By (author unknown), Cool Tools – July 09, 2010 at 01:28PM
The Nesco Food Dehydrator is a simple, affordable, and well-built tool for drying foods quickly and thoroughly. Though not an every day use item for most people, when it is needed it becomes absolutely essential.
I recently went on a weekend trip hunting for morels with some friends and came back with far more than I could eat. Luckily, this dehydrator made short work of the excess. The stackable trays easily fit 60 whole small morels and many of the larger ones that had been cut in half. I fit about 2-3 pounds of mushrooms in 5 trays.
Like the previously reviewed Excalibur Food Dehydrator, the Nesco model has a temperature control, fan, and heating unit. The Nesco’s heating unit is built into the top (other cheaper models heat from the bottom up) that sits on top of the stack of trays and blows air through a central column allowing for better distribution and airflow throughout. I used a temperature of 110 ˚F (or 43˚C) when drying morels, and left them to dry over night (about 8 hours). They were perfectly dried the next morning, and ready for storage in an airtight container. Any moisture left in mushrooms will lead to a ruined batch so I made sure to let them dry out for a little longer than necessary.
While I have mainly used this model for drying mushrooms, the large trays and variable temperature dial (95-160 ˚F) allows for a wide range of dried foods to be made. This particular model is also expandable to 12 trays if you need to dry a truly astonishing amount of food.
The Nesco, when compared with the Excalibur, has the benefit of being nearly $125 dollars cheaper combined with a smaller expandable footprint, a relatively quiet fan, and similarly adjustable temperature.
— Oliver Hulland
Nesco 700-Watt 5 Tray Dehydrator
$47
Available from Amazon
Manufactured by Nesco