Dry slices of fruit and vegetables, herbs and flowers, granola, or strips of jerky using this easy-to-operate dehydrator. With its square shape, the countertop appliance provides 41-percent more room for drying compared to round dehydrators. It also features a unique air-circulation system with a top-mounted fan and patented Converga-Flow Action, which pressurizes heated air downward through the outer ring and horizontally across each tray, converging at the center. This delivers not only speedy
$ 70.37
Great Unit,
This dehydrator is great. I’ve had the unit for almost a month now. So far I’ve dehydrated 20 pounds of “eye of round” for jerky. The recipe I used is at Recipezaar (can’t post URL), recipe number 161262 (modified a bit to suite my taste, like I added about 1 tsp of onion powder and cut the liquid smoke about 25{660353129f8d892044c993645a1c75194301fec6786a7f617c15adde0b0011e9}). In fact I just did 10 of the 20 pounds yesterday. I’ve also dehydrated cantaloupe, kiwi slices, strawberries, grapes (come out as plump and juicy raisins), limes, oranges (those were more of an experiment), banana slices and watermelon (now that was interesting… sweet as candy), but back to the review.
I also got two sets of the Add-a-tray (two trays per package). It dries with all 8 trays just fine. I do rotate the trays about half way through, but I’m not sure I would really have to. The instructions say that the trays are top shelf dishwasher safe, but that would limit my dishwasher to only two trays per load, so I take my top rack out of the dishwasher and stand the trays vertically in the lower rack. I can get all eight trays and the base into the dishwasher at once. I figured that my water heater is only set to 125 degrees and I dry jerky at 165, so the trays shouldn’t have any problem. Just make sure that you turn off any internal water heating the dishwasher my have and make sure that you turn off heated drying (use air dry). I just wait for the washer to stop, take out the trays and shake them off. Stack them, put on the power head and run it at 125 for 30 minutes. All nice, clean and dry.
Now for the hint that Nesco doesn’t want me to share 🙂 for fruit, you really need to use the Clean Screens, but at 8 bucks for a pair, you’ll spend $32.00 (plus any shipping) to get enough for all 8 trays. I went to my local craft store (you know the one owned by Michael) and bought 16 sheets of plastic embroidery mesh (7 square mesh) that were 14″ X 10″ (the ones you would use to make those awful square Kleenex box covers). Take two sheets per tray and cut them out yourself with kitchen shears. Put them together butted up on the long side and then cut the perimeter to fit the tray and cut out the hole (1/2 of the hole in each sheet where they are butted up) for the center and then lay the two pieces into the tray. The sheets were $0.33 each, so 16 sheets only cost $5.28 and a bit of time to cut them out. Didn’t really need them for the cantaloupe, but I’d still be cleaning kiwi and bananas off the trays if I hadn’t used them. I throw them into the dishwasher with the trays and just run the whole load at once. All in all, this was a great buy and I’m glad I got it.
—- UPDATE 11 January 2010 —-
So, I’ve spent a few more months with my dry friend… that’s a pun… 🙂
This unit is now $49. I bought it and am happy with it at $70. Now, there is no reason not to give it a try!
About 3 months ago, I bought the jerky squeeze gun. I got it at BiMart in Oregon for $2 more than you can get it here at Amazon (the instant gratification thing). Available here. Search for Nesco BJX-5 American Harvest Jumbo Jerky Works Kit. My daughter and I make the round “slim-jim” type jerky every couple of months (about 4 lbs of 96{660353129f8d892044c993645a1c75194301fec6786a7f617c15adde0b0011e9} lean ground beef each time). The squeeze gun is as easy as using a caulking gun. Actually even better since you really don’t need to be concerned about the aesthetic appearance of the final product… I mean we’re taking jerky here and you can’t eat caulk. I use the Nesco spicy mix with additional black pepper, powered garlic and cayenne pepper (lot’s of cayenne pepper).
We’ve also, since buying it, done some fruit leather. Just used a jar of store bought apple sauce with a bit of added cinnamon. Next time, I think we’ll put a bit of Splenda(r) in it just to “sweeten” the final product a bit. Tip… even using processed apple sauce, we put it through the blender to completely break it down into a slurry.
My “home made” clean screens are still preforming perfectly. Hope this update helps others.
—- UPDATE 20 January 2010 —-
Whoops… I see that the price is back up to $65. Well, still a fine product regardless.
—- UPDATE 2 January 2011 —–
Well, it’s been a year and not so much an update as an opportunity to say Happy New Year to you all.
Just before Christmas, the Lovely Mrs. symo, got a really good deal on some rump roast (two 7 lb pieces). It was very lean and after slicing, was easy to cut the one strand of tough sinew out. Used the Mr. Yoshida’s again, but this time cut it 2 parts to 1 part water. Then put it into a sauce pan and heated to high simmer (did not let it boil). Added red chili flakes, onion powder, garlic powder and some Ow Powder ([…]). Let the mixture cool to room temp. I’m still working/experimenting with the final amounts of Ow. Marinaded the slices for 12 hours. Had 6 of the eight trays loaded. On two trays, I sprinkled…
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|Updated review,
Years ago I had one of the round dehydrators with the drying unit on the bottom. This one is great because the drying unit is on the top. No more liquids dripping down onto the operational part of the unit. It has a plastic tray to catch the drips. I also like the square shape. I am able to get more on each tray compared to the round tray design. The plastic screens are round though. I did like the review from someone here suggesting using plastic mesh from the craft store. Wish I had seen that before I ordered my extra ones. I also like that it is quieter than the one I used to have. I have dried tomatoes, carrots and herbs so far. Jerky is next on the list.
Update: I still use this dehydrator. But I would no longer recommend it if you are going to do alot of dehydrating. I spent the extra money and bought an Excalibur and it is amazing how more efficient it is compared to the Nesco square dehydrator. While I liked having the fan element on the top away from any drips it is not as efficient as the Excalibur’s fan that blows the air across the trays instead of vertically through all the trays and the wet food. The Excalibur is noisier than the Nesco.
Bottom line: If noise is a bigger issue than efficiency for you then get the Nesco. If efficiency is more important than noise and you will be dehydrating a lot then splurge for the Excalibur with the horizontal blowing air.
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|excellent dehydrator,
I have put this dehydrator ‘through the paces’, making jerky and drying fruit. It’s done a great job with both. I’ve had the more common round type of dehydrator in the past, so I was interested in this square-shaped one. Much better! Food fits on the square sheets much better. The drying is very uniform, without need for moving the trays during the drying process. Great price too, with several accessories available. Very pleased with this compact, efficient dehydrator–and it’s American-made too!
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