Side by Side Comparison of: Nesco

UPDATE: 4/26/16Just had to update my review as I just found a "recipe" for this dehydrator that saved me hundreds of dollars ! My cellphone went through the washing machine a few days ago and the proverbial bag of rice drying technique was only having minimal results. With nothing to lose - I put my cellphone and battery, minus the SD card, separately into pantyhose - put them on a middle tray and turned the dehydrator on at 90 degrees overnight. SUCCESS !! I thankfully was spared the expense of buying a new cellphone. I can once again say that I HIGHLY recommend the Nesco Gardenmaster Dehydrator !Hasn't stopped running in the two weeks I have had it. I purchased this unit to dry grapefruit. Not disappointed with the outcome. In between batches of grapefruit, I have dried lots of cauliflower, lemons & limes, and greens for my smoothies. Very useful for taking advantage of fresh produce that is on sale.I did not expect to get this much use out of it. I purchased a larger mandoline slicer, and a food vacuum sealer to seal the end product in mason jars using oxygen absorbers.I am waiting for my first electric bill to see how much of an impact this unit has on my monthly expense. Will update.

Love the dehydrator and super easy to use. I have done apples, cherrys, and bananas. All were great but please be aware that the banana chips I made were NOT like the ones you buy at the store. Those banana chips are crunchy because they have been FRIED not dehydrated-this is not a reflection on this product but I thought I would share this because I thought they were a dehydrated product. The dehydrated bananas are like fruit leather/chewy so are great for oatmeal, muffins or just a snack but they will not be crispy.

My daughter says I am addicted to this product and I think she is right. It was a gift from my husband for mothers day and we use it often. I bought an extra 4 trays as well as mesh sheets to prevent things from dropping through (such as kiwi and squash). I use it on average once per week and my family and I are eating much healthier as a result. I have loaned it to several folks who went out and bought one of their own when I got mine back.Yes, the prep time is a bit of a pain, but I plan ahead and coordinate my trips to Costco to get fruit around having time to cut things up (kiwi and mango are great from there and very economical plus they have the least pesticides of conventionally grown fruits.) One tip, the outside rings have a tendency to dry faster than the inside section so put your thinner sliced items against the small inner circle.

I bought this unit after discovering how horrible store bought dog treats are for my furbabies. They love dehydrated sweet potato snacks made in the oven and figured a dehydrator would most likely do a better job...it does. I have made multiple batches of sweet potato as well as started dehydrating chicken breast and they just love the results. This unit holds about 6 medium to large sweet potatoes (about 3.5 lbs) or 6-8 chicken breasts sliced about 1/4" thick, it's relatively quiet and it's simple to clean. I really like the fact that it has a timer and is also expandable. I will most likely be purchasing extra trays in the near future as I get my drying techniques better honed and start expanding on the possibilities. This unit is a perfect introductory dehydrator and I would recommend for anyone just starting to experiment with the process.

Love this thing! I have been in the market for a dehydrator and this one caught my eye for two reasons.1. 1000 WATTS2. Digital TimerMost dehydrators in this price range are plug in to power on and unplug to power off. If you make a batch of jerky at 7pm you have to get up at 3am to turn it off. That sucks!This machine has a digital timer built in so you can literally set it and forget it. It will power off when the timer expires.What I don't like: It only comes with 4 trays........SO BUY MORE TRAYS!!!!!! Four trays is not enough for most applications and I recommend at least 6-8 to start. You will find out if you try to make anything with 4 trays, you end up with much less finished product due to the dehydration process. I processed some potatoes for chips and filled up 4 trays with 5 potatoes. My finished batch was about half a bag of chips. Do yourself a favor and get some extra trays because once you start dehydrating you will be addicted!This machine is well built and also comes with one fruit roll insert tray and one of the fine mesh no stick insert trays. It also comes with a receipt book, jerky seasoning, and jerky cure. READ the manual or get another book about dehydrating so that you set yourself up for success!

