Food Dehydrator, Elechomes Upgraded 6-Tray Dryer for Beef Jerky, Meat, Fruit, Dog Treats, Herbs Vegetable, Digital Time & Temperature Control, Overheat Protection Fruit Roll Sheet Included, BPA Free

I bought this item for my Husband's Christmas gift. He used it to make his FIRST batch of Beef Jerky and it performed beautifully! It was delivered quickly, I wrapped it and it went right under the tree. (NOTE: strange that it arrived in it's "original" box...NOT in an Amazon box---so if you're trying to surprise someone, the picture is on the box!!...weird...also BAD if you have porch pirates!!) The inside packaging was great and the unit was surrounded in an "air bubble box"....to protect the plastic trays, lid and unit. There was no assembly required except to "snap" the knob onto the lid. My Husband used all 6 trays for his batch of Beef Jerky and the digital controls were easy to adjust and read. It stopped after 4 hours, thanks to the timer, he checked the progress as per instructions and he continued for 1.5 more hours. It dehydrated 2 1/2 pounds of beef and yielded a little over 1 pound of jerky...and it turned out GREAT!!! He used all 6 clear trays for the jerky batch---but we did not use the solid, fruit roll tray or the "diamond" flex tray. (we'll do that some other day) It was much quieter than I expected and sounded like a purr of a fan. This was a fantastic purchase at an affordable price....I also purchased "the Complete Dehydrator Cookbook for future recipes and projects!! *thumb up* KCJ Nashville, TN

Works great for what its intended for

I bought this specifically for dehydrating elderberries. I had to order additional plastic mesh for the extra trays, since small items fall right through the holes in the trays. All in all, it is a lovely dehydrator and works well. It does take a while to dry items out and through trial and error, we are finding what is worth our time to dehydrate. Currently we are big fans of apples, kiwis and it held up through a full week + of drying out elderberries.

I liked this so well - I bought a second one! I've been drying home grown CELERY leaves for Celery Salt and Powder, WALLA WALLA Onions for Onion Powder, Onion rings - broken up and Onion Salt. I also had a blast growing celery for the first time and the leaves are way more fragrant than the stalks. (Be sure to wash thoroughly as the bugs (don't want to go in the dehydrator! Pick the herbs early in the morning and soak them for a few minutes in a LARGE bowl with a bit of cider or wine vinegar to kill any hiding critters. Shake off moisture and onto the drying racks! Go to an online website to learn how to process using a dehydrator and you will LOVE LOVE LOVE doing this for BETTER tasting herbs without preservatives. I also dehydrated fresh potatoes (blanched first for 3 minutes), as well as frozen bags of potatoes and mixed veggies which do NOT have to be blanched. Also on the list -- fresh green peppers, diced tomatoes, and fresh GARLIC (which I placed the dehydrator on the back porch) as it is very pungent. Everything else has been perfect to do in the house. I also bought one for each of my daughter who has also expressed how much fun they are having and especially getting the grandchildren happy to help pick fresh produce and herbs from the garden. Amazingly the kids are having as much fun helping prepare the trays full of good stuff! Zucchini chips (lightly seasoned) were a hit for kids that rarely eat "green stuff". They are also experimenting with dried fruit and beef jerky. Just a note - I also purchased a few extra NESCO dehydrator trays and cut them down to fit my trays which work GREAT to keep smaller herbs from falling through (and the diced tomatoes!) Tomato powder is as effective as tomato PASTE to thicken tomato based soups, spaghetti sauce/gravy and stews. (After prepping my tomatoes for canning, I saved the skins and dehydrated them to powder. Thanks for the suggestion! It makes a great flavorful thickener!)

I ordered this as my very first dehydrator because my veggie garden is really producing and I want to try drying things this year. Used the unit to dry chili peppers, tomatoes, and spices, and it does a great job drying them to the level you need. I even did some jerky and dog treats at the higher temps, and it came out fantastic. Then my unit broke. It would not warm up, just blew room temp air. Not acceptable, obviously. I contacted the company Elechomes through Amazon. They got back to me promptly and offered a new unit after I sent in the damaged one. I asked if we could do anything faster, as I had produce that needed to be dried or it would go bad. Elechomes graciously agreed to send me a new unit immediately and process the return later. Got the new unit in 3 days and was back up and preserving! I think you can tell a lot about a company when there's a problem. The unit broke - not good, but the company went the extra mile to make me a happy camper. Highly recommend these folks. Highly recommend the unit, it does a nice job with all the trays and temperature options.

I purchased this unit because I love beef jerky but don't love how expensive it is to buy. I decided to just make my own, so I looked into dehydrators. This one caught my attention because of the combination of price point, positive reviews, and look/style of the unit. Since buying it I've made about 6 or 7 batches of jerky and it works amazingly. Very easy to use timer, small enough to comfortably fit on my countertop and easy to clean after use. I haven't used it for anything other than meat as of yet but I can't imagine why it wouldn't do an equally good job dehydrating fruit.

I have purchased nine (9) dehydrator on Amazon and all have one thing in common, they rarely last more than one year with regular use. This type of dehydrator works very well for the money and is generally a lower value (price and quality). It tends to dry out from the bottom up since the blower and heating element is in the base. I found it worked best when you reverse the tray position every few hours through the dehydrating process. Do not over load the trays. Reducing the airflow could lead to overheating. The heating element in the base has a termal fuse and when it overheats, the fuel shuts off the power permanently. Not totally true, you have to take everything apart, take out the fuse and solder in a new one which I have had to do a few times. This is not an easy process and I would not recommend. I have never had this type of dehydrator last more than a year and I would recommend buying the extended warranty. I don't buy the warranty on many things but this one I would say is a must.

Works okay, but it is basically useless if you need replacement trays, like the herb tray and the fruit leather tray. Company didn't even think about extra trays or replacement parts, just selling a package. Must be just the middle-man. Since it is a smaller size than most of the dehydrators, trays small enough for this unit seem to be difficult, or impossible, to locate. The company has since contacted me and are making arrangements for more fruit leather trays and herb drying racks: I make a lot of fruit leather in the fall and 1 rack wasn't enough. The company made an effort to make me happy, and I am. The dehydrator works very well, fairly quiet for such a unit, after using it for a couple weeks I really like it. Also appreciate the effort their customer service went through to locate the extra trays. Second update: the company located 6 extra racks and 6 fruit leather trays for me, I received them yesterday! That was more than I ever expected, wonderful seller! They had offered me a partial refund, which I refused, and I'm glad I did! Receiving the extra racks and trays was tremendous!