A food dehydrator is the most essential tool if you are a gardener and want to preserve your homegrown food items for eating all year round. A food dehydrator is a small investment that comes with significant perks for you and your family.
You will find many varieties and models of different brands of food dehydrators available in the market. It’s difficult for many people to choose the best unit for them.
Here, we provide a list of the best food dehydrators that are tested and verified by our team.
8 Best Food Dehydrators Reviews
You can go through the list of our recommended models and choose the best one for your home or business.
1. Excalibur 9-Tray Electric Food Dehydrator
- 15 square feet of drying space
- Adjustable thermostat
- Poly-screen trays
- 7” fan for circulating air
- Hyper-wave technology
The Excalibur food dehydrator is ideal for bulk drying as it comes with nine trays. It has nine useful plastic inserts for trays that prevent food from sticking to trays. The trays are dishwasher-safe for easy use.
It has built-in on/off switch, and adjustable thermostat featuring accurate temperature control ranging from 105o F to 165o F. Drying at this temperature in a dehydrator helps in preserving the nutrients and enzymes.
In Excalibur, you can prepare healthy snacks by dehydrating fruits, nuts, and meat. You can also make homemade yogurt and raise bread. This dehydrator is great for gardeners and large families.
Pros
- Provides quick dehydration process guide
- Plenty of trays for bulk drying
- Trays are dishwasher-safe
- Low energy consumption
Cons
- The bulky design takes a lot of space
2. NESCO Gardenmaster Pro Dehydrator
- 8 dishwasher-safe trays
- Less time required for drying
- Quiet 1000-watt motor
- Automatically turns off
- Works quickly
The NESCO dehydrator is a set-it and forget-it appliance. It quickly makes your favorite fruit chips and jerky. It dries your fruits and vegetables within hours, not days. We have tested this dehydrator for a week in our kitchen and liked its performance and features.
In this dehydrator, you can turn thinly sliced meat into jerky within 10 hours. The fruits take even lesser time to dry. Its temperature can be set from 90 to 160 degrees F, and the timer can be set for up to 48 hours.
The NESCO Grandmaster Pro is super easy to clean. As the fan is mounted on top of the unit, so do not have to worry about liquid dripping into it.
Pros
- Digital controls are easy to use
- Noise-less motor
- Turns off automatically after the specified time
- Less time required
Cons
- Takes a lot of space
3. COSORI Premium Food Dehydrator
- Stainless steel trays
- Compact in size
- Lightweight
- Noise-less machine
- Easy to use
The COSORI dehydrator is one of the finest machines out in the market. It comes with six stainless steel trays, a recipe book, a manual, and a fruit roll sheet. It’s the perfect starter kit for your kitchen.
It has a compact and elegant design that fits on your kitchen’s countertop. The machine is energy-efficient that comes with an automatic timer feature. It provides 6.5 square feet of drying space on its six trays.
The trays are also dishwasher safe so that you can wash them easily. It’s one of the lightweight models; you can move it easily from one place to another.
Pros
- Energy efficient
- Lightweight
- Compact in size
- Easy to use
- Dishwasher safe trays
Cons
- Not expandable
4. Presto 06300 Food Dehydrator
- Stackable dehydrator
- Vertical airflow
- Expandable
- See-through lid
- Easy to clean
The number one advantage of buying Presto dehydrator is that it is quite affordable as compared to other dehydrators. It has a pretty compact design, approximately the same size as a Crockpot.
It comes with four drying trays; it’s expandable to eight trays. One weird thing that we found is it does not have any on/off switch. It turns on when you plug in and turns off when you plug out.
It is quite easy to use, easy to clean, and easy to store. The see-through lid on the top tray helps in monitoring the drying process. Anybody can use this dehydrator, no experience required. It works at a preset temperature of 165o F.
Pros
- Compact in size
- See-through lid
- Easy to clean
- Dries almost everything
- Cost-effective
Cons
- No automatic timer
5. NESCO Snackmaster Pro Food Dehydrator
- Powerful mounted fan
- Adjustable thermostat
- Expandable
- Opaque Vita-Save exterior
- Coverage-Flow system
This dehydrator works on a simple yet effective principle called Coverage-a-Flow. The air flows downwards quickly while flowing inwards through all the trays. It provides top-quality dried fruits, vegetables, and meat jerky.
Another useful and unique feature of this product is Vita-Save. With this feature, you can dry your food items even in a bright room, and no light rays can harm the drying food inside the dehydrator.
It comes with five trays, and it can be expanded to 12 trays at once. It does not take too much space. The design is modern, and it looks pretty contemporary. This is a perfect choice for small families and entry-level users.
Pros
- Wide varieties of recipes
- Superior thermostat mechanism
- Vita-Save body material
- Modern design
- Expandable
Cons
- No power button
- No timer
6. Magic Mill Commercial Food Dehydrator
- Rare-mount fan
- Digital controls interface
- Adjustable temperature and timer
- Stainless steel trays
- Overheat protection
Magic Mill food dehydrator is a modern-looking machine with a digital interface of controls, consistent heat, and perfect results every time. This machine is one of our favorites that produce perfect fruit chips, vegetables, and jerky results.
It has an intuitive controls interface with start/stop, time/temp, +/- and fast/raw buttons. It is a mid-level commercial food dehydrator that uses even heat throughout the unit. It works accurately well at low temperatures.
The floor is smooth and trays are dishwasher safe so that you can clean it easily and quickly. The material of this machine is durable stainless steel. Use the trays for regular food and mesh sheets for smaller food items like nuts and herbs.
