Presto 06300 Dehydro Electric Food Dehydrator, Standard

works great out of the box, mine has been in non stop use since I bought it with zero issues

I wasn't sure there would be enough things to do with this dehydrator even though I planned to dehydrate the over abundance of apples and tomatoes from our yard. well, a quick google, and I have a list of more things than I ever expected I could do with this! There are also a ton of good books out there for unique ideas. (salt clay ornaments for the x-mas tree). I found a recipe for corn chips (grind/process frozen corn, add cheese, chili powder, onion, whatever you want and spread on the "fruit leather" tray. No preservatives!) There are also tons of dehydrator granola recipes too. My freezer is going to be full! Instead of an expensive vacuum system, I opted for the $4.00 Ziplock pump system and it's terrific.Ziploc Vacuum Starter Kit, 3-Quart Bags, 1-Pump This dehydrator couldn't be easier to use. The included booklet is surprisingly detailed. From jerky to fruit leathers and fruits and vegetables, every aspect of how to properly dry everything is covered. Pretreatments with lemon juice or fruit fresh are recommended for some fruits to prevent browning, and blanching or steaming for a couple minutes is recommended for most vegetables. The drying times are extremely variable, as expected, depending on how thin or thick you have cut the fruit or vegetable. A food processor, salad shooter, or some other of this type of cutting devise would ensure standardized, uniform pieces. My wish-for Christmas gift is a Saladmaster! From dehydrating books I have learned that the temperatures are not that critical either. I was concerned about getting this dehydrator as there is no temperature adjustment possible, but frankly for the price and all the good reviews I figured I couldn't go wrong. When you consider that food has been dehydrated for thousands of years without the benefit of electric temperature controlled dehydrators, using the best dehydrator of all, the sun, you know that more expensive fancier machines are not necessary. Low tech is good for me! The best features for me are: Pros: Not tying up my oven all day or night drying things in the oven. I can leave it on all night without worry. It's very easy to wash after using. It's very quiet. Sounds like my forced air heater or air conditioner. Totally un-noticeable after a few minutes. It's very light weight. Easily moved. I can set it anywhere in the house to use, (I have mine on top of the dryer), and it takes up very little room. ( approx. 14.5" diameter x 10" tall) There are other things I can use the dehydrator for like clay crafts, dried flowers, drying pinecones from my yard. All my food is free of preservatives/chemicals. This dehydrator is a money saver. Purchase bulk produce in season and have fresh all year. Best feature for me, it is a time saver. I will store vegetables for soup and fruit for granolas. I will be able to prepare these favorite dishes on a moments notice! The included booklet has very complete instructions. This is a super dehydrator, at a super price! Cons? Absolutely none.

Works very fast. My last dehydrator didn't have a fan, just a heat element, so there's a learning curve here. This machine does well with thick cut wet items. I did very thick cut apple rings in 6 to 7 hours. Very thin sliced jerky was overdone in 4 hours, was perfect at about 2.5 hours. I used mesh sheets with large diced onion, 14 hours. Bananas, 1/8" thick took 15 hours for crispy chips (they were still a little chewy once you ate them). Any mesh sheets or teflon will only increase this time. The bananas did stick but I peeled them off the tray and flipped them half way thru dry time and they didn't stick again. Space saver when stored. The Presto trays have a system of alternate inverted trays which makes it about half it's height once everything is compacted down. These trays are better quality than my old dehydrator. They feel like a solid plastic laundry basket. I've bought 2 packs of trays so I can do up to 8 at a time. My complaint is about the noise. This machine is louder than my dishwasher and can be heard throughout the house. This is not something I can leave on all night in the kitchen. Because I was doing onions, I put a folding table in my garage and used the machine there so as not to stink up the house and burn our eyes. This is probably how I'll use it for overnight drying, and items with long dying times like bananas. I could also complain that the trays are too big to fit in my kitchen sink and I keep getting water all over the counter trying to clean up. My old ones fit right in. But these Presto trays clean way easier. The food didn't stick as much as my old unit. It would be even quicker if I could soak them in my sink!

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 Sheets Extra Trays: Presto 06306 Dehydro Electric Food Dehydrator Dehydrating Trays Also a great jerky gun and sausage grinder: Jerky Cannon/Sausage Stuffer: LEM Products Jerky Cannon Meat Grinder: Norpro Meat Grinder, Mincer, and Pasta Maker

I like easy to use products that are practical and work right out of the box - I just plugged it in, put my thinly cliced fruit in the dehydrator and checked on it periodically - yummy!

Deshidrate carne y quedó espectacular. Calculaba 6 horas, se hizo en 3. Superó mi expectativa porque es muy sencillo de utilizar.

Unfortunately at 120 volts this item is not compatible for the UK market

Would recommend. Really saves time and mess. Good to dry fruits vegetables and meat for dog treats

PRODUCTO EXCELENTE