Nesco FD-75PR Food Dehydrator

I have never written a review before and have purchased many things online before, but I have been so pleased with this little "cheap" dehydrator, that I felt I needed to write this. When I started thinking about purchasing a dehydrator, I did a lot of research including visiting my local Cabelas store and doing a lot of online research. The main reason that I initially shied away from purchasing this model was how inexpensive it was compared to so many of the other models. I just couldn't imagine it could be as good as all the reviews said it was. I was also concerned about some of the features that seemed like they would be important such as no timer and a top mounted fan (as compared to a side mounted which supposedly created irregular dehydrating times) In the end though, I listened to the reviews and purchased it. WOW. I have been so pleased. First, I have owned the unit now for about two months. I have literally run it non stop. I have five kids and I wanted to use it to stretch our grocery budget by being able to buy foot in bulk and store them by dehydrating them. My main issue is that I can't seem to store anything because we end up eating the food as soon as it comes out. This cheap little machine is amazing. First, it's not too big so sits easily on the counter and doesn't get in the way. Second, it dehydrates to food evenly and simply. Third, it is extremely easy to clean (I strongly recommend purchasing extra clean a scrren sheets when you purchase it). Fourth, it's so simple to use. All you do is cut up your foot and throw it on a tray, stack it up and let it go. It's great. Don't worry about the lack of a timer. I have found out you can't really "over-dehydrate" most foods so if you accidentally leave it running for a few hours, no big deal. Lastly, and probably most obviously, is the price. Don't worry, this is one of those times you get so much more than you pay for. Especially if you are like me and new to dehydrating, it's a great place to start. I've subsequently purchased two expansion trays and the machine works just as efficiently with seven trays as with five. I think it goes up to 10 but cant remember. I've dehydrated tons of different stuff on it including carrots, corn, apples, bannanas (the only thing my kids haven't liked), bell peppers, hot peppers, cucumbers, onions and lots of jerky. I've even tried dehydrating some leftover soups and stews which worked remarkably well. Definately recommend you purchase a book or two on dehydrating as it helps to know how to do it. One side note: Nesco's jerky flavorings are great and I've purchased more of them which I got for free with their jerky gun, which i've used to good effect also. Well, that's it, I really, really, really have been impressed that something so...cheap, has worked so well.

I am very satisfied with my Nesco dehydrator.I find it is fast and has relativly even heat through out all the trays. This eliminates the need to rotate trays.I have made about 15 batches of jerky and all turned out well. Cleans up easy. A good product.

Nesco seems to be the top runner for reasonably priced dehydrators. We decided to get this one vs the square one because we werent sure how much we'd use it and wanted the cheapest option. Having a temperature dial that goes up to 160 degrees is very handy for making jerky. Otherwise you have to pre-cook the meat which seems like a huge pain in the butt. If you are new to dehydrating, here are some things you should know: JERKY: 1) For jerky, they give you several packets of cure and spices, each of which is enough for 1 lb of meat. 2) There are 2 types of jerky you can make. The first is what you are used to seeing at the store. It uses strips of meat. You buy a lean cut of meat and cut it into strips. Then use a packet to make a marinade and let it sit for 24 hours in the fridge. Then you cut it into even thickness strips and dry. This is the hardest way of doing it by FAR because evenness of the cuts is very important for drying purposes. You want to make sure you cook the meat all the way through, and thick areas can cause big problems. The second jerky method is to use ground meat. The major advantage is that it is much easier to make consistent 'strips' and the jerky is a lot more tender. This is a big deal for those who love jerky but it hurts their jaw because it is so tough. Make SURE that the meat is rated at 95% lean or better. Just because it says 'lean' or 'sirloin' doesn't mean much. Leaner meat means you won't have fat that drips off the jerky that you have to remove with a towel. (like you'd blot bacon that you are cooking to absorb the grease). Remember that the fat does not dry very well at all and can make your jerky go rancid quickly. You also need a food processor or blender because the ground meat is NOT fine enough to work well enough. Furthermore, you do NOT marinade with this method. Instead you add a packet (or whatever recipe of spices, salt, etc) straight into the meat. Hence it must be blended well. Once blended, you can use a cake-decorator (that normally holds icing) to make sticks. I'd recommend just making 1 giant swirl on the sheet as that is a lot more space-efficient than making individual strips. After drying you can break em off as desired. You can also buy their special meat holder that makes nice flat strips if you don't have a cake decorator. I recommend using a sprayer or something to add a fine layer of vegetable oil to prevent sticking. FRUIT: Most fruit is kind of tough when dehydrated. It is NOT the candied dried fruit that you get in stores! Nor is it the new freeze-dried crunchy type. It is also a lot of work to cut it all up in a consistent manner so it all gets dried evenly. Bananas do make for decent chips, but they arent as crunchy typically because you arent dumping them in oil like the chips that you might have bought. I would recommend doing fruit rollups. For example, I used pineapple, mango and some applesauce and tossed it into the processor/blender. They give you 2 sheets for rollups that are raised on the edges. You just dump the fruity-product onto each sheet and it pretty much evenly spreads out FOR you since it is much like applesauce consistency. Let er dry and cut it into pieces. It is tasty and easier. I recommend putting wax paper inbetween each slice though which makes it a bit more trouble but is worth it. This approach makes it easier to add cinnamon or other spices if you want.

So happy with my purchase. Works like a charm. The delivery of the item was less than anticipated! Should have gotten one of these years ago.

I purchased this item as a Christmas present for my husband. Looked in many stores and at MANY MANY MANY here on Amazon. He mainly wanted it for jerky and I figured it would use it for some fruit. I did my research on others opinions and with that and my budget, this was my choice. Very glad I choose it. ***Things I like about it. It's not very noisy at all. I was picturing it needing to go to the laundry room, not at all. My fridge is louder that it and it only takes a couple of minutes to tune it out. It has a temp guide on it, awesome! The fan is on top, blowing down, not on bottom. We were able to do both meat and fruit. Even though they both require different temps, we followed for apples then turned it up for the meat and cut a little bit of required time out. Turned out perfect and the fruit didn't taste anything like spicey meat even though that's all you could smell in the house. It was very easy to clean. It says it is dishwasher safe, but on some plastic I never have been a truster of the dishwasher, so I just washed it by hand. ***The only thing I did not like about it was it has no off switch. This one doesn't have a timer, but I didn't count it as a negative, we have timers of many kinds out there, but turning it off by unplugging it was a bummer. The booklet it comes with is pretty decent. Drying fruits, and making fruit rolls, or leathers. Drying veggies, jerky, herbs and crafts. There is a guide for drying times and temps. A few recipes, plus how to rehydrate dried food. I did purchase a book on dehydrating and believe we would have been fine without it, but I am not disappointed in the additional purchase. When we make the jerky I purchase a low fat meat, less fat to drip off. I also put the screen you make the leather on at the bottome as a 'fat catcher' for an easier clean up. Don't know if putting the fruit above the meat makes a difference, but I do put the apples above the meat. I did notice that people on all of kinds of dehydrators were concerned about it getting hot, or at least having a temp. Yes this does get a little bit warm, not hot. It is supposed to get warm to dry the food. Hope something here was of help to you.