I'm finally junking my ancient inefficient dehydrator and getting ready to buy a new 9-tray Excalibur. I have two basic questions (plus I would love to hear anything else that anybody has to offer).

Different sellers all provide different combinations of 'perks'. And some are offering up to 9 free Teflex sheets ($10-ish in value each) I have never used these new 'teflex sheets', and because the word reminds me of Teflon, I automatically assume they must be toxic.

However I see kazillions of raw foodists using and recommending them (which of course, really doesn't mean a thing, because they could have no idea of their potential for toxicity).

--Can anybody tell me, are these Teflex dehydrator sheets toxic or non-toxic?

Also, I see Excalibur units being sold with sheets of parchment paper (which seems like it would serve the basic purpose of a Teflex sheet, except for being more porous and not as 'non-sticky'). However, I'm concerned with the toxicity of 'normally processed' parchment paper, too.

I don't want the food I eat to be laying on a bed of toxins to be gradually warmed and then dehydrated...sealing all kinds of chemicals from whatever Teflex is (or from chemically processed parchment paper) into my food.

My guess is, that I'm going to want to find a source for 'organically processed' cooking parchment paper or something similar. Up until now, I've simply avoided dehydrating 'sheets' of anything, but now I want to get into breads & cracker type things, and I'm going to need something with which to line the dehydrating sheets.

--Please share all your thoughts and sources for what I can line the trays of my new food dehydrator with, to keep my food safe and chemical free.

When I first get it, I'm planning on running it for a long time, outside, at top temperature, to hopefully 'burn off' the processing toxins and toxins in the plastic.

Any other tips or suggestions?

Blessings,

FL