I have a 5 tray excalibur. It does take up some space, that's for sure. But I love it. I've been slacking on raw food so I only use it maybe once every few months. But it is definitely worthwhile. The main things I make with it are flax crackers, raw teriyaki almonds, and kale chips. My husband loves to dehydrate fruit on it too - pineapple is amazing in there.

It is super easy to operate - I just plug it in, place the food on the teflex sheets, and I'm good to go. Hope that helps!

I'm here w/another vote for Excalibur. My only con would be that it's large, but I don't really mind since that's why I bought it. I have a 9 tray model. I've had it for 6 years, but like Sara I go back & forth to raw food so it hasn't been used regularly. I don't find the fan noise too loud, but others might...something to consider when deciding where you'll place it. I started out with a circular dehydrator from Walmart, and I would suggest something similar to start out unless you know for sure that you'll use it enough to get your money's worth or if money is not an issue.

I did buy Teflex sheets. They are needed for some recipes, but parchment paper (usually found near aluminum foil) can be used instead. I found ease of operation and clean up to be the same for both my circular and my Excalibur...very minimal. Trays for both are/were easy to remove and clean. You can turn your dehydrator on briefly to dry the trays and Teflex sheets after washing them. Some people rotate their trays while dehydrating so that all trays dehydrate evenly. I never had any issues, so I forget to do that. One thing I wanted was a timer for when I wasn't home, but you could always buy an appliance timer that you can plug your dehydrator into if it doesn't have a built-in timer. I think most dehydrators start out at temperatures low enough to be w/in the raw food range, but you might want to pay close attention to that just in case.

I just got a Nesco Gardenmaster hydrator and jerky maker which I got at Sam's Store for $60. My first experience with something like this so I'm reading the instructions and plan to try it out this weekend. I look forward to being able to make crackers, dried fruits and veggies, etc. so I can try out some raw food recipes I've been seeing that look delicious. I'm glad to learn about the parchment paper so I'll try it out.

Wish me luck!