Use your Excalibur Dehydrator as a Bread Making Assistant

The perfect environment for raising bread exists right inside your Excalibur dehydrator.

Remove the trays from the dehydrator, set the thermostat at 45ºC and allow the unit to preheat. Place a shallow pan of water on the bottom of the dehydrator. Insert a tray directly above the water and place the bowl of dough on the tray. Cover the dough with a cloth to keep it from drying out. Allow the dough one-half to one hour of time to rise. When it has risen, continue with preparation according to your recipe.

An Excalibur is the perfect assistant if you use a bread machine. Depending on the model, it takes 3 to 3½ (sometimes more) hours to complete a single loaf of bread. During the same time, you can prepare dough for many loaves of bread.

Let your bread machine do all of the hard work for the initial kneading. Use the dough setting and remove the dough before it starts the first rise.

Place the dough into an oiled bowl, turn the dough over to oil the top, and cover tightly. Place in the refrigerator (or freezer*). Put your next batch of dough in your bread machine and repeat. When you have enough loaves for a baking session, place these into your Excalibur for the first rise. Punch down, when needed, based on your recipe.

When ready, shape into loaves and bake as your recipe directs. Based on an estimate of 30 minutes for bread machine preparation, using an Excalibur will allow you to produce 4 loaves (or more) of fresh baked bread in the same 3 to 3½ hours your bread machine took to produce 1 loaf!

*Make dough by hand or using the dough cycle of your bread machine and store in the freezer. On baking day, remove from the freezer. Use your Excalibur to expedite the final preparation steps for baking.

Drying Bread for Bread Crumbs

Put your extra breads of all types in your Excalibur to dry for making bread crumb recipes. Dry slices, burger buns, hot-dog rolls, and other breads until they are crispy. Crumble by hand, or process for a few seconds in your food processor. Store in air tight containers until needed. Add your favourite herbs and spices to create stuffing mixes for side dishes or poultry stuffing.