Dehydrator Options

[Joel Benjamin L]

I need some help finding a dehydrator. I have done some research online, including reading far too many amazon reviews, but find ultimately that I do not know who or what to trust. My wife and I will not be dehydrating loads and loads of fruits and herbs, but would like to have a reliable small machine. Any recommendations?

[RIHans]

I make dehydrated apple chips with my students. I have an Excalibur.

Great unit, pretty good yields.

[Peter Polack]

I have a NESCO American Harvest FD-60 Snackmaster Express unit. It came with 4 trays, and is expandable to 12 trays. I expanded it to 8 trays with no loss of performance. The heating unit is at the top and forces air downward via fan. NESCO has a Pro model with the heating unit at the bottom. It may be more effective at drying food but I question whether dripping liquids will eventually foul the motor and whether heat from the unit will discolor the surface it's resting on.

It is quiet, fast, and has a thermostat. It has a 2100 rpm motor and 500 watts of heat. NESCO also has a 2400 rpm, 1000 watt model called the Gardenmaster, but I think my model is effective enough.

[steve garro]

I have a NESCO American Harvest FD-60 Snackmaster Express unit. It came with 4 trays, and is expandable to 12 trays. I expanded it to 8 trays with no loss of performance. The heating unit is at the top and forces air downward via fan. NESCO has a Pro model with the heating unit at the bottom. It may be more effective at drying food but I question whether dripping liquids will eventually foul the motor and whether heat from the unit will discolor the surface it's resting on.

It is quiet, fast, and has a thermostat. It has a 2100 rpm motor and 500 watts of heat. NESCO also has a 2400 rpm, 1000 watt model called the Gardenmaster, but I think my model is effective enough.

I have one as well & I'm going to buy another - it's going to be a big fruit season!
Also great for herbs, tomatoes and mushrooms.
- Garro.

[steve garro]

IMG_1854.JPGIMG_1858.JPGIMG_1860.JPGI have two Nesco head to head, and have been drying peaches for almost a week - those flats are just 1/2 of what I have dried.
tomatoes next, mushrooms on the way.
Busy.
Also a gallon of scratch marinara and 20lbs of tomatoes worth of red/arbol salsa.
BUSY.
- Garro.

[echelon_john]

We've had a tabletop dehydrator but I'm planning to build something a little bigger in the next week or so to use for the fall harvest. I'll post pics once I make some progress.

Lots of plans online...pretty simple principles—heat and air movement!