600 watts
38 x 38 cm
Fruit, vegetables, meat and fish for jerky, re-crisp breads, crackers
The capacitative touch buttons are sleek and responsive. You can raise the temperature inside the unit as high as 75 degrees, adding or subtracting by 5-degree increments. The silent fans ensure even drying results.
The unit gets quite hot when running at 75°C.
The SousVideTools 229033 will allow you to prepare as well as preserve healthy, nutrient-dense snacks. With its stainless steel construction, this appliance can withstand heavy use, fitting commercial kitchens and job environments to a tee.
Convection
Horizontal with slide-out trays
6
Rectangular
1000 watts
35°C - 75°C
Yes
33 x 30.5 cm
Fruits, meats, fish, vegetables, greens, herbs, bread, and more
2 years
The slide-out trays are made from stainless steel, so they will not get brittle over time. Using internal fans that force warm air horizontally across individual trays, the unit ensures fast, even, and nutritious drying.
The instructions are lacking.
The SousVideTools 229002 will allow you to whip up yummy organic treats. With the model consuming just 500 watts, you won't see a noticeable rise in the energy bills even if you use this appliance on a daily basis.
Convection
Horizontal with slide-out trays
6
Rectangular
500 watts
35°C - 65°C
No
40 x 32 cm
Fruits, meats, fish, vegetables, greens, herbs, bread, and more
2 years
The drying racks are specifically designed to prevent mould build-up while a glass door allows controlling the whole process visually. The unit is almost noiseless and a 12-hour timer with temperature hints on the body will help adjust optimal settings for different foods.
The gap between the upper shelf and the top of the unit is rater small.
Entirely made of metal, the TurboWave dehydrator will serve your for a long time and make sure your foods won't get in contact with heated plastic. It is compact enough to be stored in the kitchen cabinet and 14 L capacity is enough to cover family needs.
Convection
Horizontal with slide-out trays
5
Rectangular
350 watts
50°C - 80°C
Yes
27.5 x 22.2 cm
Fruits, meats, fish, vegetables, greens, herbs, bread, and more
2 years
There's a drying guide on the digital control panel that outlines at what temperatures fruits, vegetables, greens, herbs, meat, fish, and bread should be dried. The trays are easily removable and dishwasher safe.
The holes in the trays are too big, so the smallest ingredients might fall through them.
This model from Buffalo comes fitted with 10 slide-out trays, which means you'll be able to dry many more different food items at the same time. Nevertheless, despite housing 10 trays, the model is no less compact than its direct competition.
Convection
Horizontal with slide-out trays
10
Rectangular
800 watts
35°C - 70°C
Yes
38 x 29.5 cm
Fruits, meats, fish, vegetables, greens, herbs, bread, and more
1 year
Parallex Horizontal Airflow
The Excalibur 3926TB is a convection-type food dehydrator with horizontal tray loading. It is rather big, so it will be easily up to the task of being a solid option for drying large amounts of food.
In addition to featuring a completely BPA-free design, this food dryer incorporates a number of features making it possible to use it with various foods. For one, it's the power. Producing up to 600 W it proves to be effective at drying out just about any ingredients. For two, it's trays. The unit is fitted with as many as nice compartments, so you can dehydrate food on separate trays. Finally, the device features the Parallex Horizontal Airflow function, thus, despite the fact that the heating element and the fan are placed at the back of the unit, it isn't lacking in performance and distributes the heat evenly across the device. So, unlike many other dehydrators, you won't need to rotate this one in order to achieve great results.
Another cool thing about the Excalibur 3926TB we'd like to mention is that it has a thermostat, so it will perfectly maintain the set temperature and save you from having to keep an eye on it.
Moving on, the dehydrator uses the Hyperwave Fluctuation Technology which ensures that the food won't lose its healthy enzymes while being dehydrated. On the housing, there is a temperature scale that you can use to select a necessary temperature mode for the type of food you want to dry accordingly. Also, you can automate the process and set a timer, which can turn on/off the device during a period of up to 26 hours.
