Best Food Dehydrator Reviews.

Food dehydrator is a special home electrical appliance designed for drying products and preparing a variety of delicacies in certain temperature conditions (up to 40 – 45 ˚C).

Why do you need food dehydrator?

In fact, everyone doesn`t need a food dehydrator. So before you decide to buy a food dehydrator, be sure to answer yourself this question. I only needed a food dehydrator somewhere after a year of rawism experiments in order to:

1. Make crisp breads, pies and pizzas
2. Make pastille, pancakes and desserts based on them
3. Make home-made herbs, vegetables and fruits

How to choose a food dehydrator?

As practice shows, the following factors are the most important ones:

1. Drying principles
2. Availability of an adjustable thermostat and a fan
3. Form
4. Type
5. Price

Food dehydrator drying principles

They distinguish convection and infrared food dehydrators according to the drying principle.

Convection food dehydrators use the circulation of heated air.

Infrared food dehydrators influence on the water molecules with infrared radiation.

The advantages of infrared food dehydrators include saving of energy and additional bactericidal treatment. It is said that bacteria cannot stand the IR radiation.

Thermostat and fan of food dehydrator

You know, availability of adjustable thermostat for dehydrator is absolutely necessary.

At temperatures above 45 ˚C food enzymes are destroyed, and useful drying has no sense.

Therefore, all models without the ability to adjust temperature are not included into the range of our interests.

I dry everything at a temperature of 40 °C, and reduce it to 35 ˚C only for herbs.

Another important detail is a fan. Make sure that the chosen model has it, as the fan makes more uniform drying and prevents overheating products.

Food dehydrator form

Food dehydrators can be round and square.

To compare characteristics of round and square food dehydrators, read the table:

	Square	Round
1. Arrangement of a heating element and a fan	On the back – thus the air is heated and distributed evenly along all the trays.	Most often at the bottom of the device – thus lower trays are hotter and to prevent this, it is necessary to rearrange them. There are food dehydrators with overhead heating. Not all models have a fan.
2. Arrangement of pallets	Horizontal – it is easy to remove them and you do not need to rearrange them.	Vertical, one above the other – to rearrange them you need to disassemble the entire construction.
3. Pallets form	Square – it increases drying surface by 25%. It is convenient to prepare large square sheets of crisp breads or pastille.	Round, with a hole in the middle – small drying surface, no suitable round silicone sheets for drying.
4.Drying time and quality	Horizontal location provides uniform drying without the necessity to rearrange pallets.	The more pallets, the further are the top products removed from the heating element – this increases drying time and commits to rearrange pallets.
5. Using special sheets for drying	Parchment and special silicone sheets are of square shape.	Absent, because the use of sheets overlaps airflow coming from below or above.
6. Functionality	You can remove the pallets and dry bulk products and items (especially important for needle women).	Only certain configuration is provided, it limits a drying chamber.
7. Care and maintenance	Easy to clean – drops and crumbs fall on the flat tray at the bottom of food dehydrator.	It is difficult to wash – drops fall on the portions of the heating element located underneath. This, incidentally, can cause damage.

Perhaps I didn`t take into account and describe all the advantages and disadvantages of different forms. But, nevertheless, I chose square food dehydrator.

Food dehydrator types

The most important characteristics for me here are:

The number of pallets – the more pallets it has, the more overall food dehydrator is. When you have a small kitchen, where literally every centimeter counts, the size of equipment is an important factor.

On the other hand, it makes sense to take this into account if you plan to cook a lot of food. So, in my experience, crisp breads prepared on three sheets of food dehydrator are eaten by three persons for one meal.

Body frame and pallets material – polypropylene is considered to be the safest plastics for food contact. Also pay attention to the opacity of the body – there is no need to expose products to light.

Timer is a significant advantage of the model. Thus you will always be sure that the product is not too dry.

Capacity – the amount of power consumption depends on this indicator. It is important to take this point into account as food dehydrator sometimes operates more than 20 hours.

Food dehydrator price

In the market there are two of the best brands of square food dehydrators – Excalibur and Sedona. If you've already seen the prices on Amazon, you have noticed that food dehydrators up to $ 100 are basically round; all square food dehydrators are more expensive than $ 100. It`s only your choice what is the shape and size of food dehydrator you need, but I would like to focus on these two manufacturers and share the experience of my purchase.

Excalibur and Sedona are excellent, thought-out and wonderful devices from all sides, but they are one of the most expensive food dehydrators.

At the same time, there are also a number of differences between these two models of food dehydrators. But it is easier to choose between two very good devices than to find a good one but for less money.

Best food dehydrator. Sedona vs. Excalibur.

Now I'll write why I have bought Sedona food dehydrator, and not Excalibur one.

Firstly, Sedona food dehydrator has a timer. You can turn on the unit and forget about it – it turns off itself. However, new models of Excalibur food dehydrators also have a timer now.

Secondly, in Sedona you can set a specific temperature, for example, 38 degrees. Excalibur food dehydrator has no such possibility. There are several points, for example, 95, 105, 115, 125, 135, 145, 155 degrees Fahrenheit – that`s all!

But Excalibur food dehydrators have their own advantage – the price. It is cheaper.

Sedona can only be with 9 pallets / trays:

Excalibur food dehydrator can be purchased with 9 trays as well as with 5 trays. Excalibur trays are bigger. And the Excalibur itself is wider but lower than Sedona.

Another difference between these two units is that "on / off" buttons of Sedona food dehydrator are in front, as we see in the photo, and they are at the rear of Excalibur (which in general is not very convenient). That means that if you have a complete kitchen and a built-in oven in it, the oven can be removed (if you no longer need it), and you can put Sedona instead. You won`t be able to do it with Excalibur due to the same reason – to buttons.

The next difference: Sedona door is very similar to the oven door (but it is easier), and it opens the same way. Excalibur food dehydrator has no door.

The next difference: any Excalibur food dehydrator, with 5 trays or even with 9 trays consumes the same power – 600 watts. Though Sedona is only sold with 9 trays, but it has a function that allows you to turn on only half of the unit inserting the partition before. In this case, power consumption is less – 400 watts.

As you already know, you can prepare bread, crisp breads, crackers, cookies,

even vegetable barbeque for rawatarians

and a host of other things in a food dehydrator.

Food dehydrator sheets

Keep in mind – it is an important and necessary household thing! When I was reading the recipes for food dehydrator meals, I met a description of silicone (paraflex) sheets as well as information of how to make crisp breads and pastille on simple parchment paper.

I decided that I don`t need the extra expenses and I will also use parchment.

As a result, when I received a food dehydrator and decided to make apple pastille, I didn`t manage to remove the pastille from the paper...

I tried oiling paper, but the result didn`t satisfy me again...

I had to order paraflex sheets. I found out that silicone sheets are manufactured by Excalibur.

Perhaps you won`t need special sheets for drying and you will invent your own method, but, as experience shows, it is worth thinking about.

More detailed descriptions and reviews of all the models of food dehydrators you can easily find on the Internet. I wanted to show the important criteria and selection logic for this unit. I hope this article will be useful for you if you still do not have a food dehydrator.

And if you are already a happy owner of this device, then tell us what food dehydrator you are using and why did you choose this model in the comments.