Getting Started with Your Ezidri Ultra: A Beginner's Guide (UK)

1. Unboxing and first wash

Your Ezidri Ultra comes with a base unit, 5 trays, a mesh sheet, a solid sheet and a UK plug. Before first use, wash the trays, lid and sheets in warm soapy water, rinse and dry them. Wipe the base with a damp cloth only; never put it in water.

2. Where to put it

• A flat, stable, heat-resistant worktop, with a few centimetres of space all round.
• Somewhere with decent airflow. The moist air coming out needs to escape, so avoid tucking it under a wall cupboard.
• Out of reach of small children and pets, and away from the sink.

3. The controls

The Ezidri Ultra has a digital temperature control from 30°C to 70°C and a timer from 1 to 48 hours. When the timer finishes, the unit drops to 30°C and holds there, so food that sits overnight doesn't pick up moisture again. You can expand it to 30 trays as your batches get bigger.

4. Which temperature?

Food	Temperature	Typical time
Herbs and flowers	35°C	3–8 hours
Vegetables	50–55°C	4–12 hours
Fruit and fruit leathers	55°C	6–16 hours
Cooked meals and mince	65–70°C	6–10 hours
Jerky (after heating to 71°C)	70°C	4–6 hours

See the full drying times and temperatures chart for over 40 foods.

5. Loading the trays

• Slice evenly, about 5 mm for most fruit and veg. Even slices dry at the same rate.
• Single layer, no overlapping. Pieces can touch but shouldn't sit on top of each other.
• Use the mesh sheet for small pieces (peas, herbs, diced veg) and anything sticky.
• Use the lightly oiled solid sheet for purées, fruit leathers and cooked meals.
• Dry strong-smelling foods (onions, garlic) on their own run.

6. Your first batch

Start with something forgiving: apple crisps, banana chips or courgette crisps. Check after 4–6 hours, then every hour or so until done.

7. How to tell it's dry

Always let a piece cool for five minutes before testing; warm food feels softer than it is.

• Fruit: leathery and pliable, with no moisture when torn and squeezed.
• Vegetables: hard or brittle.
• Herbs: crumble between your fingers.
• Jerky: bends and cracks but doesn't snap.

Common mistakes

• Turning the temperature up to save time. The outside hardens and traps moisture inside ("case hardening").
• Overloading trays. Overlapping pieces stay damp.
• Packing food while warm. It sweats in the jar and can go mouldy.
• Skipping conditioning. See our storage guide.

Food safety note

Wash your hands, boards and knives before and after handling food, especially raw meat. Keep raw meat in the fridge while it marinates. For jerky, heat the meat to 71°C before drying; our jerky safety guide explains why. Always follow the safety instructions in the booklet that came with your dehydrator.

Related

• Drying times and temperatures chart
• How to store and rehydrate dried food
• Apple crisps (Bramley vs Cox)

Some food images are illustrative.