I like experimenting with raw food recipes. I am not a raw foodist yet, and I am not sure I will ever be one. I like cooking too much, and I find it difficult to truly blend flavors unless heat is applied. With that being said, there are a number of raw food recipes I add to our regular diet. In fact, Phillip and I did do a cleanse that involved eating raw for about 40 days so I got a lot of practice. I will be posting raw food recipes from time to time so in order to make raw food, there are a few basic pieces of equipment you will need. The following is a list of the essentials:

Heavy Duty Blender – I really like the Vitamix with both the basic bowl and the dry bowl for grinding grains. This unit is a bit expensive but might make a great Christmas or birthday request. I have discovered that grinding my own grains to make whole grain flours is delicious and the recipes turn out lighter and more nutritious.

Juicer – I have a Green Life juicers and it works great for me. It is a twin gear juicer that will do both vegetable and fruit juices as well as wheat grass. Go to discountjuicers.com to see a comparison chart of the main brands of juicers.

Dehydrator – In order to make raw food burgers, snacks, fruit leather, flax crackers, etc… you will need a dehydrator. I recommend the Excalibur with at least 5 trays or the larger 9 tray unit. It is very helpful to have a dehydrator with a timer on it for more restful nights.

Food processor – Any basic food processor will suffice.

Large colanders or sprouting jars or bags for sprouting grains and nuts. A lot of raw food cooking requires sprouting of grains before adding them to a recipe. I use both colanders and sprouting jars the most.