Just wondering what kind of dehydrator to buy. What is the best?

beehappy1950 wrote:
> Just wondering what kind of dehydrator to buy. What is the best?
>
>
>
>
The best dehydrator (without going for the expense of a "commercial" machine) is the Excalibur. I bought the 9-tray model (without a timer*) in May 2007 for $219.95 directly from the vendor. I have no complaints. http://www.excaliburdehydrator.com

If you like fruit roll ups (or any other fruit/veggie leathers), make sure to get a few ParaFlexx non-stick sheets. My dehydrator came with two sheets, but I bought more from another vendor later. Look for ParaFlexx or Teflex sheets.


Good luck,
Turtlelover


* If you feel that you need a timer, the unit can be plugged into a standard household timer; no need to pay extra for that feature on the dehydrator.

On Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:56:20 +0000, beehappy1950
> wrote:

>
>Just wondering what kind of dehydrator to buy. What is the best?


I have been happy with my older version of American Harvest
Snackmaster. I have 3. I think I bought my first one on a military
base, the other two at yard sales. I paid less for my yard sale ones
than a pair of trays. I frequently have two of them going, one on low
heat for herbs and the other on a medium for vegetables. I have 24
trays so I can get many different things done at once.
--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974)

On Nov 26, 8:56*am, beehappy1950 <beehappy1950.554a20b.
> wrote:
> Just wondering what kind of dehydrator to buy. What is the best?
>
> --
> beehappy1950

Excalibur if you can afford it.
Don't get the smallest one. You will be sorry.
The cheap one take a lot of rotating, burned spots, uneven drying, not
as good of air circulation, etc.
Jim in So. Calif.

The Cook wrote:
> On Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:56:20 +0000, beehappy1950
> > wrote:
>
>> Just wondering what kind of dehydrator to buy. What is the best?
>
>
> I have been happy with my older version of American Harvest
> Snackmaster. I have 3. I think I bought my first one on a military
> base, the other two at yard sales. I paid less for my yard sale ones
> than a pair of trays. I frequently have two of them going, one on low
> heat for herbs and the other on a medium for vegetables. I have 24
> trays so I can get many different things done at once.


I have an American Harvest (Nesco) "Snackmaster Pro" with about 6
trays. My brother has an Excalibur. They both do excellent jobs.

Cabela's has some cabinet-type dehydrators that look like the
Excalibur that might also be worth checking out.

Bob

I would have to say the answer depends on how heavily you plan on
using it.

I began with a round dehydrator. Outgrew that and played with a 10-
tray Excalibur. Nice step forward.

Kept either one running 24/7 for much of the year.

I now have one of the Cabela's commercial units. (24 tray) I paid
about $400 for it (worth EVERY penny) but I hear you can often find
the reconditioned ones for about the same price as a new Excalibur.
Mind you, I wouldn't give mine up for anything, but it is about the
size of a dishwasher. If you don't expect to need capacity often, it
will be in your way. For me, I LOVE that I can fit an entire apple box
of apples sliced in it. It is tall enough inside I can hang my herbs
and quick dry them that way. Can't count the number of hours I've
saved simply by not trying to fit an extra few somethings on each
tray. It's huge - there's plenty of room. The only real drawback was
the size of the grid for the metal trays. Nylon window screen took
care of that. Oddly enough, I seem to be able to keep the Cabela's
unit running much of the year as well. But I'm producing a LOT more
than I used to. ;-)