Are you the one always eating a snack like chips? As you know, store-bought snack always contains a different kind of additives or preservatives.

Do you want to eat healthier even you are eating a snack? If your answer is Yes, you have to buy one best home food dehydrators for your family.

If you have a dehydrators at home, you can make a different kind of snack for yourself and your lovely family. Do you want some ideas?

You can make muffins, chips, crackers, desserts, rising doughs, fruits, vegetables, fruit leathers, dried flowers, granola, trail mixes, nuts, herbs, jerky, meats, pet treats, potpourri, poultry, yogurt, and more.

You can also make the different tastes of fruit roll for your kids. You can create many new kinds of dry snacks. Everything just depends on your imagination and creativity.

Let’s say bye to additives and preservatives.

Out of the options below, my #1 choice is NESCO FD-75A Snackmaster Pro Food Dehydrator because it features a big grey handle, adjustable temperature control, patented converga-Flow drying system, and removable trays.

In the below, I will introduce 15 dehydrators for you as a reference. Before making any decision, please read “What Is Food Dehydrator?” and “How To Choose The Home Best Food Dehydrator” to get more ideas.

Table Of Content

  1. Excalibur 3926TB 9-Tray Electric Food Dehydrator – [THE MOST EXPENSIVE]
  2. NESCO FD-75A Snackmaster Pro Food Dehydrator – [TOP PICK]
  3. Magic Mill MFD-6100 Magic Mill Professional Dehydrator Machine – [EDITOR CHOICE]
  4. Presto 06301 Dehydro Digital Electric Food Dehydrator – [EDITOR CHOICE]
  5. Presto 06300 Dehydro Electric Food Dehydrator – [BUDGET PRODUCT]
  6. SuperPostman Food Dehydrator Machine with 7-Tray
  7. Gourmia GFD1950 Premium Countertop Food Dehydrator
  8. NESCO FD-37A Food Dehydrator
  9. NESCO FD-28JX Jerky Xpress Dehydrator Kit with Jerky Gun
  10. Gourmia GFD1680 Premium Countertop Food Dehydrator
  11. Chefman 5 Tray Round Food Dehydrator
  12. NESCO FD-1040 Gardenmaster Food Dehydrator
  13. Chefman Food Dehydrator Machine
  14. Hamilton Beach 32100A Digital Food Dehydrator
  15. Cuisinart DHR-20 Food Dehydrator
  16. How To Choose The Best Home Food Dehydrator
  17. Conclusion

Best Home Food Dehydrators

Excalibur 3926TB 9-Tray Electric Food Dehydrator


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[THE MOST EXPENSIVE] This is Excalibur dehydrator. If you are familiar with the dehydrator, you should know this brand. This is the most expensive dehydrator in the market. The price is obviously expensive than others.

It’s also very big. The dimension is 12.5” H X 17” W X 19” D. Its size is much bigger than most of the dehydrator.

It comes with 9 trays with 15 square feet of drying space. It’s not expandable. I think it should be enough for everyone no matter how many people from your family.

On top of the machine, there is a drying guide. It tells you the temperature setting of the specific food. Besides the drying guide, it has the temperature on the left and the timer on the right. You can set different combinations according to your needs.

The range of temperature is between 105 degrees F to 165 degrees F. If you want to preserve active enzymes in the fruit and vegetable, the temperature of this dehydrator is low enough to do that.

You can dehydrate the food for a maximum of 26 hours. I think no food needs much longer.

The tray is not plastic or stainless steel. It’s a ploy-screen tray that can prevent your food from sticking to the tray effectively.

7-inch large fan is large enough to increase air circulation and distribute hot air evenly over each tray inside the dehydrator.

The patented Parallex Horizontal Airflow is exclusive to Excalibur that helps dehydration faster without moving the food or rotating the tray.

This dehydrator is made in the USA. Not made in China.

Let me give you 1 tip. If you want to dehydrator beef jerky, you can put parchment paper on the bottom to catch the drip during dehydration. This will reduce the time for you to clean the bottom.

In my opinion, the dehydrator comes with a timer is much more than you use your own timer because when the food is done, the dehydrator will shut down automatically.

If you use your own timer, you have to always watch the time. It will be trouble if you need to go out. You always need to calculate the time. Sometime, you may need to turn off the machine at the midnight

NESCO FD-75A Snackmaster Pro Food Dehydrator


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[TOP PICK] This is Nesco food dehydrator. Do you try to dehydrator the food before?  Let’s talk about this.

