How do you clean your dehydrater trays?

oklahomajoe

Fire Starter

Original poster

Jul 25, 2009

68

10

Zachary, La

• Feb 17, 2010

• #1

Any time I use my dehydrator on jerky, I dread having to clean the trays afterwards. I use a wet marinade on my jerky, which then dries onto the trays. I spray with nonstick spray before use, soak in hot water after use, run through my dishwasher once, then use a toothbrush to clean all the slots in the trays, then back in the dishwasher one more time. All of the scrubbing has led to the trays starting to crack. Anybody do anything differently that could make this easier?

 

rbranstner

Smoking Guru

OTBS Member

Oct 18, 2007

5,698

39

West Fargo, ND / Northern MN

• Feb 17, 2010

• #2

Mine go right into the dishwasher but they are plastic.

 

ohiomountainman

Newbie

Apr 3, 2010

23

10

Bellville, Ohio

• Apr 4, 2010

• #3

I run mine thru the dishwasher, thats it. I've made tons os jerky with my dehydrator no probs.

 

wardy

Newbie

Sep 23, 2010

1

10

• Sep 27, 2010

• #4

I use my high pressure water cleaner when things get bad, If you spray properly before every use , the trays dont take much washing after that.

Regards

Wardy

 

meateater

Legendary Pitmaster

SMF Premier Member

Oct 17, 2009

8,983

63

Hendertucky, Nv.

• Sep 27, 2010

• #5

OklahomaJoe said:

Any time I use my dehydrator on jerky, I dread having to clean the trays afterwards. I use a wet marinade on my jerky, which then dries onto the trays. I spray with nonstick spray before use, soak in hot water after use, run through my dishwasher once, then use a toothbrush to clean all the slots in the trays, then back in the dishwasher one more time. All of the scrubbing has led to the trays starting to crack. Anybody do anything differently that could make this easier?

Click to expand...

I had one of them hard plastic jobs, lasted almost 10 years, I use to run it through the dishwasher and it would come clean. Finally retired it a while back and got a new one, got's to have my jerky.
 

 

princess

Smoking Fanatic

Jul 28, 2010

420

25

Lafayette, Indiana

• Sep 28, 2010

• #6

Nonstick spray won't work nearly as well as something like this. Yay Peel Ease:

http://www.sausagemaker.com/18100peel-ease16ozwithspraybottle.aspx
 

And if THAT does not solve your problem, you might consider something like flexible dehydrator liner trays? Excalibur makes some that you could probably trim to fit.

-Princess
 

OklahomaJoe said:

Any time I use my dehydrator on jerky, I dread having to clean the trays afterwards. I use a wet marinade on my jerky, which then dries onto the trays. I spray with nonstick spray before use, soak in hot water after use, run through my dishwasher once, then use a toothbrush to clean all the slots in the trays, then back in the dishwasher one more time. All of the scrubbing has led to the trays starting to crack. Anybody do anything differently that could make this easier?

Click to expand...

 

mtnwalker

Newbie

Feb 5, 2009

23

10

• Sep 28, 2010

• #7

I normally just soak mine for a while in soapy water....use a brush to easy scrub....just be patient basically...but you can also start your jerky..(wet)..laying on foil....give it time to dry some and then take the strips off the foil and put on the rack to continue drying to the finish..

 

mdacs

Newbie

Jul 5, 2010

5

10

Missouri

• Oct 4, 2010

• #8

I often use a wet marinade as well. I use a small hand brush to clean the trays. I think its a finger nail / hand brush. I don't have an electric dish washer anymore. When I did have one it got to hot and warped the plastic trays (my fault). Sometimes I use my outdoor smoker to smoke for 30-60 minutes for some smoke flavor and then move it to the dehydrator. Cleanup is much easier after that.

 

scarbelly

Gone but not forgotten. RIP

OTBS Member

Jul 26, 2009

14,315

73

• Oct 5, 2010

• #9

 I have some prettly large pans so I use some baking soda and bring water to a simmer and it has never failed to get a pan or rack back to pristine