Food Dehydrator

[mAlice]

What kind of food dehydrator do you have? What do like about it? Dislike?
I'm in the market and want to get some opinions before making the purchase.

 

[limblips]

Cabelas 80 qt model.

Likes: capacity, I make 40-50 lbs of jerky per year. Not hard to clean (last one was an Excaliber, plastics trays were a biatch to clean). Controls are great, you can set time and temp.

Dislikes: Overall size, it takes up a lot of space but that is the trade for capacity. Noise, a bit noisy if you have to be around it much. Does not come with plastic mesh or fruit leather sheets, can be ordered from Cabelas but MUCH cheaper from other sources.

Overall it is a huge step up from the Excaliber IMO. Christmas jerky recipients are pleased with it!

I would buy it again and recommend it for a mid-range unit. They are currently on sale at $289, just received the catalog yesterday.

 

[migtig]

L'Equip dehydrator. Love it. Easy clean up, has the mesh, makes yogurt, makes great jerky, does great with fruit and veggies as well. Trays fit fine in the bottom rack of the dishwasher. Consistent quality every time. Easy temperature controls. Easy set and forget. I love that it is rectangular which allows for more surface area to be covered.

My two dislikes:
I'm OCD, so I dislike that some fruits and veggies color stain the plastic mesh insert. However, that is not the dehydrators fault, and the mesh inserts are cheap to replace if that is really an issue.

I'm lazy, so I do not like that if I have ALL 12 of the trays completely full that I have to manually rotate the trays to ensure even drying. If I'm only using a few trays up to 6 trays I don't have to rotate. What I need is an automated tray rotator and since that doesn't exist, I'm perfectly fine with this item.

http://www.dehydratorreview.net/reviews/lequip-528-500-watt-6-tray-food-dehydrator

 

[mAlice]

Thanks. Hopefully I'll get more input. I'm in no hurry.

mig, maybe you can give me some pointers after I get one and start using it.

 

[huntr1]

What kind of food dehydrator do you have? What do like about it? Dislike?
I'm in the market and want to get some opinions before making the purchase.

You're welcome to borrow ours to try out. I don't remember the brand (bought it at a fleamarket at the fairgrounds. It's just the standard round with plastic trays type.

 

[huntr1]

The "best" ones open in the front, fan in the back and it blows across all the metal trays. But then they are also expensive and heavy, so they are going to pretty much claim space on your counter permanently.

 

[mAlice]

Thanks, but I don't think I need to borrow one. I just want to get opinions from people who own them, so I don't make a purchase I'll regret.

 

[NewsJunky]

Excalibur. Its nice. I recommend it, if you're planning to dehydrate a lot of food. I also have the sheets that go on the racks so I can make homemade Fruit roll ups and such.
It has the fan in the back that blows over the food, drying it evenly.

If you just want to dehydrate once in a while for fun, I would go with something smaller and cheaper.

 

[Midnightrider]

Cabelas 80 qt model.

Likes: capacity, I make 40-50 lbs of jerky per year. Not hard to clean (last one was an Excaliber, plastics trays were a biatch to clean). Controls are great, you can set time and temp.

Dislikes: Overall size, it takes up a lot of space but that is the trade for capacity. Noise, a bit noisy if you have to be around it much. Does not come with plastic mesh or fruit leather sheets, can be ordered from Cabelas but MUCH cheaper from other sources.

Overall it is a huge step up from the Excaliber IMO. Christmas jerky recipients are pleased with it!

I would buy it again and recommend it for a mid-range unit. They are currently on sale at $289, just received the catalog yesterday.

If you are only planning to make jerky I would think seriously about a smoker instead. Your jerky will go from good to amazing. You can try it on you grill to see before you make the investment.
If you want to do fruit and other non-smoked items you are better off with a dehydrated.

 

[limblips]

I have a smoker, does a great job but for large quantities it is much better to use the dehydrator. I smoke a lot of fish, cheese, and meats in the smoker, delicious!

 

[migtig]

Thanks. Hopefully I'll get more input. I'm in no hurry.

mig, maybe you can give me some pointers after I get one and start using it.

Thanks. Hopefully I'll get more input. I'm in no hurry.

mig, maybe you can give me some pointers after I get one and start using it.

That could be fun. I don't like kale chips, but made a really good batch in the dehydrator and the giant loved them. Sometimes it's about experimenting with your spices.

The one thing I'll never dehydrate again though is blueberries, much less drama / effort to flash freeze them.

If you are only planning to make jerky I would think seriously about a smoker instead. Your jerky will go from good to amazing. You can try it on you grill to see before you make the investment.
If you want to do fruit and other non-smoked items you are better off with a dehydrated.

BTW, we have a smoker too, but we use it for big things like several butts, pork loins, blocks of cheese, whatever at once. You can add liquid smoke to your jerky you know if that's the flavor your are looking for. Personally I like spicy sweet without all that smokiness. I also like to dehydrate "leftover" portions (ie 4 pack of chicken and I'm only using two pieces), I can marinate all the meat in the morning, come home, start chopping veggies and use the dehydrator for both jerky and veggies at the same time I'm prepping /cooking dinner.