On top of the dehydrator, there is a big grey handle. You can easily carry it from your cupboard to your counter.

There is a temperature control here. You can adjust the temperature from 95 up to 160 degrees Fahrenheit which is equal to 35 degrees Celsius up to 71 degrees Celsius.

It also has clear instructions to tell you what temperature you should use to dehydrate your food on the top. I love this design because you no need to find the manual every time you want to dehydrate the food.

You can dehydrate jerky, meats, fish, fruits, nuts, or herbs.

It comes with 5 trays. You can expand it to 12 trays according to your needs. The drying pressure will automatically adjust so you no need to worry too many trays will affect the result.

The patented converga-Flow drying system forces the dir across each tray to ensure fast, even, and nutritious drying. During the whole process, you no need to rotate and move the tray like an old-style food dehydrator.

It also comes with 2 solid BPA free plastic sheets. It’s perfect for drying semi-liquids like fruit roll.

With this machine, you can make many different kinds of snacks at home. It’s healthier than buy at a grocery or supermarket.

Especially jerky, it’s a favorite snack for the kids. Importantly, homemade jerky is much cheaper than buying outside.

Magic Mill MFD-6100 Magic Mill Professional Dehydrator Machine


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[EDITOR CHOICE] This is Magic Mll Dehydrator. Actually, this machine is quite big. It measure 13 inch X 12 inch so that it has a large space let you dehydrate the food.

On top of the machine, it has a digital thermostat and timer. You can easily choose your desired temperature and time according to your needs.

The drying temperature ranges from 95 degrees F to 158 degrees F. you can set it according to the type of food you want to dehydrate.

The timer is up to 19.5 hours. It’s enough for you to dehydrate all types of food. When the timer is up, the machine will automatically shut down. With this feature, you no need to worry about anything forgets to turn it off when you are outside.

It has 6 stainless steel drying racks. Not like others, it uses plastic as a rack. I personally prefer stainless steel more than plastic no matter it is BPA free or not.

Each rack can hold 1 pound of food so you totally can dehydrate 6 pounds of food at one time. It’s enough for the whole family use. Your kids can enjoy healthy snacks all the time.

The exterior of the machine made of BPA-free plastic so when you are dehydrating the food, you may smell a strong plastic smell come from the machine itself. But, don’t worry. The smell will run away after a few hours. It won’t stay forever.

It uses a large rear-mounted fan to evenly dehydrate your food. Since the fan is not small, it should have a little bit noisy when it is running.

The semi-transparent door lets you monitor the progress all the time. You can stop it at any time if you see your food is done.

It comes with 1 set of silicone mitts for you. Use this to take out the tray. Don’t just use the hand when the machine is done dehydrate.

One thing needs to be noted. This machine is not expandable. if you think you may dehydrate more in the future, there is another model that can fulfill your need.

Presto 06301 Dehydro Digital Electric Food Dehydrator


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[EDITOR CHOICE]  This is Presto 06301 Dehydro Digital Electric Food Dehydrator. The standard will not include a fruit roll sheet and mesh screen. If you want to buy, you have to pay attention to this. You can not make a fruit roll without a fruit roll sheet.

The dehydrator comes with 6 trays. It provides you a large area to make a large quantity of dry food for your family. The cover is transparent allow to monitor the progress of the fruit on the top tray all the time.

It can be expandable to 12 trays. The addition of 6 trays you have to buy separately.

You can make any kind of dry snack like other dehydrators. It’s great for drying fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, making jerky, and fruit roll.

It just depends on what you want or what your kids want. You can even bring them to the market to buy what they want.

The homemade dry food is much better than the store-bought snack. It will never have any additive and preservative. In the long term, it’s good for your family’s health.

Importantly, the cost of homemade dry food is cheaper than commercial dry foods or snacks. In the long term, it saves money as well.

This dehydrator, has a digital thermostat and timer. You can choose the temperature from 90 degrees F to 165 degrees F. When the time is up, the dehydrator will turn off automatically.

It’s really convenient. You can set the time, then go shopping or go to work without worrying about any machines forget to turn them off at home or the food overdrying. You will love this function.

All the trays and cover are dishwasher safe.

When you need to store the dehydrator, you can flip all the trays and nest them inside the previous one. It can save 43% of storage space. The cord can also wrap in the base to save space and reduce the mess in your cupboard.