I have a lot to learn as I have only had my dehydrator for a week....but, so far, I love it! It has dried everything I have put in it evenly throughout the four trays....I never had to rotate them. My only complaint with this model is 4 trays is NOT enough....as big as they are, they fill up fast. I already ordered four more with a cost of $40....be sure to consider this when you decide which dehydrator to buy. If you need more trays than that, the cost will be about $20 for each set of two (Amazon). You can use up to 20 trays but I am stopping at 8....for now! Even with this extra cost, I believe it was an excellent choice for me....an inexperienced and casual user who wanted a high end model with conservative expenditure,

There are so many highly rated dehydrators available on Amazon, I honestly didn't know where to start. I finally decided to take the plunge and buy Amazon's best seller. I am glad I did, and I am already very pleased with this machine. Very easy to use, easy to clean.The day I got it, I did my first batch of beef jerky that I had marinating for a couple of days in the fridge. After about 6-7 hours, the jerky turned out perfect. The extra tray capacity of this machine (up to 12 total) is a major bonus. This dehydrator comes with 5 trays... I purchased another 2, and I am glad I did. Out of the 7 trays, I used 6 of them for one roast's worth of jerky. I plan to buy a few more trays soon for even more dehydrating space.Five stars.

My wife loves beef jerky and constantly was buying it retail. She would spend anywhere from $5.99 to $8.99 for 2.5-3.0 ounces. It was making me crazy she was spending $33.00 minimum for a pound of jerky. You just don't really notice it because of the amount you buy at a single time. I had to put my foot down and ban the purchase of jerky. I bought this and went out and bought 3.5 pounds of London Broil and using the Nesco FD-75A I was able to make 2 pounds of jerky. for $13.75 (buy one London Broil get one free at the supermarket). The starter spice kit that came with is very tasty and easy to do and you can purchase additional spice kits from Nesco or from open country who makes the spice kit. I made a batch of hot and spicy jerky using a recipe on Youtube as well. There are a ton of Youtube videos to help you get started so don't let being a complete novice deter you. I spent some time reading the questions that were being asked in the FAQ section so I'll put some of those here in my review.It comes with 5 trays, It has 3 packs of spice and cures enough for 3 pounds of jerky. The "cure" is a sodium and nitrate base to preserve freshness. If you make a bunch of jerky I would use it, If your family are jerky addicts then it won't last long enough to spoil. The fat in the meat is what goes rancid and causes jerky to spoil. Yes, you can store in the refrigerator or freeze. It will last longer if you vacuum pack it. It is 600 watts and has variable temperature settings. It does Not have a timer nor an ON/OFF switch, and you can wash the trays in the dishwasher BUT turn the Heat Dry OFF!!!!! It operates on 110 volts with the standard US plug, so If you live in Europe or anywhere else you may or may not have an issue using a plug adapter. Yes, you can dehydrate fruit, veggies, flowers, and spices. Yes, you can dehydrate some meals but they have to be cooked first and dehydrated separately. No, its not a freeze Drier. No, it's not noisy, my unit runs at 57 DB (normal conversations are 57 DBs)Hopefully, this will help some of you that are on the fence.

What can I say. Newcomers makes one of the best Pro Food Dehydrators ever made. The design of having the heating elements at the top makes clean up a breeze. And the technology of having the fan at the top and the perfect air circulation makes all the food dry at the same time. Well built machine with plenty of room foe very affordable expansion, which I plan on doing. Made my first beef jerky. Wow, was that good. Planning on dehydrating fruits and bed goes out of my garden also. I also make my own homemade spaghetti sauce. Can't wait to try out dehydrating that and freezing and taking up less room in the freezer. Another great machine by Nesco.

We use this for dehydrating apple slices so far and they come out perfectly. We slip them into zip seal bags and store them in the fridge until we are ready to eat them. Good for car trips and sweet snacks in the evening.

Been using this unit twice a week for several months to dry the pulp from juicing to make dog treats. Add a little flax seed, use a melon baller to form the treat and 24 hours the dogs have a treat they can't get enough of.

I received this as a father's day present and it's amazing. I've dehydrated so much already in the week since I got it. My wife is getting annoyed that it's constantly running and I'm spending all our extra money on ripe in-season fruit and vegetables to dehydrate. Best so far has been dehydrated watermelon. I'm new to this dehydrating thing, but this seems like a great starting point. I can't wait to start making jerky. Oh, i wish I had two of these.

