And [...]]]> For the raw food gourmet chef, there is a plethora of high-priced, quality equipment available. However, if you are new to raw food eating or just want to add some more tasty raw foods into your eating program, be assured you can rely on the equipment you already have in your kitchen.

And most especially, you need:

In today’s article, I’m going to briefly describe additional equipment, with photos and links to find more information where these items are sold. In future articles, I’ll give additional details about my experiences with this equipment.

In my own zest for learning, I’ve purchased a considerable amount of equipment, so I’m able to give you some ideas of why I made certain choices. At the time of making each purchase, I researched the options available and decided based on my own needs. I can’t claim to be able to give you all the considerations or comparisons, but I hope to start you in the direction of discovery.

Blenders: Regular, Personal, High Speed

I have all three. Most kitchens have at least one blender. And for most needs, this will do nicely. In additional to the "regular’ blender, you might consider …

Personal Blender. I purchased a personal blender when I started to travel extensively in my work. Later I bought a second one so that we could benefit from it in our kitchen. There are several on the market. This is the one I chose (twice!), and love it.

It’s especially good for the single-serving raw soup or smoothie, but it also chops nuts, cacao, and coffee and blends salad dressings and sauces neatly. The cup that’s used as the container for blending becomes the drinking cup, so it’s great for on-the-go meals or snacks. For more elegant dining, just transfer the contents to a dish.

High Speed Blender. To take very coarse ingredients and make them really smoother requires a high speed blender. In recipes, I will mention when a high speed blender is required or suggested. I believe there are two brands that are most likely to be chosen by the home raw foodist. Each brand has multiple models. They are in roughly the same price range. Amazon now has a good selection and good discounts.

After lots of research, I chose the Champ HP3 Blender by K-Tec, which appears to be essentially the same as the BlendTec Total blender pictured below on the left. That was a while ago, so the model numbers are different. I only seriously considered the K-Tec and the Vita-mix. If I were purchasing a new one, I would choose a K-Tec model again.

I suggest you compare, read the reviews at Amazon, ask around, and make your choice. If you do this, you’ll not likely make a mistake as both are excellent pieces of equipment.

Vegetable Juicer

There are many different types of vegetable juicers. The lower priced ones tend to shred the vegetables, while the higher quality ones extract the juice, along with the highest percentage of nutrients. I’ve owned three juicers, and my favorite is the Green Star Juicer. I’ll tell you more in a future article.

Dehydrator

Dehydrating foods is an old-fashioned way of preserving fresh foods for later use. To still be considered a "raw food," drying must take place at a temperature under 118º F, and some recommend not exceeding 113º F. I have lots of dehydrating stories. I chose the Excalibur Dehydrator with 9 shelves. There are weeks at a time we don’t use it, and then other times we wish we had a second one!

These are a few of the very helpful pieces of equipment for preparing more special recipes and combinations to make the raw food cuisine more delicious. Please add a comment below if you have a specific question about any of these. I’ll be writing more on each type of equipment, so please let me know which ones you’re most interested in so that I know the best order.