Presto 06300 Dehydro Electric Food Dehydrator


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[BUDGET PRODUCT] This is Presto dehydrator. The standard version comes with 4 trays. It can expand up to 8 trays. All the trays and cover are dishwasher safe.

If you want more trays, you have to buy additionally. It doesn’t come with the fruit roll sheet and mesh screen as well.

When you look at this dehydrator, you may feel the design is very simple. Yes, you are alright. It’s really very simple. The dehydrator doesn’t have temperature control and timer. You even cannot find the on/off switch.

If you want to use it, just plugin. The power indicator light in the front of the dehydrator will go on.

Then, you may ask. Normally, dehydrate different food need different temperatures. How can the dehydrator know the temperature setting? This dehydrator only works with 1 preset temperature of approximately 165 degrees F.

When you plugin and start to use the dehydrator, you need to prepare your own timer. And set the time according to your food. Inside the instruction, there are some drying guides about this.

It comes with a see-through cover. You can monitor the drying progress all the time. But, you only can monitor the top tray. When the food is done, just plug out the dehydrator.

The bottom-mounted fan provides consistent airflow to dehydrate your food to the best result.

For easy storage, the drying trays can be nested to save space. The cord can wrap in the base to reduce the mess in your cupboard as well.

SuperPostman Food Dehydrator Machine with 7-Tray


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This is a SuperPostman food dehydrator. I think SuperPostman is not a big brand. At least I cannot find the official site and any company information. But the look of this dehydrator is not bad although it’s not a big brand.

It comes with 7 trays. Each tray can carry 1kg of food. 7 trays carry 7kg of food. The total capacity is not small. I think it can fulfill most of the family.

The height of the tray is adjustable. It has two-part, left and right. Either the height of the left or right side can higher than the other one. It’s the first time I see this kind of design.

You can stack the trays to a different height according to different food size and thickness. It’s really flexible.

All the trays are BPA free, dishwasher safe, and transparent. You can observe your food at any time. When I was young, I always observe. I think it will be fun for kids to see the food drying gradually.

In front of the dehydrator, the left side is the on/off switch, the right side is temperature control. You can choose the temperature according to your food. The range of temperature is 35 degrees to 70 degrees.

The cost of homemade dry snacks is much cheaper than store-bought. It has no additive and preservative. It’s much healthier. You can make a different kind of dry fruit snack for your family.

There is no timer control. You need your own timer. Otherwise, your food may overdry if you forget to turn off the dehydrator. It really inconveniences if you need to go out suddenly or need to go to work.

If you are budget enough, I suggest you buy the one with a timer.

With the built-in safety feature, the dehydrator will shut off automatically in case it overheats.

Gourmia GFD1950 Premium Countertop Food Dehydrator


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This is Gourmia Food Dehydrator. On top of the dehydrator, it has a control panel. You can control the temperature, timer, and on/off there. With the + and – button, you can do the precise increment of the timer.

There is a digital screen also. You can see the temperature and the timer clearly there.

The temperature control has 8 preset settings. You can choose your desired temperature easily. It ranges from 95 degrees F to 158 degrees F. The drying time is up to 19.5 hours. Every time you press, it will increase by 30 minutes.

The dehydrator has 9 trays that provide plenty of space to dry anything you want. You can dry the herb or ingredients for yourself. You can also bring your kids to market to buy their favorite fruit or vegetable to make a healthy dry snack.

Compare to store-bought snacks, it has no additive and preservative. And the cost of making dry food is also much cheaper than buying outside. In the long term, it’s a lot healthy and saves costs.

The transparent door lets you easy to monitor the progress of the fruit. I think your kids should love to observe how their favorite snack dries. It should be a funny process.

I believe all the parents will love to do anything with their kids, cooking, playing, tidying, or study.

It also comes with a fruit leather sheet and a drip tray. With the fruit leather sheet, you can create a different kind of fruit roll. There is an endless combination of tastes. You can create your own taste by imagination.

I love the dehydrator has a built-in timer because I can dehydrate the food even not at home. The machine will shut down automatically when the time is up.

I no need always remember when will my own timer ring and worry about overdrying the food.

Do you want some ideas? I can give you some. You can try muffins, chips, crackers, desserts, rising doughs, fruits, vegetables, fruit leathers, dried flowers, granola, trail mixes, nuts, herbs, jerky, meats, pet treats, potpourri, poultry, yogurt, and more.