Works great, dries completely if left in just a little longer than recipe book suggests. Would recommend picking up extra "Nesco MS-2-6 Clean-a-Screen for Dehydrators" from amazon.com as the one it comes with is wonderful.

I've done a 5lb batch of dried apples and a 4lb batch of beef jerky. The Garden master is at least 3 times faster than my old one. Since I bought a a few additional trays I am able to spread things out more evenly and less crowded. The dehydrator comes with 4 trays and I purchased 4 more but really only need two additional. I'll keep the two extra trays as replacements or give to my brother when I buy this same dehydrator for him for Christmas. It also has a larger "footprint" than I anticipated so if storage is an issue this is a large one.The trays are nice with easy clean up. I just soak them in warm soapy water and most everything comes clean with the wipe of a sponge. A few spots need a good toothbrush cleaning but that's it. I would give them 5 stars but my concern is durability with the trays. The plastic screen that make up the tray is very flimsy. Time will tell.

Nesco FD-1040 1000-watt Gardenmaster Food Dehydrator (6 Tray Value Package)I researched several different dehydrators before deciding on the Nesco FD-1040 Gardenmaster. I chose the Nesco because it has a programmable digital timer and temperature control, making it easier to set the temperature length of drying time. The 6 Tray Value Package comes with 2 extra trays (priced separately about $18 - $22) 3 clean screens for drying fruit, (I purchased two more at the time I bought the dehydrator) and a Jerky kit, which if sold separately would cost +$20 plus shipping, and also included enough seasoning and jerky cure for 5 pounds of hamburger jerky.I'm still learning the ins and outs of dehydrating. So far in one week I've made sweet potato chips (a failure) banana chips (a sweet success) and 2 pounds of hamburger jerky (very very good). Clean up is easy; simply wash the trays with warm soapy water immediately after use. The trays are labeled as top rack dishwasher safe, however, they are very large and would be very hard to load in the top rack of a dishwasher. I sprayed the trays with a very light coat of Pam spray before loading with food.The Nesco runs quiet; 6 loaded trays of banana chips took about 24 - 26 hours to dry to crispy, which was my preference. I simply put the machine on my counter and let it run, checking every so often. 2 pounds of hamburger jerky took only 4.5 hours, on 4 trays. I expect that as we go along we'll get better at placement of the food on the trays and will be able to conserve space better.The included booklet wasn't a lot of help, but simply go online and you can find hundreds of recipes for anything you could possibly want to dry. Pinterest was especially helpful in finding ideas.All in all, this is a great beginner dehydrator. It will expand to 20 trays - but be aware that drying 20 trays of food will greatly increase the drying time. I personally won't be going much more than 8 - 10 trays. If I find myself really getting into dehydrating and needing more than 10 trays, a larger, more efficient dehydrator would be the way to go.

Really pleased with this, and I think after the novelty wears off I'll still be using it regularly. Right now just playing and experimenting with it. Dries fruit and veg well. I've also dehydrated hummus, black bean soup, seitan jerky and will try dying red lentil curry this week, as well as cooked rice and possibly other leftovers.Potential issues with inconsistent dying time due to 'user error,' if you will:When I dried kiwis, some pieces were chewier, others crisper because I wasn't making slices of uniform thickness. When slicing, I'd suggest using a mandolin or food processor when practicable,; otherwise, pay attention to uniformity.There are different dying times for similar, but not *exactly* the same things. I dehydrated standard hummus and roasted red pepper hummus at the same time, using the same weight for each. The latter took longer to dry. I'd recommend, if dehydrating prepared food, maybe do one thing at a time, or just be cognizant that slight differences in ingredients can cause dying time to differ.Again, really pleased and I think it's a great value for the price.

Performance: It works as expected. Go watch a video review. There are lots out there, and this is a staple of food dehydrators, so I won't review it in depths. Some notes though:- If you want the most out of this high-powered 1000w unit per drying cycle, you need to get more trays, which are not cheap. Otherwise buy a unit that uses less power. This is not a negative, this unit is just built to dry a lot of food at once.- the trays will not fit easily in the dishwasher unless they are laid flat... I hate dishes.- read the book that some with it so that you dry things in batches that dry at the same rate, otherwise you will have half your trays done and the other still moist.