All in all, the Excalibur 3926TB is a solid option for large households that want to dry large amounts of food. It can withstand heavy use and fit plenty of food at a time. Plus, it needs minimum control. One of the best food dehydrators you can find on the market right now.
| Last updated price | $0.00 |
| Stock | May be out of stock |
| ASIN | B008OV4FD0 |
Reaching 75 Degrees
The SousVideTools 229033 makes preparing healthy, nutrient-dense food simple and pretty effortless. With its sophisticated yet, again, simple design, the model lets you adjust the temperature between 35 and 75 degrees Celcius with 5-degree increments. Likewise, you can set the drying time anywhere between 30 minutes and 24 minutes with 30-minute increments. Aside from these two switches, the unit leaves only the on/off button, so figuring out its controls should not present considerable challenges.
Made from stainless steel, this appliance is not the fingerprint magnet that cheap food dehydrators are. It is also scratch-resistant and easy to clean. Operation-wise, the model employs silent fans, ensuring even heat distribution and even drying results. While noise is not an issue, the heat can be. To be more specific, when the unit reaches 75 degrees Celcius, the housing gets quite hot, so make sure that you're proceeding with caution on this front.
The model weighs almost 10 kilogrammes, so transportation can be an issue. But, thanks to the integrated side handles, the unit is perfectly luggable.
In closing, the SousVideTools 229033 will fit home use about as much as commercial kitchens or shop environments. Attractive, durable, and efficient, this appliance will let you prepare and preserve delicious snacks.
No Pushover
The SousVideTools 229002 is less sophisticated than its more expensive relative that we've reviewed above but about as efficient. Applying internal fans that force warm air horizontally across the trays, this unit makes sure that the food is dried evenly and thoroughly. In other words, you don't have to rotate the trays to avoid uneven-dried food.
The stainless steel trays that this appliance is using won't get brittle with time and will not make maintenance difficult at all. They slide out with ease and the trays' square design ensures that you can store more items on one rack.
While the unit itself is not made of stainless steel, its high-strength polycarbonate construction is no pushover either, easily withstanding busy days in commercial kitchens.
The part that we like the least about this product doesn't even have anything to do with the appliance, it is the instruction manual that comes with this appliance that's lacking in detail. In every other respect, this is a solid product. Drawing just 500 watts, the unit is able to reach 65 degrees Celcius, so you'll be whipping up organic treats without worrying about increased energy bills. Plus, the see-through front door will let you keep an eye on the ingredients as they dry.
For Smaller Kitchens
Want the benefits of a horizontally loaded dehydrator in a more compact format? If so, the TT-FD14 dehydrator from TurboTronic has all the chances to meet your needs. The model is noticeably smaller and more compact than other similar units. It looks pretty much like a microwave and, measuring 38 x 28 x 22.5 cm, it won’t eat up too much space and can continuously stand on your countertop even if your kitchen is on the smaller side. And if you need to stow it away, it will easily fit a shelf in a common kitchen cabinet.
Surely enough, this model features fewer trays and those trays are also smaller. However, it still offers an ample capacity of 14L, which is enough to cover common family needs. Five trays offer 2885 sq. cm of drying area to accommodate fruits for vitamin-packed yummy treats for kids and healthy quick bites, fish and meat for nutritious snacks, or fresh herbs for homemade spices, or even some chewy delicacies for your four-legged companions. By removing the trays, you can even use the unit as a yoghurt maker to whip up several portions of healthy yoghurt without sugars and additives.
At 350 watts of power, the TurboTronic dehydrator is an energy-wise appliance that won’t increase your energy bills too much. Besides, operating in the 50°C - 80°C temperature range, it will get the job done pretty quickly. And a built-in 12-hour timer with an auto shut-off function will let you precisely set the cooking operation times to get the desired degree of dehydration for different foods.
To put a final note, the dehydrator is entirely made of durable and hygienic steel. So, it’s a solidly built and functional unit that will serve you for a long time and you can rest assured your foods won’t contact heated plastic.
| Last updated price | $0.00 |
| Stock | May be out of stock |
| ASIN | B07J6NCLD6 |
10 Trays
This food dehydrator from Buffalo gives away pretty much everything that the appliance has to offer with just its name, but we'll review the product nonetheless. As you can guess, the biggest standout feature here is the 10 horizontal slide-out trays that this model comes with. Considering that the unit measures just 38 x 29.5 centimetres, which is even less than most dehydrators, this is an impressive tray count.
Of course, the problem here is that you'll have issues fitting vertically-endowed ingredients. Also, these trays integrate sizable holes, meaning that they're not great with especially small ingredients either. That being said, most fruit and vegetable strips, greens, herbs, meat slabs, and bread slices will be just fine.