Pros
- Accurate and easy to use
- Quality and consistency
- Intuitive controls
- Consistent heat
- Easy to clean
Cons
- Loud alert tone
7. Brod & Taylor SAHARA Folding Food Dehydrator
- Foldable
- 700Watt dual heaters
- Automated time/temp controls
- Re-useable air filter
- Noiseless and efficient radial fan
This dehydrator has a unique feature that it can fold down to 1/3rd of its size. It can be stored in any cabinet of your kitchen or even in drawers. You do not have to worry about workspace as this model has solved the storage issue.
It is made of high-quality material along with stainless steel shelves and clear glass doors. The washable and re-useable air filter does not let the dirt inside the dehydrator. The nutritional values of the food remain intact during the drying process.
It has dual heaters and two timers for controlling two temperatures and two timers for a better drying process. The dehydrator runs at a higher temperature for fast initial drying, and then it automatically switches to low temperature to maintain the quality of the food.
Pros
- Dual time/temp system
- Compact in size
- Easy to store
- More drying area
- Glass doors
Cons
- Expensive machine
8. Tribest Sedona Express Food Dehydrator
- Digital controls and display
- Noiseless machine
- Internal LED light
- Stainless steel trays
- Glassdoor
- Easy to clean
The Tribest dehydrator is compact and comes with a sleek design. The body of the unit is made of non-flammable and BPA-free plastic that makes the machine lightweight and easily moveable.
The internal LED light illuminates the tray content that helps in monitoring the drying process through the glass door. An all-digital control panel is located on the front side of the dehydrator for easy access.
It comes with 11 dehydrating trays. The SDE-S6780-B model comes with stainless steel trays, while SDE-P6280-B comes with plastic trays. The plastic trays are less efficient as compared to the stainless steel trays.
Pros
- Digital control panel
- Washable air filter
- Hygienic dehydration
- Noiseless machine
Cons
- Has timer with hour intervals only
The Ultimate Guide for Buying Food Dehydrator
Choosing a food dehydrator can be confusing because there are so many choices and varieties are available in the market. How do you know which dehydrator model is best suited for you?
This guide will clear all your questions and help you decide which food processor you should buy. There are some features of food dehydrators you should consider before buying:
Thermostat control
The first quality of the best food dehydrator is the thermostat control. It should have an adjustable thermostat to control the temperature of the dehydrator. Choose a model that has a temperature range controller and a mounted fan for circulating air.
Most of the good quality food dehydrators come with a temperature range of 90o F to 160o F and they provide a range of temperature at the interval of 5o F.
Size and space
Choose a dehydrator that maximizes the drying space and also fits in the place you have chosen. Most of the round dehydrator models have unused space in the center, and you will find it harder to fit food items in the trays.
We recommend the rectangular and square shape models that have no wasted space and have stackable trays for more capacity.
Adjustable
When choosing a food dehydrator, you should consider the model that has adjustable and moveable trays. In most cases, you have to rotate the trays to make sure the drying is even though out the dehydrator.
Most of the stackable models offer adjustable trays from the range of no tray to all the way up to 9 trays. Having adjustable trays means you can add or subtract trays according to your needs, and food item’s sizes also require this feature.
Capacity
This factor is totally dependent on your needs. If you are looking for a dehydrator for your kitchen in which you only need to dry some herbs, then a small unit is enough. On the other hand, if you have a food shop for which you have to dry a large number of fruits and vegetables, then you should go for a large commercial dehydrator unit.
Materials
Most of the commercial dehydrators used in restaurants come with durable, stainless steel construction. They are easy to use and clean but a little expensive if you are price conscious. There are low-cost plastic body models also available in the market.
Timer
Most common dehydrators have only an on/off switch. In this case, you have to keep a close eye on the drying process. Some models come with a built-in timer that can help in reducing your efforts. You just have to put your food items and set the timer. It will be off automatically after the specified time period. This feature is also helpful in preventing the food from over-drying. You can dry food items overnight for the next day’s use.
Conclusion
As you have seen, you have lots of options for drying your food items. Carefully choose the best suitable dehydrator according to your budget and needs.
The finding of the right food dehydrator will be a lot easier if you figure out your needs first and how much you can spend on your dehydrator. It’s a one-time investment; you will enjoy the benefits for many years.
FAQ’s about Food Dehydrators
What are the Best Food Dehydrators?
Here is a list of the top rated of food dehyrarted as per our rating in 2021;
- Excalibur 9-Tray Electric Food Dehydrator
- NESCO Gardenmaster Pro Dehydrator
- COSORI Premium Food Dehydrator
- Presto 06300 Food Dehydrator
- NESCO Snackmaster Pro Food Dehydrator
- Magic Mill Commercial Food Dehydrator
- Brod & Taylor SAHARA Folding Food Dehydrator
- Tribest Sedona Express Food Dehydrator
How does a dehydrator work?
The dehydrator removes the moisture from food using a heating element that provides a warm and uniform temperature. A small fan draws air in through the bottom or back of the unit. It helps in drying the moisture of the food without cooking it and helps in maintaining the nutritional values and flavors.
Can I use my oven to dehydrate foods?
Most standard ovens do not offer consistent temperature and humidity control that is required for drying food. Using the oven for drying food will end up cooking the food rather than just removing the moisture from food. The food dehydrators are also more energy-efficient than ovens.
Which food items can I process in a food dehydrator?
The opportunities depend on the type of dehydrator you choose. You can dry almost everything in the dehydrator including, fruits, vegetables, meat, flowers, herbs, and grains.
What are the main benefits of a food dehydrator?
Drying food helps in preserving food with its nutritional values. This method is far healthier than canning the food because canned food items contain preservatives that can cause health issues. Also, drying food items using dehydrators is easy and cost-effective.