annievee

DD wants a food dehydrator for birthday. The more I read, the less i know ! Any ideas ?

Onebyone

I have had Nesco for years. I make jerky every deer season for huband to take to deer camp. The guys all expect it now. They say it's the best ever. I use lean ground meat or venison, with the jerky seasoning mix and pipe in strips using the jerky gun. There is a trick to piping, don't do one strip at at time. Go around the tray in a spiral and then break pieces as long as you want when it is done. Time saver. I bought extra trays and ended up with two dehydrators to get it all made in one batch. I tried other foods but it got boring to do. Marshmallows were fun to dry, put in large jar and used in hot chocolate. I dried everything when I first got it, from soup to flowers. Now it's only used for jerky.

Onebyone

The new bigger air fryers work as dehydrators. Same thing if temp kept low.

Quiltah Mama

I have one, and I love it. It gets used for jerky and sun dried tomato pesto. I have the presto one and the extra trays. Very happy with it.

sewingpup

I had one years ago, I did a number of things, what turned out best that I actually used, was apples and pineapple. Both of those very nummy. One thing I did that turned out to be a mistake, was I did a big batch of onions in the house! My eyes watered for a couple of hours, then I thought the smell went away. Well, when I went to work, co-workers wanted to know where the onion smell was coming from. It was in my skin, my hair, my clothes, everywhere. It took a few days to go away. I would not recommend drying onions in the house with a dehydrator!

jmoore

I have one and use it frequently…I make both salmon and beef jerky and dehydrate many of my garden herbs at the end of our growing season. I recommend one of the Excalibur Food Dehydrators. I have a 9 tray but they make a 5 tray as well. I believe Amazon has them.

Snooze2978

I had my dehydrator for years and never used it. Last year my tomatoes went nuts and I couldn't give them away fast enough or can them so I started dehydrating them, especially the grape tomatoes. Cut them in half, dry them and they go great for my recipes that call for sun dried tomatoes.

juliasb

I too have a Nesco. It did not get used at all last year or the year before because of COVID. The plan is to put it to good use again this season.
Most dehydrators work very simply by providing low continuous heat to fruits, veggies and meats to dry them out and preserver the food. They are simply built many with an automatic timer. The temp is usually around 15-120 degrees.
Before I bought mine I over thought the process big time. Only to discover that it was so simple. You may see a rise in your power bill by a few dollars with continued usage. Most new Dehydrators come with some great tips and ideas.

ptquilts

my sister makes dried apples with hers. They are so good! I don't know why dried apples are so hard to find in stores.

MWB53

My husband is the dehydrator user in our house. He makes venison jerky. He likes a lot of trays to stack, and I have heard him say his favorite dehydrator is one with a fan as well as the heat.