The recipe included can give you more ideas. Have fun and enjoy it.

NESCO FD-37A Food Dehydrator


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This is NESCO Food Dehydrator. It comes with 4 trays. You can expand it to 7 trays. But the additional 3 trays you have to buy separately. Except for the powerhead, all the components are dishwasher safe.

Although the price of this dehydrator is low, it also has an on/off switch on the top-mounted to the powerhead. Like the other low price dehydrator, there is no temperature and timer control.

The temperature is preset at 160 degrees F. There is only 1 temperature in this dehydrator. You also need your own timer to count the time and keep it in mind. If you forget it and go out, your food will over dry.

Different food has a different drying time if you don’t want to turn off the machine at midnight. Don’t start drying the food before going to bed.

If you don’t to be in trouble, I suggest you buy the one with a timer.

You can make a different kind of dry food. You can make your own jerky, dried fruits, or vegetable.

Fruit roll sheet can make a different taste of fruit roll to you. It can be used with any liquid or semi-liquid.

Not only fruit roll, but it’s also great for soup and stew for use while camping. You can prepare a lot of different tastes of soup roll and stew roll. You can cook tastier food camping easily.

Ten more years ago, I always go camping. The only food I remember that always eat is curry because it’s convenient. Just buy a pack from the market. If I have the dehydrator at that time, I think I will have a more memorable memory.

When you need to store it, it has a clip to secure the tray for storage.

Overall, it is a simple dehydrator will a low price. If your requirement is not high, it will be a good choice.

NESCO FD-28JX Jerky Xpress Dehydrator Kit with Jerky Gun


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This is NESCO FD-28JX Jerky Xpress Dehydrator Kit with Jerky Gun. As you see the product name, this is the dehydrator kit especially for making jerky. If you like jerky, this kit is suitable for you.

It comes with a free jerky gun with 3 tip attachments and spice and cure packs. The meat chamber of this jerky gun is not transparent so you can no see-through inside. It can hold 1 pound of meat in the meat chamber each time.

The trigger and ratchet bar is made of stainless steel. If all the parts made of plastic, I made it will be broken very fast.

If you are new to make beef jerky, the included spice is good for you. After that, you can find other recipes online or buy them in the supermarket to create te your own taste.

The jerky gun comes with 3 nozzles, a big round nozzle, a small round nozzle, and a flat nozzle. Normally, it will have a double flat nozzle, but this kit doesn’t have it.

Let’s talk about this dehydrator. It comes with 4 trays. Each tray is 13.5 inches wide and can hold 1 pound of food. Besides jerky, you can dry fruit, spice, vegetable, etc.

The top-mounted fan has 1 on/off switch only. There is no temperature and timer control. There is only 1 preset temperature and you have to use your own timer.

Please keep in mind if your dehydrator is running, otherwise, the food will overdry as the dehydrator has no timer, it will not shut off automatically.

While drying, it’s no need to rotate the tray. The top-down fan will dry the food quickly and evenly.

Overall, this dehydrator is very simple to use. It’s really perfect for the beginner.

Give you one tip. When handling beef jerky or another meat jerky, please read the instruction carefully.

Gourmia GFD1680 Premium Countertop Food Dehydrator


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This is Gourmia GFD1680 Premium Countertop Food Dehydrator. It comes with 6 trays. If you think 6 trays may not enough for you in the future, please choose the other one because it is not expandable.

If you try fruit roll, soup roll, or stew roll. I think you may addict to dry the food. Do you know what soup roll is? If you know what soup roll it, then you will know what stew roll is.

I think most of you know what fruit roll is. Just turn the fruit juice into a piece of roll and eat at any time. Likewise, a soup roll made from the soup. How can I use the soup roll or stew roll?

One of the answers is camping. You can make different delicious soups easily while camping by just prepare a different kind of soup before and dry it. What a convenience.

Ten more years ago, I always go hiking and camping. If I have a food dehydrator at that time, the food will have more choices. At that time, I always eat bread, biscuit, or cook a pack of curry buy from the market.

With the adjustable temperature control and timer, you can dry the food and make the roll easily. You can control it on the top of the dehydrator, there is a panel.

Timer also provides you convenience because it will shut off the dehydrator automatically. You no need care and count the time. You can go anywhere during drying.

All the dry food you make has no additive and preservative and the cost is much lower than the store-bought.

