Excalibur - 9-Tray Dehydrator - Camo

1st dehydrating machine ever bought & love it. Have truckloads of produce and fruit from the backyard and never knew what to do with all that food. I love how there is no clean up after the food is dehydrated, as it just “pops” up from the plastic mesh. And the machine is so simple to use. It comes with a booklet with suggested temperature and number of hours. I’m glad I didn’t splurge for the timer, which significantly increased the price of the machine. Good chance it will be on for about 12 hours, and I can plan ahead to be home when it’s about done. Plus I realize now there is no “set” time when it’s done as it depends on preference. Made some half dehydrated raisins, so delicious like in fancy restaurants; it won’t stay long on the shelf, but very interesting in food texture as it was the juiciest raisins ever. I bought Excalibur silicone sheets (sold separately) for all the trays, which has been fantastic with fruit roll ups and over-ripe fruit. Glad I opt out on the timer and splurged on the silicone sheets instead. There are cheap versions of Excalibur’s silicone sheets, but am afraid the cheap stuff may leave chemicals in the food. After all, this dehydrator makes the healthiest food ever. Family is addicted to the apple chips (nothing added, just slice and put in machine).

I visited a friend and the the four drawer drying some figs in the garage. I tasted them and the mango, great. So we bought the 9 drawer. We had been talking to a neighbor anyway about dehydrating. My son and I immediately wanted to make jerkey. We followed Franklins's in Austin video instructions - smoke the meet on low for few hours, then dehydrate. Instead of just black pepper and kosher salt, I added some white pepper and cayenne. We opened the finished jerky at ping pong night in a garage. To my surprise, it wasn't good, it was great. Even the neighbor teenager said it was excellent. The local texas folks said it was terrific. The unit will hold a lot of contents. It is easy to clean. The construction looks pretty good. The instructions are written well. I recommend doing searches to modify recipes compared to the book. Our next venture is more jerky for gifts, then some fruit roll ups.

We bought this dehydrator after looking at reviews from many sources and we are glad that we picked this one. The instructions are well written and useful. Clean up is easy. Drying space is plenty big enough and easily accessed. Our experience has shown that it distributes the drying effect evenly throughout the racks. It isn't very loud, (about twice the sound of our computer cooling fan), and the timer function makes this machine one that you fill, turn on and walk away until it's done. What could be easier? Like most people, we were concerned about spending this much on our first dehydrator. We knew there would be a steep learning curve to go along with this process and didn't know if we would like the whole process of dehydrating food. However, we have known people who have bought cheaper brands and got so frustrated by the uneven drying, the small space and the constant checking of the product that they were unsatisfied and quit dehydrating food. Spending the extra dollars for a good quality dehydrator is key to starting you on the road to success with this process.

This was our first purchase of any dehydrator. So far so good. The unit is large but I have the room for it.

I’ve no previous dehydrating experience. This unit has intuitive controls. I am pleased with the results of my thus far limited use.

This dehydrator is as good, if not better, than reviews indicated. Extremely easy to use. Dries exceptionally fast compared to others we have used. Quicker drying results in better dried foods that retain more color and flavor. The poly screens are easy to clean, and foods don't stick as much as other types. Highly recommend for home preppers!

Made banana chips. Kale chips, so many cool raw dishes. This is a must have.

I received this product as a gift in Feb and just attempted to use it for the first time. It immediately started making a terrible grinding noise which turned out to be the fan slamming into the grate at the back of the unit. Upon further inspection, I found the grate to be attached to the unit by a single screw (despite all four screws being present). When I removed the back panel to properly attach the grate, I found three broken welds and a significantly misaligned weld that was causing the entire grate to bow considerably. Add to this the fact that the unit arrived with packaging that appeared to have been previously opened, I believe I was sent an open box item or a refurbished item (though i know a brand new item was ordered.)