Large and works. This was my first food dehydrator and maybe it is just the nature of one but I feel like the temperatures and times called out do not work well. They seem to dry out the outside too fast which you think is done early only to find them come back some. I turn down the temp and cook for the said time or even longer on my peppers to get them perfect. It just took a bit of playing around with time and temp to figure it out.

Love it but I have notice most things I dehydrate take way longer then expected

Takes much longer to dehydrate then advertised. Nearly twice as long if you use the recommended recipes. Which doesn't need to be set at their drying recommendations. Some learning curve.

Pro: Just did my first batch of Hazelnuts, I think they might have needed a few more hours but Im just learning and the dehydrator seems to work great!Con: No on/off switch. Just plug in and got. Not a big deal, still a good product.

This is the second one I've owned if that tells you anything. Works like a charm. The heating element finally gave out after eight years. I feel like I got more than my money's worth. I wish it were a little easier to clean the trays, but I don't think I could come up with a better design. I soak the trays overnight in the sink and use a dish brush on them in the morning. I'd give it five stars if the trays were a heavier grade of plastic, but they sell replacements. Depending on how much you're going to do in a single batch, I'd get 2-3 additional trays right away. I use it almost exclusively to make chicken jerky for my dogs so I don't have pay exorbitant pet store prices or feed them that Chinese crap with who-knows-what in it! Slice 1/4" strips and leave it on 160 degrees for two days. Seven trays (it comes with five) will do ten pounds of chicken in a single session. Your dogs will go crazy for it and you'll feel good knowing that you're giving them something healthy. Definitely recommend.

I'm new to dehydrating. I wanted to increase the nutritional value of our families meals as well as preserving the harvest and taking advantage of sales. I've found that I can dehydrate and then grind up kale, carrots and other nutrition-packed foods then put a few tsp of the powder in all sorts of sauces (spaghetti sauce is a great place to "hide" nutrition"), soups and stews. I've had it for about 6 weeks now. For the first month, I used it 2-3 times per week. For the past 3-4 days, it has been running almost non-stop. I've done apples, bananas, bell peppers, hot peppers, mushrooms, carrots, yellow squash, kale, spinach, broccoli, tomatoes and celery.I like the fact that it has the adjustable temperature control and the fan is on top. Cleaning is easy. It doesn't take up too much room to store. I think the bang for the buck is excellent and I like the fact that you can add more trays. I've used parchment paper when I need more tray inserts for small pieces and that works great. I can't speak to how fast it dehydrates compared to other models. I will say that environmental humidity really affects the dehydrating time. However, I'm pleased with it. Chopping/shredding really helps, especially with bell peppers. Since I grind them up anyway, shredding then draining them really speeds up the process.This model is great for those who are just starting to dehydrate or who aren't going to be doing massive amounts of food. I would absolutely recommend this dehydrator to a friend.Info added after I first published this review:I just dehydrated my first batch of herbs: oregano, basil, sage, and tarragon. I didn't chop the basil leaves, leaving them whole. It took 2 full days (instead of the 24 hours in the owners manual) to get everything dehydrated, and some of the basil still wasn't done. That was disappointing. I'm still giving it 4 stars because I think it's a good little dehydrator. However, I don't think that it's particularly fast. Chopping your food definitely helps with the dehydration rate.

