food dehydrators

manfred · #1 07/26/12, 11:44 AM

Do you recommend a particular dehydrator? Is the Excalibur really the best?
$250 seems a lot to pay to me.

bajiay · #2 07/26/12, 11:51 AM

I have an old Excalibur that I LOVE but I paid $5 for it at an estate sale. I would have paid the full price if I had it. I also have a Nesco brand, the smaller round one, and I use it alot too. Drying strawberries and raspberries right now in it.

KaiserW · #3 07/26/12, 12:15 PM

my first post on HT. hi all!

i've been through a few dehydrators and the excaliber is the last one i'll ever need to buy. some cheap dehydrators actually spoil food because they take so long to dry (like those cheap round ones at the big box stores).
we got the big 9 tray excaliber and it's been fantastic, it's over 7 years old now and works like new. with the paraflex sheets you can make all sorts of cool stuff like homemade fruit rollups, raw foods like crackers of all types.
i've made good jerky, although dehydrated jerky doesn't keep as long as smoked.
my wife is a vegetarian and the excaliber has greatly increased her variety of textures and recipe count. it's a great product, although expensive.

farmmom · #4 07/26/12, 12:35 PM

I would say without reservation that the Excalibur is worth every penny and will pay you back quickly. I love mine. It works better than any other one I've had, and I've had quite a few.

Molly Mckee · #5 07/26/12, 12:37 PM

I love mine and I have had it for over 30 years. Worth the money!

PrettyPaisley · #6 07/26/12, 12:51 PM

Wow.

I have a Nesco and I thought I wanted an Excalibur but have been fine with the Nesco for years. Reading these reviews makes me rethink my thinking.

rockhound · #7 07/26/12, 01:27 PM

I've used a solar type for years but got a cheap round one to use inside. Nesco, it's noisy, no on/off switch, dries un-evenly. I think you get what you pay for.

flowergurl · #8 07/26/12, 04:07 PM

Excalibur is the only one for me.

GrannyG · #9 07/26/12, 06:54 PM

Save your money up and wisely invest in an Excaliber....I believe they even sell refurbished ones....you will love it, and not regret your purchase...

fffarmergirl · #10 07/26/12, 07:04 PM

We got the Excaliber last year nd it works so much better than the ones we had before - we just had the round tower type ones and they were such a pain to use compared to this. It was definitely worth the $.

nehimama · #11 07/26/12, 07:19 PM

Buy a cheap one, and repeat every year! The Excalibur is definitely worth the price. My advice is to buy the very best you can afford, and you will not regret it. My vote is for the Excalibur!

hhhandyman · #12 07/26/12, 07:32 PM

The Excalibur, set at 95 degrees, also works good to dry out cell phones and digital cameras that have accidently gotten wet.

katydidagain · #13 07/26/12, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nehimama

Buy a cheap one, and repeat every year! The Excalibur is definitely worth the price. My advice is to buy the very best you can afford, and you will not regret it. My vote is for the Excalibur!

I've had a cheapie for 15 years; granted I don't use it very day but it still works just fine (Mr Coffee? Not sure). I picked up another 1 seven years ago for $5; it's still NITB. When and if I get settled on my own place, I'll build my own natural dehydrator or use my car rather than spending all that money. Hey, I'm cheap--spend the bucks and join the club. (Yes, I've heard they make it possible for you to raise dough--I do that fine already.)

Marcia in MT · #14 07/26/12, 10:23 PM

I have used our Harvest Maid for almost 30 years. It has a good thermostat (will go down to 90°) and a fan and will dry an 11 lb. load of paste tomatoes in 24 hours. We use it mostly during harvest season; I bought several extra trays and we dry all sorts of stuff and have been very happy with it.

nehimama · #15 07/27/12, 07:36 AM

All those "round" ones I've bought over & over thru the years have broken down within a year. I DO use them heavily, though. Absolutely NO problems with the Excalibur. I recommend that one highly.

Jim S. · #16 07/27/12, 07:59 AM

We bought a TSM like this, all stainless. You have your choice of shelving to select from. We did not buy from this site.

TSM 32601 5 Tray D5 Stainless Steel Dehydrator with Chrome Shelves - Food Dehydrators at Hayneedle

My wife refuses to use plastic in heat situations because of phenols and estrogenic compounds. The problem with the cheapies is that when used heavily, the binders in the plastics are baked out and the trays deterioriate.

wildcat6 · #17 07/27/12, 08:23 AM

I am dying to et the excalibur but it's a bit pricey.

halfpint · #18 07/27/12, 11:54 AM

For a long time I used a 4 tray round dehydrator, and it ran almost constantly. When I purchased the Excalibur, it was about $200 (about 1997) but has been worth every penny. With 9 trays, each about 2 times the size of those little round trays, I can get a whole lot more dehydrated at one time. If you dehydrate a lot, it is well worth it.
Dawn

dollmaker · #19 07/27/12, 12:11 PM

I PMed you.

KaiserW · #20 07/27/12, 12:34 PM

another cool thing about the excalibur is you can remove the trays an dehydrate large items. my wife, who is a vegan, makes fantastic raw cakes and desserts and uses the excalibur like a "raw oven".