Dehydrator recommendation?

acpgee · November 2014

I'm just starting to look into buying a food dehydrator for the first time. I am not doing a raw food diet or anything, so probably don't need super accurate temperature control. I just want to make beef jerky, and dehydrated vegetable chips for snacks. Currently doing these in a very low oven for several hours and probably wasting a ton of energy.

Which dehydrator do you have, and are you happy? Anything in particular I should be looking out for when choosing a dehydrator? Are these machines noisy? If a machine is billed as a fruit dehydrator does it mean it is not suitable for drying vegetables or jerky?

Alliwan · November 2014

http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-Snackmaster-Food-Dehydrator-FD-75A/dp/B0090WOCN0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414967502&sr=8-1&keywords=nesco+dehydrator

that is what we bought with some extra trays and herb/fruit leather trays. But we dehydrate all kinds of stuff, beef jerky, onions, herbs, fruit leather, zest, fruit chips, etc

It works well, has about 6 different temp settings and is fairly quiet.

The only thing id say is DO NOT ever EVER dehydrate onions in the house. EVER!

acpgee · November 2014

Thanks Alliwan. Of course, now I am curious what it smells like if you dehydrate onions in the house. How long does it persist for?

sodakat · November 2014

I have a basic dehydrator with about 8 trays and an off/on switch. It takes a few days to dehydrate foods but it does work. I mostly use it to preserve stuff we grow or produce that I can get a bunch of at one time that I don't want to spoil.

I've learned that things need to be really dry in order not to mold when they are stored and not to dehydrate hot peppers in the house. Similar problem as onions I'm sure. I just put it in the garage on a shelf near a plug when I dehydrate hot peppers.

I would like to buy a better dehydrator to use to make jerky, if there is really a difference in their performance.

Kristinemomof3 · November 2014

Well I do a lot of home food preservation (canning, freezing & dehydrating) we have an Excalibur and I LOVE it. It's pricey though, depends how much you will use it.

acpgee · November 2014

Thanks guys. I will not go for the Excalibur which I understand to the the ultimate dehydrator. It is indeed pricey and I am not sure how much I will use it yet. Though I like ithe Excalibur's space saving rectangular shape.

Am going for a cheaper model which has three temperature settings, is purportedly very quiet and gets 4.5 out of 5 stars on amazon following 88 reviews.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Digital-Food-Dryer-Dehydrator-temperature/dp/B008MPBK8G/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1414963741&sr=8-3&keywords=dehydrator

gvhunterollie · November 2014

I use a $40 Oster. It has 4 plastic trays (round), and a simple on/off switch. I use it for beef jerky, dried fruits and herbs. Simple.

See them on eBay for $25-$60

sistrsprkl · November 2014

Alliwan wrote: »

http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-Snackmaster-Food-Dehydrator-FD-75A/dp/B0090WOCN0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414967502&sr=8-1&keywords=nesco+dehydrator

that is what we bought with some extra trays and herb/fruit leather trays. But we dehydrate all kinds of stuff, beef jerky, onions, herbs, fruit leather, zest, fruit chips, etc

It works well, has about 6 different temp settings and is fairly quiet.

The only thing id say is DO NOT ever EVER dehydrate onions in the house. EVER!

I also have this one and bought the extra trays. I've been very happy with it. I mainly dry fruit.

azure7 · November 2014

I have the Nesco FD-60 Snackmaster (http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-FD-60-Snackmaster-Express-Dehydrator/dp/B000LNVUJQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1415053035&sr=8-2&keywords=nesco+dehydrator). I works really well. I store it in a spare bedroom b/c it takes up too much counter space. I love having the adjustable temp control. I mainly use it to make fruit/nut leathers and dehydrate sprouted nuts.

NK1112 · November 2014

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-Tier-Food-Dehydrator-Make-fruit-leathers-or-jerky-/151399416457?_trksid=p2054897.l4275

This is like the one I have. Don't recall the brand name. It was a gift a number of years ago and I used it a lot at one time. Not so much now. It dried apples and bananas pretty well but I had trouble with drying grapes, tomatoes, pineapple. Never made fruit leathers or jerky, but the recipe book that came with mine told how to do it.

MissJay75 · November 2014

I used to have a Ronco food dehydrator in college (you know the As Seen on TV one). It worked amazing and lasted for over 10 years of heavy usage. When it finally bit the dust, I replaced it with another Ronco, but it is horrible. The quality has changed in the last decade and a half and I would not recommend.

I just bought this Presto http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008H2OELY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1.

So far I love it. It dries quickly and evenly. The trays nest for smaller storage which is a plus, and it's pretty inexpensive. ($35 ish) I ordered an extra set of trays, ($15/2) and it still does an amazing job. The trays are even dishwasher safe! The only thing I can't speak to is how long it will hold up.

CipherZero · November 2014

Kristinemomof3 wrote: »

Well I do a lot of home food preservation (canning, freezing & dehydrating) we have an Excalibur and I LOVE it. It's pricey though, depends how much you will use it.

Have the Excalibur. It's a gorgeous machine and totally worth the money.

Dehydrator recommendation?

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