I imported this Nesco 75PR dehydrator to Brazil, so I can tell you how it behaves in very humid climates like we have here, where we get normally 90% air humidity, specially in the summer. I bought a power consumption measuring device to attach between the dehydrator and my power source to check how much power it drains. I guess this data possibly may interest you. Many people say the power consumption is not high, but how high/low it is? I have done some tests and I think I have the answer for different situations. Energy in Brazil is not cheap so this is an important topic for us to discuss. And, of course, nobody likes to shred money and the environment, regardless of energy taxes.First, lets talk about performance:Only in a few ocasions I could dry something with less than 12 hours using a moderate temperature and thin slices. This is why I give this product a 4 instead of a 5 stars. But a 4,5 or 4,7 stars would be more fair, since this dehydrator has a lot of good points and we live in a very humid area, in the sea coast. And, the manual covers the "worst drying period possible" as being coincident to ours. In other words, they are not lying when they affirm that something can dry between "6 and 18 hours". We sit right in the 18 hours extreme. Be aware that this may be your case. Evaluate this point before buying a unit. Fruits: unsliced bananas can take 24-30 hours to dry to a flexible texture (we call this "banana passa" in Brazil, that are made in an industrial scale using gas dehydrators and constant 70 Celsius). The drying temperature is between 60 and 70 Celsius. Thin apple slices can take between 12 and 18 hours to get a leathery texture. Maybe if you let it more time it can eventually be crunchy, but be very aware that crunchiness is NOT an easy thing to achieve using dehydrators, because commercial fruit chips normally are made using fried fruits in coconut oil. I also had the fantasy of making homemade banana chips. Well, they get to a chewy point and taste quite good, anyway. (If that serves as a solace...). Meat: Didn't try it yet. Peppers: dried Jalapeños got an undesirable brownish color. I think the temperature cicles got some peaks that cooked the pepper instead of only drying its remaining water. I think if you are willing to put some peppers in a dehydrator, you should use very low temperatures, those used to dry herbs and other fragile stuff. I followed the 135F and it was a bit high, possibly.Now, about the sound and physical attributes:This unit is QUIET. VERY quiet. I can not believe some people say this dehydrator makes some undesirable noise to the point that they need to put them in a room far from their bedroom otherwise they couldn't sleep! I am VERY sound sensitive and I can assure you, the sound will not bother you. I can even watch TV close to the dehydrator and I only hear its noise if I mute the TV. Not an exaggeration. A fact.Weight, appearance, height: Very discreet. Very light. Did I say VERY light? The gray and white marble finish fits incredibly well in any room, like it's camouflaged, hard to explain. It just looks like another generic thing or pan or tupperware that you have in the kitchen, not a thing that a boring friend or neighbor will come and say "WOW, WHAT'S THAT THING?" You know how boring is that kind of people, but they won't bother you, I assure you. I bought 4 more trays (9 in total) and it still feels light. I can carry it with 9 trays full of bananas with ease. (if that matters: 67 bananas).Cleaning: easy to clean. Dehydrated fruits leave virtually no residue, they stick very lightly to the trays and can be easily pulled out. Not a single banana or any other fruit like apples got stuck in the trays to the point that they couldnt be removed easily with the fingers, and entire, not in fragments.Power consumption: Ok, here we go. (Room temperature: 28 Celsius) With 9 trays full of fruits: 1st hour: 650 Watts (average). 2nd to 5th hour: 380 watts (average). After 6 hours: 360 Watts (average). Total consumption per run long: 31 hours, 7,16 KWH (average: 231 watts). Temperature set: 145F (63 Celsius). With 5 trays full of fruits and/or fruit rolls, in a temperature set of 135F: 1st hour: 301 Watts (average). After a few hours, it dropped to below 200 watts average. Explanation: the first hours take more power because the machine is heating the trays so the thermostat rarely turns off. After a few hours, the thermostat only activates ocasionally to refresh the temperature, since the trays are already heated and only need a maintenance to keep the warm air flow. When the electric resistance turns off, the measure of wattage reads 28 watts, that's the power consumption of the fan (negligible). Conclusion: the shorter the run, less efficient it will be, because whenever it warms up the trays, you are removing the foods from them. Long runs are more efficient, so I guess its better to make a full charged dehydrator rather than little runs with little quantity of food. Just an opinion without any scientific claim.I can not say anything about durability of this Nesco dehydrator, since I bought it recently. I will update this review if anything unexpected occurs, or if I have any important thing to add, like new food experiences, et cetera.To finish this review, I'd like to apologize for my awful English, I had a hard time writting this because I am not a native speaker, so tell me if something sounds odd or particularly unusual, I can clarify your questions in the comments section. I hope this humble review can be useful for you. Thank you very much for the attention.

Unit works great but the trays deformed after using the unit to dry fruit at 135 degree For few hours. The unit is still usable but I believe is not as efficient as before.

