I researched dehydrators for almost 3 months before making a purchase, and asked a LOT of people what features they liked or disliked about their dehydrator. I discovered that the round ones, although seemingly popular (and cheaper) will not dry evenly because the fan is at the bottom, so if you have too many things on the bottom it will not let the proper amount of air above to dry the things on the upper levels - which is a MAJOR drawback! Also lots of the smaller kinds of dehydrators do not have self-timers, which I really wanted because when you're drying something for anywhere from 8 to 24 hours, you don't want to have to remember to check on it to turn it off! Another thing some people mentioned were that some smaller types can be quite noisy, which I wanted to try to avoid as much as possible. There were a few other drawbacks to the smaller and/or cheaper models, but I can't remember them now as it's been several months. One of the things that really caught my attention on the Excalibur was the fact that many people had them from the 70's and they are STILL running - reminds me of a Kitchenaid mixer...SO - I finally decided that an Excalibur would work best, as they have built-in timers, a very varied temperature range, and the fan is located in the back of the dehydrator instead of at the bottom (which someone has already mentioned). I was also very happy to discover that the trays are dishwasher safe, and very easy to wipe down, otherwise, as well! Well, I finally broke down and clicked the 'purchase' button, and ever since then it's been no regrets!
I have used and used and used my dehydrator for 6 months now and I still have not run into one thing that I dislike about it! It's not very noisy at all - my family often mistakes it for a small fan or the air conditioner blowing. I LOVE the self timer and I don't think I could ever live without it! I can put something in when I go to bed and not have to wake up at 6AM to keep it from over-drying. I just set the timer and 'click': off it goes! I have used it for a whole week, 24 hours a day, 7 days in a row, once before and it ran fine and kept a consistent temperature. My model came with 2 Paraflexx sheets included, and I love those as well, although in some cases I believe wax paper or parchment paper would do just as well.
I have used this to dry rawfoods recipes (although I'm not a rawfoodist, I do enjoy the recipes!), for fruit leathers, made some veggie 'chips', made some strawberry-banana granola, to re-crisp stale chips, to preserve produce that is going bad from the fridge, to make yogurt, to dry sprouted beans and grains... I'm sure there's more... :-) Once you dehydrate something you will be hooked!
Trust me - if you purchase any Excalibur dehydrator you will not be disappointed in any way!
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Product Description:
Excalibur 5-Tray Dehydrator for great tasting and long lasting fruits, veggies and jerky! Save the flavor, save the nutrition, SAVE BIG BUCKS! Eating healthy can get expensive... especially fresh produce that seems to go bad the moment you get it home. The Excalibur is a compact Food Dehydrator with plenty of room to make jerky or dry your favorite fruits and vegetables so you can keep them edible longer while still maintaining almost all the taste and nutritional value! Excalibur! Holds 5 to 6 lbs. of meat; 5 trays with 8 square feet of drying area... means BIG CAPACITY; Easy to clean with removable doors and trays; Trays roll out easy so you can check on drying process; 8 1/2"h. x 17"w. x 19"d. with 5" fan. Order Now! Excalibur 5-Tray Dehydrator
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