i am kinda thinking about going raw, but as a broke high school student cant invest in a dehydrator at the moment. i was wondering if using an oven on a low setting would be suitable.
also, how hot does a food have to get before its not considered raw anymore?
thankies
~steph

The exact definition of raw food varies, but the general consensus is that a food is considered raw if it has not been heated to more than 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius), and if it has not been frozen.

skarrlett is right...115
when i went raw, i didn't have a dehydrator either but i badly wanted to try some raw fudge cookies in Juliano's book. I set the oven on the lowest setting. It took a loooooong time...almost 2 days but they were good.

115? but i have seen a lot of raw food recipes that have you put food in a 150 degree dehydrator. :confused:

150 is far too hot. ofcourse my dehydrator can go up that high; that's because dehydrators were originally made for people who ate meat and also who ate cooked food. i keep the dial at 115 and never go higher. most people seem to keep theirs at 100.

i've got some corn chips going in the dehydrator right now. they smell sooooo good. :lick:

i've got some corn chips going in the dehydrator right now. they smell sooooo good.


Corn chips, eh? I think you may need to share that recipe. :lol:

There are many Raw foodies who don't believe in dehydrators. You could go raw and maybe decide later if you even want one.

There are many Raw foodies who don't believe in dehydrators. You could go raw and maybe decide later if you even want one.

Yup, go invest in a high quality blender instead. Many of the dehydrator recipes probably call for a use of a blender anyway so you'd be wise to have it on hand.

As a raw foodist, I use the following things the most...

Vita-Mix (blender)
Cuisenart (food processor)
Excalibur (dehydrator)

I recommend buying inexpensive stuff (from Walmart for example) to begin with. Then later on you can buy the more expensive equipment.