The see-through door allows you to monitor the food all the time.

Importantly, you can bring your kids to market to buy the fruit and vegetable they want. And then you can make it together. It’s fun and easy.

Chefman 5 Tray Round Food Dehydrator


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This is Chefman 5 Tray Round Food Dehydrator. The dimension is 9.5 Inch Diameter x 6.5 Inch Height. It’s so small and cute. The price is low as well. I think that is the smallest dehydrator. It’s perfect for the beginner.

It also perfects to make a small amount of homemade granola bars, trail mix, beef jerky, dried herbs, or fruit snacks.

There is only one button in front of the dehydrator. It has no temperature control and timer. In this price range, it’s very normal.

It comes with 5 removable transparent trays and a transparent cover that provide you with an easy view of the food. You can monitor the situation of the food and stop the dehydrator at any time.

All the trays are BPA free and dishwasher safe.

If you don’t want to overdry the food, you need a timer. It will be an inconvenience if you want to go out or forget. Calculate the time, otherwise, you may need to wake up at midnight to turn off the dehydrator.

When you buy this dehydrator, it includes access to Club Chefman and read the step by step and tutorial.

The main advantages of a homemade dry food snack are health and the cost.

I believe you won’t add any additives and preservatives to the food. It’s much healthier than a store-bought snack. The cost is much lower as well.

If you didn’t try any dry food and want to try it now, this is maybe a good choice as a compact size and low price.

NESCO FD-1040 Gardenmaster Food Dehydrator


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This is Nesco Gardenmaster Food Dehydrator. Why is a garden master? It comes with 4 trays only. But it is expandable. Do you know how many can it expand?

It can expand to 20 trays. The room inside is enough for you to put all the fruit and vegetable from the garden inside. I mean this is the reason a so-called garden master.

It’s really huge. Tray size is a 15.5-inch diameter. Each tray can hold 1 pound of food. 20 trays totally can hold 20 pounds of food. Can you imagine 20 pounds of dry snack? I think I may need a day to prepare and cut the food.

The 1000 watt powerful drying power and 2,400 RPM motor is enough to dry 20 trays of food without moving or rotating the trays. The patented converge-flow forces the heated air to each individual tray. It dries fast and even.

You can make your dry snack in hours, not a day anymore. Fruit rolls 3-6 hours, beef jerky 4 hours, apples 4-6 hours, bananas 5-8 hours, and pineapple 4-6 hours. It’s really fast.

If your family have many members, you can make a lot of a different kind of fruit and vegetable for them at one time. It can fulfill everyone.

On the top, there is a control panel to let you control the temperature and timer precisely to provide a tasty dry snack because different food requires different time and temperature settings. The temperature ranges from 90 degrees F to 160 degrees F.

The included fruit roll sheet allows drying semi-liquids, soups, sauces, and fruit rolls. The clean-a screen allows you to easily drying small items such as herbs, spices, and potpourri.

This dehydrator probably is the largest one. If you have many family members and friends, this one should be the best choice.

Chefman Food Dehydrator Machine


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This is the Chefman Food Dehydrator Machine. It has 6 BPA free plastic trays. The dimension of each tray is 13 inches X 12 inches.

On top of the dehydrator, you will see the beautiful panel with digital touch settings. It has an on/off button, temperature, and timer control.

There is 14 temperature presets range from 95 degrees F to 158 degrees F. You can choose the best preset- temperature according to different food.

The countdown timer allows you to dry the food for up to 19.5 hours. When the time is up, the dehydrator will shut off automatically.

It comes with a transparent door. You can observe the progress without opening the door at any time.

In my opinion, the timer is the most important part of the dehydrator. Try to imagine, if your dehydrator has no timer, what will happen?

If you forget your dehydrator is running or forgets to turn it off, all the food will overdry. You can not go out while drying. If you need to work, you cannot make your favorite dry food.

Sometimes, you may even need to wake up at midnight to turn off the dehydrator.

With the timer, you no need to consider the time problem. Just go on to make any dry snack you want because it will turn off automatically. When you back home, you will have a lot of dry snacks.

All dry snacks will have no additive and preservative. It’s much healthier than store-bought. You no need to worry about your kids eats too much because all is fruit and vegetable. It’s full of nutrients.

You can even bring your kids to the market and let them choose what fruit and vegetable they want. You will have more time to be with your kids.

