Perfect homemade jerky every time!I had been wanting a dehydrator for years so, on a whim one day, I just made the plunge and purchased this one. It was relatively cheap compared to others I'd seen so I figured if it didn't work, or I didn't enjoy making jerky after all, I'd only be out $30 or so.I am so glad I bought this thing though! My first batch of deer tenderloin teriyaki jerky came out fantastic. I follow a Keto diet and beef jerky is my go-to protein snack and it can be quite an expensive habit. Store-bought jerky tends to be very high in sodium as well. I love being able to make my own marinade for my jerky a healthier way.The dehydrator comes ready to use...there really is no "assembly" once you figure out which side of the trays meet up (which isn't rocket science). It comes with 4 trays which is plenty to start with but I've enjoyed mine so much I am ordering 4 more trays because I want to make larger batches of jerky at one time. (You only get 1/3 jerky from whatever meat you use...so 3 lbs of beef will yield only ONE pound of jerky.) This means four trays full trays might sound like a lot but it's really not.This dehydrator is simple and easy to use. You lay the meat, put on lid and plug it in. There is no power switch or temp control. It is already set for the perfect temp. I will say this, be wary of HOW much time you use this because I got carried away in December making jerky as gifts and my electric bill shot up $70 for that month. lol
5Does what it's supposed to doI mainly got this dehydrator to make healthy snacks/treats for my dog. Nowadays, pet bakeries and pet stores sell natural/healthy treats, but they're not cheap. I figured I could do the same thing at home for a fraction of the cost. So far I've used this once (it does take about 7-9 hours at a time). I made sweet potato and apple chips. My Corgi really loved the sweet potato (apples, not so much as I prepped it with lemon juice beforehand so it ended up a bit tart. But that's okay, I made it for experimenting purposes anyway. I ate those myself). I would recommend this, especially for pet owners!
4This has been great so farThis has been great so far. It's a little bit larger and has more room than I expected, but it has been perfect for drying out some peppers I've been growing to eventually grind into powder!
5Bad packaging - ORDERING TIP HEREUPDATE - that worked. The second unit arrived in an outer box, and intact. Original review below.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -When this first arrived, I thought the box looked perfect, so I was super-surprised to find that the dehydrator's lid was irreparably broken, making the thing useless. It simply looks crushed. Then I took another look at the box and realized that the packaging doesn't prevent this from happening, if a fairly heavy but slightly smaller object is placed on top of it. My box looked just pushed in enough that maybe that happened.Then I read the other one-star reviews and realized that it may indeed be useless for its intended purpose anyway. Fire = bad, IMO. However I only want to dehumidify my 3D printer filament (which won't drip on the apparently-poorly-protected motor/heater assembly) and wasn't looking forward to spending a lot more in hopes of getting better packaging.I almost did buy a hundred-dollar dehydrator, when it crossed my mind that this thing arrived without an outer box. It was not a gift so I didn't care (and hardly noticed). Fortunately we all have an option at checkout to ask that it be placed in an outer box. I've ordered another, that way, in hopes that it will arrive intact. I highly recommend this if you decide this is the right thing for you.Still (grumble grumble) another return label to print, another confrontation with the packing tape gun, and another trip to the mailboxes-r-us place to dispose of it... ugh!
1Saved my produceWow, I've definitely gotten my money's worth from this little dehydrator. It's been running pretty much every day since I got it. I bought it in a bit of a panic when forecast early deep freeze and snow required me to pull in everything still in my garden. With no room in my freezer, I turned to dehydrating. In the last month, I've done several kinds of peppers; zucchini; tons of apples; tomatoes; beans; and a few other things. I put the dehydrator in the garage, load it up in the morning, and check during the day until things are done how I like them. I wish I'd gotten it sooner, actually; I'll be doing a lot more of this next year. The dried apple slices & tomatoes came out especially well; made 'sun-dried' tomato pesto spread that is awesome. This may not be a commercial dehydrator, but it sure does the trick for me. Best purchase I've made in a while. Pro tip: don't lean over it and put your face in the steam when drying hot peppers.
