Great Design with the fan on top. So far I have used it for drying beef jerky, pineapple, peach, nectarine, tomatoes, bell peppers, and onion slices. I love it!!!

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This dehydrator comes with a handy booklet with drying temperatures in lists. Make sure to use it in a separate room, b/c it is loud and hot.

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I was very excited about my new food dryer, sliced up a bunch of zucchini, laid it out on the trays, pluged in the top and...

the fan did not come on. The heating element briefly glowed hot red and then went dark. So, nothing worked at that point but it was no longer a fire hazard. It must have some built-in fuse or thermocouple to disconnect the heating element if it gets too hot.

So, I returned this item and will get one that is more expensive and hopefully more reliable. If you're lucky enough to get one that works, hopefully it will continue to work for a few years. It otherwise seemed to be a decent design for distributing warm air across the trays.

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Overall seems to be a good product. Like the temperature control and the ability to add trays. My husband uses it for drying morels and I can't wait to try it with my strawberry's in a couple weeks.

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I started with the 9-tray Excalibur and it was too noisy for my small home. I sold it to a friend with a porch and bought the 4-tray model, which is much quieter.



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I WAS VERY PLEASED WITH THIS PRODUCT. IT DRIES QUICKLY AND EVEN MORE IMPORTANT - EVENLY. IF IT ONLY HAD A TIMER IT WOULD BE PERFECT.

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I wanted the Gardenmaster to make my own gluten-free jerky. Despite many readings of the instruction manual I missed that for safety I needed to include the spice packet (which makes things dry faster, before bacteria can grow at the low-heat levels). So that batch is sitting in the freezer and I'm not sure what to do with it.

The directions are confusing (the top of the machine very clearly states that jerky is made at 160 degrees, Nesco customer service says 155--doesn't sound like a big difference but E.coli is killed at 160). The manual says to dehydrate jerky for 2-15 hours. Customer service says 5-8. Why the huge difference? Doesn't instill a lot of confidence.

Customer service also didn't offer very helpful advice about whether their spice packets were gluten-free ("yes, except Teriyaki flavor, and in the case of allergies it's best to play it safe if you're not sure"--duh!).

Does the temperature rise high enough fast enough to be able to skip the pre-dehydrating cooking at 160 that the USDA recommends? Nesco didn't respond to that (though it would seems that exactly why they made a dehydrator that reaches those temps, but I'd like confirmation), said to just use the aforementioned spice packet that may or may not include allergens.

I'd give it a lower score because the whole experience has been disappointing, but the machine is relatively quiet and dries well.

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I wanted the Gardenmaster to make my own gluten-free jerky. Despite many readings of the instruction manual I missed that for safety I needed to include the spice packet (which makes things dry faster, before bacteria can grow at the low-heat levels). So that batch is sitting in the freezer and I'm not sure what to do with it.

The directions are confusing (the top of the machine very clearly states that jerky is made at 160 degrees, Nesco customer service says 155--doesn't sound like a big difference but E.coli is killed at 160). The manual says to dehydrate jerky for 2-15 hours. Customer service says 5-8. Why the huge difference? Doesn't instill a lot of confidence.

Customer service also didn't offer very helpful advice about whether their spice packets were gluten-free ("yes, except Teriyaki flavor, and in the case of allergies it's best to play it safe if you're not sure"--duh!).

Does the temperature rise high enough fast enough to be able to skip the pre-dehydrating cooking at 160 that the USDA recommends? Nesco didn't respond to that (though it would seems that exactly why they made a dehydrator that reaches those temps, but I'd like confirmation), said to just use the aforementioned spice packet that may or may not include allergens.

I'd give it a lower score because the whole experience has been disappointing, but the machine is relatively quiet and dries well.

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Oh my gosh ... the jerky is the best ever. My family and friends say "keep making it", and it makes the house smell delicious as it is drying. I haven't used the dehydrator for fruits or vegetables yet, but wouldn't mind just using it for jerky. I used ground turkey and the original seasoning mix, I can't believe how easy it is. One pound made about 30 pieces of jerky, and it only took about 5-6 hours to dehydrate. It does put out a bit of heat while running, and it does make a low noise. All is all this is fantastic, so glad I tried it.

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I recently purchased 4 sets of trays for our food dehydrator from Amazon. My husband has become the "jerky" king of our town and he has been complaining about having to wait so long before putting another batch in to dry. The new trays now bring our total tray count up to 12 which is the maximum. Now he can do all of the jerky at one time by just rotationg the trays every so often. It is a great product!

Debbie

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