trays, get through every tray with the same temperature. And because of that, you don’t need to stop the appliance for switch trays to different direction. As the result, foods in every trays will have the same quality. The system provides too much heat in order to ensure distribute heat evenly. Lots of heat will help foods not just evenly but quicker. However, that’s also the reason why when using this type of dehydrator, customer should not mix vegetables with things like meat or jerky to dry. Usually, this type is recommended for drying meats, fish, and jerky and for busy person, who need a machine which can runs quickly.

HOW CAN WE DISTINGUISH IT BY A LOOK ?

Different method system also means different design. You can easily distinguish it by looking and don’t need to read instructions. First, vertical-flow dehydrator usually has a “vertical usage”. It’s mean that you have to place tray over tray in a vertical direction. In another hand, there are many vertical-flow dehydrator use circular design so that customers can rotate trays, in order to make foods dry more even. Because the fan is usually place at the bottom, so the control button is placed at the bottom too. Meanwhile, the horizontal-flow dehydrators are usually quite big. Companies like to design their product like a big box. Trays are put in and out like the way we do with the oven. And like the way they design the vertical-flow dehydrators, the control button is placed at the top, back of the unit. The horizontal-flow usually looks bigger and more expensive than vertical-flow dehydrators.

CONCLUSION

At the end, each type has its own pro and cons. So depends on your need, your budget, even on how large is your kitchen counter, you will choose the right food dehydrators for you. We hope that this article is helpful. To get more information or instruction, please search for more articles on our website!