5Works great for dehydrating peppers. Rather high heat and not adjustable.A little bummed to find out it dehydrates at around 140 degrees. that is too hot for certain things. But it works well for what I am doing, which is primarily peppers and fruit.Price is right, can't beat that.From what I could tell from my brief research, the drying trays are BPA free.Not the greatest amount of height in between trays when stacked. If you have some large peppers like I do, you'll have to pretty them down, or slice them up. Not a big deal I guess. Won't be an issue for most things, like sliced apples, apricots, peaches, beef jerky. Will be an issue for large plums though. Don't think you'll be able to do a lot of prunes with this.It's not super loud, but it's not quiet either. Not really a big deal, can always put it in another room if the noise bothers you.All in all, I'm happy with it, but for my needs, I will be upgrading soon.
4Great for first timers!This is great for those wanting to try dehydrating foods for the first time. It s very reasonably priced and you can experiment without spending a lot of money. The only downfall is there isn t a timer and you can t set the temperature which is always set around 140 degrees.It stores easily and comes with an instruction booklet that explains how to prep the food before the dehydration process. You can soak fruits in a 1:1 water to lemon juice or citric acid for 10 minutes. I soaked in lemon juice and water then patted dry. The fruit didn t taste like lemon juice after the dehydration process. I did noticed that the fruit on the bottom try dehydrated much faster than the fruit at the top tray even though they were to go for the same amount of time.
4Good dehydrator for the priceI purchased this Presto dehydrator want to begin prepping. I've been watching many videos on how to get started and needing a dehydrator was one of my desires. I really wanted to get the extremely large model but I decided to start with this one which works perfectly for a beginner. I have used my Presto dehydrator for many vegetables and fruits as well as different types of jerky. I've dehydrated fruits, veggies, chicken, turkey, rice, beans, pasta, potatoes, and so much more. Yes it is time consuming but it is economical. So far I've made meals in a jar several times as well as stored items in my vacuum sealed bags. I use my dehydrator along with my FoodSaver to store many different types of foods. This Presto model comes with four trays and is capable of expanding to eight trays if you choose to purchase more. I've learned with using this dehydrator, several times I have to put the thicker peices on the bottom because the lower trays receive the most heat. I've also had to rotate the trays on occassion to make sure the food is drying evenly. I've used it to dry herbs also with great success. I measured the temperature at about 165 degrees with my instant read thermometer approximately 20 minutes after starting the dehydrator to make sure it had reached it's peak temperature.I gave it four stars simply because I have to rotate the trays to make sure all of my food dried out sufficiently. Pics coming soon.
4works well drying filamentwith some modifications its work well enough to dry 3d filament. gets about 65C-ish.
5No Complaints! Wonderful fresh fruits and meats...Read previous reviews, and figured for $35, couldn't go wrong.This little machine makes *amazing* dried fruits and vegetables. I ordered the slick sheets and extra trays.The noise is not an issue...it's not hair dryer loud, but it's not ceiling fan quiet. It takes far less time to dry things than the manual shows.-Banana chips - about 4 hours.-Tomatoes - about 3 hours.-Pears/Apples - about 1 hour.We've used canned apricots, cherries and even pineapple. Everything came out great. We've used applesauce and canned fruits to make puree for roll-ups. We've used it to dry vegetables for easy instant soup stock.This product exceeded my expectations, and with all the accessories we purchased, was less expensive than some of the fancier dehydrators.Features:Base unit is easily cleaned, trays stack nested and clear sturdy lid fits on top.The trays are top rack safe and can be used immediately without to much cleaning for the same food.The cord stores in the unit.The noise is tolerable...place it away from your traffic area, we mostly run it at night, which is more than enough time to dehydrate anything.Some options I picked up:Roll Up Makers:National Presto Dehydro Electric Food Dehydrator Fruit Roll SheetsExtra Trays: Presto 06306 Dehydro Electric Food Dehydrator Dehydrating TraysAlso a great jerky gun and sausage grinder:Jerky Cannon/Sausage Stuffer: LEM Products Jerky CannonMeat Grinder: Norpro Meat Grinder, Mincer, and Pasta Maker
5
See All Reviews
Read Less
