Dehydrators

My wife wants one of these. What should I be looking for?

Thanks

Ben

Depends on what you want to do. If you are looking to make jerky, and dried fruits, or veggies just look for the best rated of the cheaper models. If you are thinking of going raw food, the industry standard is the excalibur. It is top of the line for dehydrators, in that you can maintain the temp low enough to not kill too many of the enzymes,& nutrients. I have an excalibur, but seem to only make jerky with it. Total overkill.

Hope this article will help you pick the right one for your applications:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2003-06-01/Choosing-a-Food-Dehydrator.aspx

I have 2 both are the round stackable and when I was a kid we had the box tray type with fan.
One of mine is just heat the other has a fan . blow dry type is actually a little harder to control stuff drys fast and some times just drys on the outside and becomes sticky later you need to constantly rotate the trays either way.

When you dehydrate fruit, does it turn out like the store bought stuff?  Same for making jerky?  I've always wanted one, but have wondered if it would turn out not like what I'm expecting.  The thought of having dried fruit and homemade jerky is cool. 

i have the round kind and yes you need to rotate the trays since there is a small heat source. jerky works great. fruit takes FOREVER its good but it takes days to make.

Thanks everyone. It looked like the Excalibur was the way to go. Then saw a review saying they liked Cabella's better .... and it was on sale. Looks like about the same thing. If you're interested, this is what I got:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas-10-Tray-Digital-Dehydrator/939466.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=/catalog/search.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Ddehydrator%26x%3D0%26y%3D0&Ntt=dehydrator

Jerky can be made in ovens.  Use the lowest setting and crack the door, and keep a close eye on it.  I cut the meat like home fries and soak overnight in Yoshidas.  Pretty easy.