Enjoy and have fun making dry fruit snacks.


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This is Hamilton Beach Digital Food Dehydrator. In the front of the base, it has a control panel that contains 4 buttons, temp/time, start/pause, up, and down button. In the middle of the panel, there is a very bright digital screen.

You can set the timer up to 48 hours. I think it’s enough to dry all the food. The main advantage of the timer is you can make your favorite dry food at any time even you go shopping or go to work because when the timer is up, it will shut off automatically.

For some cheaper dehydrators with no timer, you need to prepare your timer. Otherwise, the food will over-drying. You can make the dry snack only you are at home. Try to imagine, how many hours you will at home?

It limits the hour you can make the dry snack. With the built-in timer, you can make it at any time. If you are budget enough, buy the dehydrator with a built-in timer.

It comes with a transparent lid. You can check your food easily. But it only limits to the first tray. All the trays are not transparent so you can monitor the whole drying progress without removing the tray. This is the one main disadvantage.

Like other dehydrators, you can use the included fine-mesh sheet to dry the small food like herbs. The included solid sheet use to make fruit rolls.

This dehydrator is not expandable. If you want to buy, you should estimate how much you want to dry carefully or how fast will your family eat the snack.

Overall, the most special part of the dehydrators is the clear bright screen. You can see it clearly even you are far from the dehydrator. It’s quite convenient.

Cuisinart DHR-20 Food Dehydrator


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This is Cuisinart DHR-20 Food Dehydrator. If you want to dehydrate a large amount of food at one time, this one can do perfectly for you. It comes with has 5 trays.

It can be expandable to 9 trays. But the other 4 additional trays you have to buy separately. All the trays can interlock together so you can stack the trays easily.

A powerful 62 watt motorize fan on the bottom provides fast and even drying of your food.

There is only 1 temperature control on the front. The temperature control has 4 settings fan only, low, medium, and high.

It has no timer and on/off switches. You need your own timer. When you need to go out or work, you have to calculate the time carefully. Otherwise, the fruit will over dry.

If you want to dry the food, just plug in and adjust the temperature.

With this dehydrator at home, you no need to buy a snack anymore. You can do it at home with your kids. You can even bring your kids to market and let them choose what fruit or vegetable they want.

You can use it to make a lot of dried snacks such as dried herbs, dried fish, potato crisps, yogurt, dog treats, beef jerky, etc. All the homemade snacks are no additive and preservative. It’s much healthier than store-bought.

It also comes with a fruit leather tray. You can also make the fruit roll-up to them. The taste of fruit roll-up just depends on your imagination. You can try to mix different fruit together to create a new taste.

The transparent tray and cover allow you to monitor the progress of the fruit all the time.

How To Choose The Best Home Food Dehydrator

Do you have any experience of drying the fruit at home? Do you know how to do it?

If you are new to the dehydrator, please read this part. I will list down all the buying criteria in detail below.

Shape

There are 2 shapes of dehydrators on the market, round, and rectangle.

Normally, the price of the round shape is cheaper. As the cheaper price, it has less control or no control of the machine. The smallest dehydrator is round in shape as well.

If you never make a dry fruit snack, you can buy this round dehydrator first.

Rectangle has more control. As the shape is a rectangle. It will save more storage space.

Control (Timer, temperature, on/off switch)

There are 3 controls, timer, temperature, and on/off switch. Not all the dehydrator has controlled. It totally depends on the dehydrator.

The cheapest dehydrator always comes with no control even on/off switch. No built-in timer you can use and no temperature you can set.

On/off switch

If your dehydrator has no on/off switched, it just plugs in and uses, unplugs if finish. Very simple, right?

Timer

In my opinion, the timer is very important. With the built-in timer, the dehydrator will shut up automatically when the time is up. Try to imagine, you can make dry fruit at any time even before sleep. You no need to wake up at midnight and shut the unit off.

When you wake up or come home after work, you will have a nice snack for you.

If no timer, it is difficult to make dry fruit when you need to go out or work. If you forget to turn it off, the fruit will overdry. The taste will become bad.

You need to buy an extra timer to count the time and check the timer all day. It’s really an inconvenience.

Temperature

How about if no temperature, what will happen?

It has only one preset temperature lets you dry all kinds of fruit. Normally, different food needs a different temperature to dry to achieve the best result.

For example, dry fruit needs to use the lowest temperature if you want to preserve active enzymes. But if you make jerky, it needs to use the highest temperature.