Want that happy with the way it shrunk peas

It's okay' I bought this model with the thought the higher wattage would decrease drying time. It didn't. Most of what I dehydrate takes 20 to 24 hrs to dry. Foods do fall through the main tray grids..even large dices., so you need screens or leather pan tray inserts. One of each comes with the model as well as 4 standard trays. It is easy to clean but I am careful as the inner grids can break easily. you need a large sink to submerge. So after considering the cost of add on screens, trays, to reach the full 20 tray capacity, I could have bought the better rated Excalibur - 9 tray with timer! That is the dehydrator I thought I couldn't afford. Turns out I could! I will not add on to the Nesco any further and will save for the Excalibur. My recommendation is plan wisely for what your needs and wants are!

It takes much longer than the instructions indicated to dehydrate herbs and fruit. I have not tried meat yet. It does a good job overall, just plan it to take almost twice as long.

This works really well to dry fruits and veggies. However mine burned out after 8 uses. I have sent it back under warranty, but had to pay for packaging and shipping (about $30). Not sure whether keeping it to its own plug (with nothing else plugged into the outlet) will help in future longevity. The first time I plugged it in with something else is when it blew.

Although this brand new unit did a great job I was only able to use it three times before it didn't work any more. The third time, it quit and I had to unplug it and restart it. That worked okay. Tried to use it for a fourth batch of tomatoes today and it doesn't work at all, despite trying all the tricks. Frustrated. I've emailed Nessco, but haven't heard back yet as I contacted them on a Saturday. Hopefully this will get sorted out without too much difficulty. I guess I'll have to dry my lovely tomatoes in the oven. *frustrated*10/7/2013 Update - Nesco replied to me first thing this morning (I emailed my complaint on Saturday). They are having me send the head unit back for repair or replacement. Got an RMA #. Seems like the postage is on me, but I can live with that. Impressed with Nesco for their speedy reply. Bumping up one star as a result.

I found no improvement in drying performance over the bottom blowers, of which I have two. I must rotate the trays as drying proceeds. A check with the infrared thermometer showed a 3 to 4 degree drop in temperature for each tray from top to bottom. While drying split Italian plums overnight at 135 degrees, some drying occurred on the top tray, none occurred on the bottom tray. At the highest heat setting the temperature peaked about 10 degrees less than the selected temperature, even on the top tray. I was disappointed that the unit did not deliver on the recommended temperature for safe meat drying. I kept the dehydrator, knowing its limitations, for drying fruits. On the plus side the trays from my old Harvest Maid dehydrators fit this model. It is light weight and cleans up well.

First one broke in a year and a half and I only use about once every 6 months to dehydrate yams for my dog. Wasn't too happy. I bought another and the 4 year insurance just in case. Only bought this one because I had the extra trays.

Documentation sucks.. more recipes and advertisements for their other products than instructions. Seems to under-perform, but it's hard to tell, since the documentation focuses almost entirely on what and how to prepare things for dehydrating rather than how to use the machine. I shouldn't have to resort to youtube videos and bulletin boards to learn how to use my purchase.

This has been so great. It's my first time using a dehydrator and I got it to make sweet potato chips and apple chips for my dog and it works so good. I even bought more trays so I can do more.Update 1/6/15I have had this dehydrator for a little over a month and have done 2 batches of apples and 2 batches of sweet potatoes. I pulled it out to do Jerky and within 30 minutes of the dehydrator being on, it just stopped. There is no on/off switch or reset button, it just stopped. I had to return it to amazon and get a new one. We'll see if I have this problem again.

First time buying a dehydrator, tried it with apples and it tasted great. You need to keep it going for at least 12 hrs so it will use up a lot of energy but well worth it. The motor makes quite a bit of a noise-the only downside to it. Overall, good!

After being very excited about this purchase, ended up very disappointed. I reviewed multiple units and found this. This had the best reviews for a lower priced unit. Made one batch of jerky and it turned out great. There is no "on/off" switch, just plug it in and away you go. Went to make a small batch of deer jerky, plugged in the unit and it did not turn on. Tried several different outlets in the house but still, it didnt work! Very disappointed! Ended up trying to cook the deer in the oven, still waiting on the results. I will exchange this with another one. Maybe I got a lemon since it did receive such great reviews.

