NESCO® FD-80 Food Dehydrator, 700 Watts, Square, 4 Trays

Too funny that I just got this email to rate the dehydrator and I had just removed a batch of ground beef jerky! Glad I tried this machine. Seems to work well. My only complaint is like everyone else's ... too bad no one thought to incorporate a simple thing like an OFF button. hmmm. no matter. I connected it to a power strip bar with button to turn On/Off. Problem solved. On first batch of ground beef jerky, I used 2-1/2 trays and time was approx. 3 hrs. 2nd. batch was meat strips which time was closer to 6+ hrs. to process. Both types of jerky were good. I am soon to experiment with fruits and will anticipate that the results will be likewise good! Additionally, bought a jerky gun from Walmart and as of one attempt, must admit I'm not quite the expert yet in pushing the meat onto the trays in a nice smooth piece. I ended up picking up imperfect pieces and hand flattening them. The dehydrator didn't know the difference and did its job. Buy one. Walmart's price was superior as always from comparisons I made on Nextag and Bizrate and for certain, the Nesco website. I'm not certain that the square machine has more space than the original round ones, but I'm pleased with it, however, don't be expecting some strong, heavy type of plastic because it isn't, but the trays do appear to be sturdier than first glance.

Love my new dehydrator. I have had it for about a week and have made apple, pineapple, banana slice along with two types of jerky, strips and ground and everything has come out great. With the ability to control the temperature from 95 to 160 degrees you get to control the proper curing time for products to prevent food poisoning. With the top mounted heat and fan you get even heat through all four trays. If after several hours of drying jerky you were to take the trays out and put them side by side, you would not be able to tell top from bottom. You do not have to rotate the trays but some time I do, so to tell them apart I took a magic marker and put little dots on the trays so I could tell and not ruin their appearance. One trick they tell you in the book is to use a squirt of cooking spray on the trays to prevent any sticking and it is right on. I made beef jerky from meat that I ground and a jerky press and forgot to spray one of the trays that I used and I knew immediately which tray did not get the spray. It wasn't bad but it was easy to tell.