Excalibur Dehydrators have a good sale on today

AnnieinBC · #1 11/15/14, 08:02 PM

Earlier this year, I bought an Excalibur dehydrator. I LOVE it and have been using it all summer. We have dried apple chips, made fruit leathers and have been dehydrating some of the garden veggies.

The company has a great sale on - not only lower pricing, but they are throwing in extras like the warranty period, mylar bags and other things.

The sale ends today but if anyone has been interested in Excaliburs and are ready to order, now might be a good time to do it!

http://bit.ly/11a7vJf

Debbie in Wa · #2 11/16/14, 11:39 AM

Oh I wish I had the money to get one. They will stay on sale until the 30th of this month.

SueMc · #3 11/16/14, 02:47 PM

I recently saw this.
http://www.harvestessentials.com/exc...mer-white.html

I have one that we use often. We make a gallon of yogurt every one to two weeks along with all the other dehydrating and jerky making.
I've seriously thought about getting a second one.
It is a great appliance.

#4 11/16/14, 02:52 PM

I love mine! I don't use it nearly as much as I should, but again, this was my first year of garden so I didn't have a whole lot with which to work... LOL!

Santa needs to be looking at this for the dehydrator-needy kitchens on his route of Good Girls and Boys?

halfpint · #5 11/16/14, 04:47 PM

Check Amazon. While it doesn't have the Freebies, it does have free shipping and was about $50 less for each deyhdrator. I'm debating getting one for a family member who wants a dehydrator as a group gift. I have had an Excalibur since the mid 90's, and it still runs great and I use it a lot. We did a group purchase from Excalibur (at least 20 people involved) so got a great price.

Some things to consider about the Excalibur - it is larger than most dehydrators so will take up a lot of counter space if you use it in the kitchen. I have a friend who keeps hers on a counter in the basement. I keep mine on the back porch. It does fine even with the Alabama humidity in the summer.

I have one with the timer, so have to make sure I restart it if I'm doing something that takes more than 24 hours. The one thing I don't like about the timer is that it will shut off, and if food is left in there long will get moist, so you'll have to dehydrate again but for a shorter period. I think without the timer the unit is on whenever it is plugged in so you need to decide if the timer is worth it for you. I love the temperature control.
Dawn

AnnieinBC · #6 11/16/14, 10:15 PM

I debated over getting the one with the timer, and I'm glad I went ahead and got that one. It didn't cost a lot more, but my concern was if the food wasn't dry enough by the end of the day, I didn't want to have to stay up until it was.

Besides being in the garden for most of the day, I spent a lot of time running around doing the Farmer's Market and a bunch of other stuff. So it was a lot easier for me to be able to set the timer and be able to count on it shutting off without me having to think about it again.

It is quite a large unit - I have mine set up on a side table in the kitchen. I don't mind that it's large; that just means I can fit more food in there at one time!

AnnieinBC · #7 11/16/14, 10:18 PM

I also bought a Salton dehydrator at Walmart this year; it cost me about $50. We were going to be drying a lot of fruit leather so thought I could have both going at the same time.

What we ended up doing was getting a batch going in the Excalibur, and another batch going in the Salton. By the time the Excalibur batch was done and removed, the Salton batch was nowhere near ready. So we would then move it into the Excalibur. Even though I could control the temperature on the Salton, it was pretty clear that it was not as good a dehydrator.

#8 11/16/14, 11:07 PM

Mine sits on my sewing machine in the dining room, which isn't used for dining. I have a doily rag over it, so it doesn't look like a big black box sitting there. When I use it, I take it outside in the summer, or use it for heat in the winter. (Don't dry onions, garlic, or hot peppers inside! And spinach is kinda stinky, too.)

SueMc · #9 11/17/14, 04:48 AM

halfpint, the link I posted above is about the same price as Amazon's with all the freebies and free shipping.

karenp · #10 11/17/14, 07:55 AM

So, I'm convinced, do I need a 5 or 9 tray? Any pros or con with a clear door vs solid door?

SueMc · #11 11/17/14, 09:40 AM

Nine for sure. I don't know about the glass door.

Looking4ewes · #12 11/17/14, 09:55 AM

Thanks for the head's up on this sale. I have been wanting an Excaliber for awhile. I just ordered the 9 tray 3900 model, adjustable thermostat, no timer. If I need a timer, I can plug it into a $10 outlet timer.

AnnieinBC · #13 11/17/14, 05:54 PM

I don't know if I'd spring for the glass doors. Not convinced you can tell something is ready by looking through the door. I'd feel I had to open up the dryer to feel it for myself. Maybe that's just me...

I went for the 9 tray and am glad. If you only had 5 trays worth of food to dry, you can still use the 9 tray. But if you buy the 5 tray and have extra food to be dehydrated you would have to wait to put it in.

SueMc · #14 11/17/14, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnnieinBC

I don't know if I'd spring for the glass doors. Not convinced you can tell something is ready by looking through the door. I'd feel I had to open up the dryer to feel it for myself. Maybe that's just me...

I went for the 9 tray and am glad. If you only had 5 trays worth of food to dry, you can still use the 9 tray. But if you buy the 5 tray and have extra food to be dehydrated you would have to wait to put it in.

I'm the same way. I have to bend the product to tell if it's done.