Save your money.Takes 5 days to turn grapes into raisins, Not a good purchase.

It worked great for a few drying sessions. it's been broke and collecting space for some time. Customer service is non-existant.

Didn't work as well as I had expected. The dehydrating process took a long time and at the end, the fruit wasn't even fully dehydrated. I could tell that there was still some more dehydrating that was necessary. And thus, I returned this product and never spoke of it again.

Why it was mot specified its 110 volts only??!!Its not mentioned anywhere on description, which is misleading to misconception that its universal 110-220 volt.I have it thrown in a corner cause I still cannot find a proper electricity converter of 1000 wats, what a wast of resources!

OK but very slow. Takes several days of loud humming to dry out herbs. Works better with fruit slices.

Update: The review was written a couple of years ago. It is now the summer of 2016 and both have quit coming up to temperature. $200 almost, gone. Two years? Really? If you only need one for two years, fine. If not, consider another one. Great while they lasted, though.Original review: This little workhorse is going day and night, literally, as we are harvesting. Apples and cucumbers, mostly (I was surprised how good dried cukes are), and we are ordering another one to try to keep up with the produce coming in. Pears are on the way and the beets dry well, too. These things are great snacks through the rest of the year and drying them really reduces storage space. Actually, we stick a lot of the dried stuff in plastic bags in the freezer -- so we are sure they stay safe to eat.The dried foods slide off easily when they are ready, the dehydrator is very easy to use and does the job relatively quickly. I figure about six hours for 'wet' stuff like the apples and cukes. The bottom is designed to catch drips. It is a very good design but, as one of the one-star reviews mentioned, don't try to stack too many trays. The four it comes with are perfect for even drying. For us, it is worth it to order another one now and not just get more trays.

UPDATE:After about 4 uses I have noticed the dishes warped and do not fit together well. I spend ages re-arranging and jiggling to get them to stand on top of each other, and then when I put the lid on everything goes all over the place again. The dishes don't have any stacking mechanism that locks them in place, so that means if they warp in even the smallest amount they no longer fit.ORIGINAL REVIEWI bought this to make my dog treats so that I didn't have to keep buying them and spending a fortune and it's been great. I love that it has a dial to choose the temperature, and even though it says to use inside, I put it out on our patio and it's been great. 12 hours later my pup has dehydrated beef liver, beef hearts, chicken liver, and chicken heart treats - and every other dog in the dog part crowds me for a bit of what she gets daily :)

I tried to do green beans and they shriveled up and weren't totally dried. I followed the directions that came with it. I tried to do grapes and cranberries and dried them for 2 full days straight and they still weren't dried. I am afraid to try anything else lest it be wasted.It takes up a lot of counter space so you need a good place to store it.I wish I could send it back, but my husband threw the box away.

Bought this to have a second FD-75PR dehydrator for drying nuts. However was disappointed to find that the trays have been redesigned from those in the previous FD-75PR dehydrator. The previous trays had a raised ring that kept the nuts from rolling down through the middle. So now anytime it gets jostled, like when taking the top on and off, nuts drop down through. Also this means I can no longer clean the nuts outside and place them in the trays there and then carry the fully assembled unit inside to actually dry. These trays also appear to have some larger gaps that smaller items like berries fall down through. The dehydrator seems to dry in a reasonable amount of time still. I had been considering buying a third dehydrator to speed up the nut drying process but now I'm looking at other brands to see if one of them has trays that are better designed for my purpose. I had also been thinking about drying spare trays for this second dehydrator but now I will wait on that to see what I end up purchasing for the third dehydrator.

I thought this was a great product, but two weeks after the one-year warranty date, it just stopped working. Customer service said that it would cost more to send it in and fix it than to buy a new one. I think $75 for a dehydrator that only lasts a year is a little pricey. I wasn't using it that often.