So, you see, if you want to taste better and make the snack more healthy, you need different temperature settings.

Expandable

Expandable means the total number of the tray can be increased by buying additional trays.

Like Presto 06301 Dehydro Digital Electric Food Dehydrator, it can be expandable up to 12 trays. It can dry around 12-pound food at one time. It has a digital thermostat and a timer.

Not all the dehydrator is expandable, it totally depends.

Exterior

If the exterior of the dehydrator is plastic, when you dry the food, it may emit some plastic smell. Normally, the smell will be gone after a few hours.

Cover Color & Tray Color

Not all the dehydrator comes with a transparent tray and covers especially the fan is mounted on the top.

If the tray and cover are not transparent, you cannot monitor the food all the time.

It will have no fun for your kids. I think most of the kids like to watch the progress of drying food.

See-through Door

Only a rectangle shape dehydrator comes with the see-through door. You can monitor the progress from the beginning to the end.

Fruit Roll Sheet & Nonstick Mesh Screens

If you like to eat fruit roll and small food, you have to pay more attention to this because not all the dehydrator comes with free fruit roll sheet and nonstick mesh screens. Ask clearly before making any decision.

Jerky Gun & Jerky Seasoning

Some bundle will have the jerky gun and jerky seasoning. It’s good if you never make jerky before. After you master it, you can create your own recipes.

Drip Tray

It uses only in the rectangle shape dehydrator but it’s not free all the time. If the one you want to buy does not have a drip tray. I suggest you buy some parchment papers and place them in the bottom to catch the drip when you want to make jerky.

It will save you time to clean the bottom.

Conclusion

I think most of you already get some ideas about how to make healthy dry fruit snacks for your family now.

Now, you can take a look at any snack’s ingredients. It really contains many different kinds of additives and preservatives. Do you want to eat them more?

I think you have never thought to eat a healthy snack. Although you want healthy all the time, a store-bought snack is never healthy.

With the homemade dry snack, you no need to worry anymore. You can make a ton of healthy snacks at any time with the dehydrator.

You and your family can choose their favorite fruit to make a different kind of dry fruit snack and fruit roll.

You can slice the fruit and your kids can put the fruit into the trays. All of them cooperate together and have fun during the process.

I hope my post can help everyone to choose the best food dehydrator and have a healthy life.

If you have any questions or opinion, please leave them below, I’d love to hear that.

Let’s discuss it together.


6 Comments

yoge · December 16, 2019 at 2:48 am

I like the dehydrators because I like dry fruits,you choose the 15 best collections of dehydrators. It makes me freeze.In my girlfriend’s house, there is one dehydrator, its name is”Presto 06301″, now only he bought.when i see your article it make me gain additional knowledge about the food dehydrator.In the collection 15 best food dehydrator, i  like NESCO FD-37A food dehydrator And personally thanks for giving the recommender information and keep doing more articles.

by-yoge

KingAndrea · December 16, 2019 at 2:44 am

Its very thoughtful of you to have put this together, eating healthier has been a big problem for some people, it’s very confirmed that packed snacks gotten from store and supermarkets are always infused with chemicals to preserve them till sales comes for them. The idea of using dehydrators for home food is safe and reasonable, I’ll look into getting one of these beautiful dehydrators.

Dolbe · December 16, 2019 at 3:02 am

Before reading your article, I never think I can do my chips, crackers, muffins or other my favourite snack at home.  My son likes eating snacks esp. potato chips and he always buys packs of chips from supermarket.  Of course, it is not a healthy way.  I do agree that the snacks outside contains different kinds of additives or preservatives.  To have a better substitute, I think choosing a dehydrator and make the snacks at home is needed.

Thank you for your good recommendations.

Dolbe

Travis · December 16, 2019 at 3:03 am

I have been in the market for a food dehydrator, I have heard that it is a great way to make healthy snacks for myself and my family. I was just thinking about it being cheaper to dehydrate my own food, didn’t even think about the fact that it would help keep additives and such out of our food. Thank you so much for putting together these options, I can’t wait to get my new food dehydrator!

Vince Gipson · September 27, 2020 at 12:47 am

I wanted to let you know that Excalibur dehydrators has gone out of business.
They haven’t answered my emails for 6 weeks and their phone number is disconnected.

    CT · October 26, 2020 at 8:02 pm

    Thank you for your information.

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