Dehydrators

I am investigating the acquisition of a reliable and simple to use dehydrator for drying fruits, vegetables, and meats. Criteria would include ease of operation and cleaning, foot-print size, reliability, and costs. Anyone with recommendations would be appreciated.

 

The wife and I just picked up a new one. I forget the name though. BassPro had it on sale a couple of weeks ago.
We had been using her parents, which is several years old, but still works.

The biggest difference between the old and the new is the motor/blower location. On the old one it's on the bottom, which allows stuff to "drop" in to that area, making it difficult to clean. The new one has the motor/blower on top, and has an adjustable temp.

I'll try to get the name and model and post here later tonight.

How much are you planning on using it? There are MANY options out there from round units (which is what we have) to ones that look like a mid-sized toaster oven.

 

I have the NESCO FD-60 with 12 trays and so far it works great!
2 years and running....
Bill

 

I picked one up at a salvation army store. Like 8 trays. Kinda cheap, but simple.

 

Found a "solar" dehydrator made of window screens, at local goodwill store....
Not sure how well it would work, but it is made fairly simple and straightforward enough.
Has 4 "shelves", all screened except for aluminum frame.
I'll have to try it with some tomatoes (more acidic= less chance of spoilage)
Bill

 

I got one for Christmas can't think of the name off the top of my head but it is round with the plastic trays. The blower is ontop and moves a lot of air.

I've dehydrated apples and some banana's have not tried much more yet. going to try jerky one of these days

My plans are to dehydrate the left overs from my garden the past few years I have given most of my extras to friends.

 

I settled on a 9-tray Excalibur 3900 Commercial dehydrator. Costed around $220.00 but is a serious tool that gets really good reviews.

 

Sea that's the one I have and it works great .
This lady was the best Vid on Dehydrating everything ,she has 10 vids and here is the first one for ya .

YouTube- How to dehydrate and store food PART 1

 

a clip on fan over your half open oven set on low will work great also, just alot of energy.

 

Don't know about your oven but ours will go down to 170 and that's even to hot for good jerky !!

JMHO

 

I got the 9 tray excalibur too and I like it a lot, so far its the best dehydrator I have used.

 

We have a thread on the Excalibur dehydrator here-
Excalibur dehydrator | Survival Forums

In the thread above I see Nesco & the Brass Pro shop dehydrators mentioned. << those prices are more reasonable vs. the Excalibur. I am looking to find a dehydrator that does fruit strips. I had an old round dehydrator that someone gifted. It was a waste of time and money. Is the Excalibur still the one to invest in or are there comparable dehydrators at a lower price?

 

Wally World has Excalibur dehydrators from $99 for a 4 tray up to almost $400. LOVE my Excalibur! Linkee: dehydrators - Walmart.com

Kajun

 

Two things matter with dehydrators. A fan (airflow) and sized to fit what you want done.
The fruit strips, just require the flat liners like the one shown here. This is mine. They are available as a multi-pack.

 

Kellory I never could get those round ones to do jerky the meat always rotted before it got fry. How do you get that to work? They work great for fruit leather but terrible for meat

 

I do at least 20lbs of dried venison every year. Never had anything rot, even with the heat only versions. (Which I still have) the one shown is fan forced. Which makes it a lot faster. (Fan up top means it stays clean).
I've turned two complete deer into jerky with that machine. No issues.
I start with meat on the slicer set at 1/4" thick. (For consistent drying) and you must have airflow.(do do not cover every square inch of rack space.)

 

Bosch Kitchen Centers – Authorized Exclusive Agent – 528 Dehydrator

Ganado, this is the one we bought and it works really good.