Using a dehydrator is one of the best methods of food preservation.
Although a food dehydrator can be expensive to purchase initially, you can choose more inexpensive ones to start with, and then move up to a better one. That’s what we did, we started with a $50 Nesco round dehydrator then moved up to a $250 9 tray Excalibur model a couple years later.
From someone who has used both a cheap and the top of line dehydrator, I wanted to offer readers a dehydrator review.
Choosing the best food dehydrator for your needs
One of the most obvious questions when it comes to choosing a dehydrator is cost. The other is what you plan on dehydrating. Are you a dehydrated jerky lover? Is your goal to grow and dehydrate vegetables? Are you a raw foodist wishing to dehydrate healthy crackers and desserts?
I started looking for a dehydrator because we love dehydrating kale chips. At first a cheaper dehydrator was fine, although there was one flaw which I will talk about soon. Soon we wanted to start dehydrating on a larger-scale to preserve food. We also loved some of the gluten-free raw wraps which need a large tray not small circle ones.
The Best Home Food Dehydrator
Excalibur Food Dehydrator
When we heard that Excaliburs were the best food dehydrator, so I wanted to know why.
I will admit that we originally bought a second-hand Nesco, not one of the newer ones. However, one thing that we noticed with the Nesco food dehydrator is that the top layers of our dehydrated food were hot and crispy, but the bottom of the food wasn’t as dehydrated. I learned that the heating and fan air flow isn’t well distributed.
Even heat distribution is what makes the Excalibur or commercial dehydrators so great.
Another feature of the Excalibur food dehydrator I love is the different settings depending on what you’re dehydrating.
Our herbs would ALWAYS burn in the Nesco even on the lowest setting.
In the Excalibur I can dehydrate herbs on a very gentle setting and they don’t burn. This is a great benefit if you’re a herbalist or homesteader. You can also use your Excalibur to rise bread dough or start your yogurt fermentation.
The Excalibur 9 tray was our choice because we’re a large family that homesteads and preserves.
But this dehydrator also comes in a 4 tray or 5 tray size for an inexpensive option for smaller households.
What is your favorite food dehydrator?