Whilst somewhat basic-looking, the digital control panel atop the appliance enables you to adjust the temperature (from 35 to 70 degrees Celcius) and the timer (from 30 minutes to 24 hours) without much hassle. Moreover, there's a nice little drying guide on the panel that will let you know what ingredients should be dried at what temperature. Thanks to this guide, you'll able to operate the appliance without referring to third-party instruction manuals or looking up the required information online.
What Is a Food Dehydrator?
A food dehydrator is a cool kitchen device used to extend the shelf life of food. It works using a heat source and an airflow which allow it to reduce the moisture content in various foods (50% for meats and 80-90% for fruits and vegetables) so that you can preserve it longer without a fear that it might go bad.
Food dehydrators are easy to use. All you will need to do is cut the food into small pieces and place them on special trays. And the device will get the job done for you. Equipped with adjustable thermostat, food dehydrators maintain a constant temperature and support an adequate airflow, which is important for removing the maximum water content.
A food dehydrator is a healthy way of preserving food fresh longer and a nice addition to the kitchen of any healthy life-goer.
We've also written about vacuum sealers. Similar to food dehydrators, these are used to expel air from the package to extend the shelf life of its contents.
What Features to Compare
Type and Shape
When deciding on a food dryer, firstly, look at its type and shape. These are very important features. The type of dehydrator can be either convection or infrared. Convection-type food dehydrators use a heating element with a fan that moves the air inside the housing. They are more popular than infrared ones which use infrared rays to heat up the fruit surface, thus evaporating the moisture. As for the shape, the food dryers can be round (oval shape is possible, but rare) with the trays one on top of the other over the heating element, and square that look like drawers with the trays on the rails.
Both types have their pros and cons. The round ones take less space, almost as little as your average cooking pot, but you may need to rearrange the trays from time to time for more even drying. The square ones don't require that, but instead, to dry equally on different ends of the tray, you may need to rotate the trays. Also, these models can be somewhat bulky.
Performance and Intended Use
The next important criteria while choosing a food dryer should be the performance and intended use. The performance is affected by several key characteristics like the dehydrator's power, the availability of a thermostat, the size and number of trays, which affects the capacity, and the types of food you will be able to dry. The power of your food dehydrator directly affects the type and amount of food you are going to dry. If you wish to load a lot of fruit, meat, fish, etc. then 1000 Watts or more will be a suitable power for your dehydrator. For small supplies, the 250-Watt device will be more than enough. For the moderate price, you will mostly find fruit dehydrators of 700–800 Watts. They are quite okay for drying fruit and vegetables. For those who like to dry meat or fish, we would recommend purchasing more powerful devices, although they cost slightly more.
We also attribute here important control functions like a temperature range and the built-in adjustable thermostat. As a rule, the simplest fruit dehydrators only have the ON/OFF switch, which might be inconvenient as different vegetables and fruit require different temperature modes. The best would be to have 2–3 modes of dehydrator temperature (at least 40°С and 70–75°С). The lower temperature is good for drying herbs and berries, curing fruits whereas the higher temperatures are perfect for drying most fruit and vegetables. Most state-of-the-art models with electronic control allow maintaining the heating at a precise temperature. And finally, look at the size and the number of trays. This number will tell you exactly how much food you'd be able to dry in one go. In some models, you can add trays and dry more fruit or meat simultaneously.
Convenience
Finally, look at the food dryer's convenience. For example, the timer might be a very useful feature. Sometimes the drying process can last for a whole day, or even more. If your meat dehydrator has a timer, you just need to set the turn-off time, and freely go to work or fall asleep. You wouldn't need to fear that your food will overdry and become too hard or coarse. Also, find out if it is easy to clean the device after each use, what material it is made of, what options it's got to simplify the operation (for example, an opportunity to monitor the process), and whether the device is noisy or not. The user-friendly interface is also very important.
We hope our review will be of help to you in the process of selecting your food dehydrator.
Sources:
1. How to Choose the Right Food Dehydrator for Your Kitchen, eBay. March 7, 2016.
2. Kristen Hicks How to Choose the Best Food Dehydrator [Buyer’s Guide], CompactAppliance.com. July 19, 2016.
3. Emily Church Choosing a Food Dehydrator, Everything Kitchens.
4. Jackie Wilt Choosing a Food Dehydrator, GRIT. October 2016.