Bummer.... bought a nesco almost two years ago to date which I use every so often and it stopped working last night in mid-dehydrate. Unfortunately things do break. I happen to have had it running for 48 hrs two days prior - I normally dehydrate for 12 - 24 hrs at a time. I would expect a dehydrator to run for periods of time because dehydration takes periods of time. I will probably buy another because I now have everything I need such as extra trays and sheets - except a working motor and the price is good. The stainless steel one I want will have to wait!

I grow way more vegetables than we can eat at the time. I thought drying to preserve might be a reasonable solution to this universal dilemma. When it arrived, I loaded one of the trays with thinly sliced tomatoes and began the drying cycle. "Lets see what this thing can do" So after running continuously for two days (48 hrs.) My dried tomatoes were ready to bag and put in the freezer. This was one medium large tomato. I think it might have dried sooner if I had sliced it and put the slices on the sunny window sill because, here in Colorado the ambient humidity rarely gets higher than 40 %. Usually much lower. After my analysis of this process I concluded that along with the initial cost of this elaborate hair dryer and the cost of the consumed electricity my dried tomato was a very expensive one indeed. This machine comes with several racks (4 or 5) to increase capacity. So my next experiment used them all with several different vegetables filling all the racks. The results? After several days of burn time only a few of the smaller tomato pieces were dry and, disgusted, I never found out how long it would take to dry my green peppers because I unplugged this fraud and put it some place I can't remember.

I have used this product 8-10 times in the 2+ months I've owned it. After the second use, it has taken on the habit of shutting itself off periodically during the dehydration process. It sometimes restarts in a minute or so, but not always. Last night, it shut off with 2.5 hrs left on a 6 hour cycle, ruining 3lbs of jerky. Of course, I am outside the return window, so I eat the $100, but not the jerky.I would not recommend this product.

Just at one year and approx ten times of use the fan blade came off motor and the unit is worthless

This unit doesn't get your food past the point of rubbery. We tried bananas, jerky, strawberries. Had a cheap dehydrater as a kid and worked great. Not sure what's going on with this unit.

Just bought it, and fresh out of the box the unit is defective. The top motor started to over heat and the fan sounds like a truck with a tick tick tick sound. I am returning this item less than 3 hours from arriving on my doorstep. There are quality control problems here.Update on 4/1/16 . Just bought the Excalibur 3926TB Food Dehydrator and could not be more happy.

Worked great until it just died two hours into a batch of beef jerky. Left stuck with raw jerky. Called the company since it's still under warranty, they were very nice but now I have to package the power unit up and ship it back to them myself at my cost. They said they will examine and determine if they will repair or replace it. It is big and heavy so shipping will be costly and time consuming. Simply poor customer service.

I am very disappointed. I had the Harvest Dehydrator for 10 years of heavy use. When it died I knew I wanted another Nesco. I hoped this one would be even better with its top fan and advanced controls. Unfortunately it doesn't heat evenly and cannot handle even 10 trays of summer squash. I am running it hotter and longer and still getting uneven results. Maybe it's time to switch brands

Worked well about a year, then heat got irregular and eventually melted. I'm lucky it didn't burn down my house.

After following the directions exactly, fruit thickness and length, and 12 hours at the temperature prescribed by the instructions I was rewarded with hot, wet fruit. Congratulations to them for formulating a sales pitch convincing me to allow them to weasel me out of my money. I suggest trying your luck on a different brand unless you prefer to wait 12 hours for hot fruit.

I bought this on July 17th and after very little use, it just died. It cannot be returned, because it is past the 30 day return window. Very unhappy camper.

I've used this dehydrator twice now, and trying to use it the third time, and it went out. I bought it brand new in March, and it's August and is broken. I can't return it, so now I'm just stuck with a useless piece of junk.

I purchased this item and used it a few times over the course of a year before it unexpectedly stopped working while in the middle of dehydrating a batch of beef jerky. Since I had owned it over a year and was past the 1 year warranty period, I was unable to return it. I'm not very impressed with the quality of it since I really only used just a few times over the course of a year and then had it give up on me. I will not buy another item from the company again. The dehydrator worked great while I had it, but beware of poor craftsmanship and poor quality parts.

Not happy with this machine after trying few recipes it is now in the pantry collecting dust. it is noisy and after 3 days non stop of drying apples are still not dry. waste of time for me .